"your boy, arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. in the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared into your dressing-room. petrified with astonishment, the lad slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what would come of this strange affair. presently she emerged from the room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. she passed down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and slipped behind the curtain near your door, whence he could see what passed in the hall beneath. he saw her stealthily open the window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close to where he stood hid behind the curtain.