Precisely at one-thirty he was on his way back to the
smoke-room, his feet encased in a pair of Indian mocassins. A minute
later he was joined by Platzoff in dressing-gown and slippers.
"I need hardly tell you, my dear Ducie," began the latter, "that with a
piece of property in my possession no larger than a pigeon's egg, and
worth so many thousands of pounds, a secure place in which to deposit
that property (since I choose to have it always near me) is an object of
paramount importance. That secure place of deposit I have at Bon Repos.
This you may accept as one reason for my having lived in such an
out-of-the-world spot for so many years. It is a place known to myself
alone. After my death it will become known to one person only--to the
person into whose possession the Diamond will pass when I shall be no
longer among the living. The secret will be told him that he may have
the means of finding the Diamond, but not even to him will it become
known till after my decease. Under these circumstances, my dear Ducie,
you will, I am sure, excuse me for keeping the hiding-place of the
Diamond a secret still--a secret even from you.
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