Ellsworth's. I fancy _that_ arrangement has been
brought to an end! Your presence in the _menage_ was the sole
alleviation.
James, it appears, came to London on an unexpected mission, differing
from his ordinary trips. You may remember seeing in the papers some
weeks ago that an agent of the Van Vreck firm was robbed on shipboard
of a lot of pearls and things he was bringing to show an important
client in England--some Indian potentate. James tells us that _he_
procured the finest of the collection for the Van Vrecks, and as he is
a great expert, and can recognize jewels he has once seen, even when
disguised or cut up, or in different settings, he was asked to go to
London to help the police find and identify some of the lost valuables.
Also, he was instructed to buy more pearls, to be sold to the Indian
customer, instead of those stolen from the agent on shipboard. James
had not found any of the lost things; but he _had_ bought some pearls
the day before the burglary at Mrs. Ellsworth's.
Wasn't it _too_ unlucky? I have tried to give the poor fellow a little
consolation by reminding him how fortunate it is he hadn't bought
_more_, and that the loss will be the Van Vrecks' or that of some
insurance company, not _his_ personally.
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