When they had gone he assured me
that the woman was as good as arrested already. Indeed, officially,
she was arrested; for she had no more chance of escape from
Marseilles than from the Chateau D'If.
"He told me to return to my hotel and possess my soul in peace.
Within an hour he assured me he would acquaint me with her arrest.
"I thanked him, and complimented him on his energy, and left him. But
I didn't share in his confidence. I felt that she was a very clever
woman, and a match for any and all of us. It was all very well for
him to be jubilant. He had not lost the diamonds, and had everything
to gain if he found them; while I, even if he did recover the
necklace, would only be where I was before I lost them, and if he did
not recover it I was a ruined man. It was an awful facer for me. I
had always prided myself on my record. In eleven years I had never
mislaid an envelope, nor missed taking the first train. And now I had
failed in the most important mission that had ever been intrusted to
me. And it wasn't a thing that could be hushed up, either. It was too
conspicuous, too spectacular. It was sure to invite the widest
notoriety.
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