Richard would have kept Mr.Gwynn with them! What manner of mystery was this?
Richard's present to Dorothy was a superb, nay a matchless set of rubies, the like of which did not dwell in the caskets of Queen or Empress.

Mrs.Hanway-Harley, herself no apprentice in the art of gems, could not estimate their value.

They lay in her hands like red fire--jewels above price! Mrs.Hanway-Harley could only gaze and gaze, while Richard's look of slyness gained in lamblike intensity.
Mr.Bayard came down from New York the day before; he must have a business talk with Richard.

It would be impossible, in releasing Mr.
Harley and Senator Hanway from their obligations as members of the osprey pool, to avoid an explanation.

In running over the affair in his mind, Mr.Bayard was convinced that the reprieved pair must be told the truth of their capture and release.
Richard, whose powers of original judgment had diminished in exact proportion as he neared the wedding day, and who now, with the ceremony only hours away, owned no judgment at all, gave Mr.Bayard leave to do as he would.