In one place, a
little antique bust was half hid in the folds of some pennon, still
dyed with battle-stains; in another, scattered treasures of Dresden
and Sevres brought the drawing-room into the campaign; and all around
bivouacked rifles, whose polished barrels glittered full of death,--
pistols, variously mounted, for an insurgent at the barricades, or for
a lost millionnaire at the gaming-table,--foils, with buttoned
bluntness,--and rapiers, whose even edges were viewless, as if filed
into air. Destruction lay everywhere, at the command of the owner of
this place, and, had he possessed a particle of vivacity, it would have
been hazardous to bow beneath his doorway. It did not, I must say, look
like a place where I should find a diamond. As the owner came forward, I
determined on my plan of action.
"You have, Sir," I said, handing him a bit of paper, on which were
scrawled some numbers, "a diamond in your possession, of such and so
many carats, size, and value, belonging to the Duke of X., and left with
you by an Englishman, Mr. Arthur Ulster. You will deliver it to me, if
you please."
"Monsieur!" exclaimed the man, lifting his hands, and surveying me with
the widest eyes I ever saw. "A diamond! In my possession! So immense a
thing! It is impossible. I have not even seen one of the kind. It is a
mistake. Jacques Noailles, the vender of jewels _en gros_, second door
below, must be the man. One should perceive that my business is with
arms, not diamonds.
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