Held At Bay Read Online Free Page A

of the old affair was gone. He had money enough not to need to follow the ‘profession’, there was something in his blood that prevented him from leaving it. Cracksmanship seemed part of him.
    There had been times when he had not broken open a safe or a door for several months on end, but some challenge would set him off. Now the five Jewels of Castilla brought the love of a fight to his hazel eyes. He was thinking calmly as he drove through the West End. He did not think Kelworthy was likely to send for the police – the Delawney sapphires would discourage that – but it was not the Baron’s policy to take chances. If Kelworthy risked informing the police that the Baron had visited him, Bristow would pay an early visit to Mannering’s flat.
    So the jewels could not be taken to Clarges Street.
    Mannering pulled the Austin into a side turning off Piccadilly, and took a large envelope from his pocket. He slipped the Isabella Diamond and the Delawney sapphires into the stolen wallet, putting the treasury notes on both sides of the stones so that it was impossible to feel the hard lumps through the paper. He sealed the wallet inside the envelope and addressed it to:
    Mr. James L. Miller,
18, Lanchester Street,
Barnes Common, S.W.
    He was smiling as he stamped the package and walked to the nearest pillar-box. Ten minutes after he had reached Piccadilly the jewels and the money from Kelworthy’s house were resting at the bottom of the pillar-box. In the morning a postman would handle them casually, for the envelope declared that Messrs. Benjamin Madle’s were offering stupendous bargains in their Spring Sale. As the Baron, Mannering was careful in the smallest detail, which accounted for a great deal of his ‘luck’. There was no Mr. Miller, but Mannering owned 18 Lanchester Street, and occasionally visited it. It was an excellent hiding-place for gems.
    He felt very content as he sauntered back to the car, and drove slowly along Piccadilly. A dozen acquaintances nodded, and Mannering’s smile was much in evidence. He reached Clarges Street, left the car outside, and took the lift to his flat.
    Yet although he was smiling he was not entirely sure of himself. If Kelworthy had reported the burglary, Bristow might be waiting for him. Mannering’s smile was set, and his heart was beating faster than usual as he unlocked the front door of his rooms. And then he had a shock.
    The door was half open when he heard the unmistakable sound of a footfall inside the flat. For a second every muscle in his body went rigid. He slipped his hand into his pocket, and gripped the automatic – an empty one. He opened the door wide, trying to make the unknown visitor aware of his discovery.
    A woman’s laughing voice came: “I thought you were never coming, John.”
    Mannering stopped on the threshold, and relief flooded through him. Next moment the door closed behind him and he strode across the room. His arms went round the slim, graceful woman who came towards him.
    Soon, Mannering was laughing into Lorna Fauntley’s dancing eyes.
    He had not seen Lorna for a month, and had not expected her in London that night. She was looking very lovely, in that rather dark, half-mysterious way of hers. Many people refused to call her beautiful, but to Mannering she was. Her skin was flawless, if a little on the sallow side, and there seemed something of the piquancy of the Southerner in her. Her full lips were parted, her dark hair unruly. She was dressed in a heather tweed costume, and to Mannering she brought a breath of the country, sending London dozens of miles away. Every movement she made possessed an easy grace.
    â€œAt least you seemed pleased to see me,” she said.
    â€œI wish you were miles away, sweetheart, and now call me a liar.” He took off his coat and flung it over a chair back. “When did you arrive?”
    â€œI haven’t arrived, I’m passing