All the world would soon know
the truth. Might it not be possible that the diamonds were at this moment
in the hands of Messrs. Camperdown, and that they would be produced before
her eyes, as soon as her second false oath had been registered against
her? And yet how could she tell the truth? And what would the Corsair
think of her, the Corsair who would know everything? She made one
resolution during the night. She would not be taken into court. The
magistrates and the people might come to her, but she would not go before
them. When the morning came she said that she was ill, and refused to
leave her bed. Policemen, she knew, were in the house early. At about nine
Mrs. Carbuncle and Lucinda were up and in her room. The excitement of the
affair had taken them from their beds, but she would not stir. If it were
absolutely necessary, she said, the men must come into her room. She had
been so overset by what had occurred on the previous night that she could
not leave her room. She appealed to Lucinda as to the fact of her illness.
The trouble of these robberies was so great upon her that her heart was
almost broken. If her deposition must be taken, she would make it in bed.
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