Before the Fact by Francis Iles Page B

entirely with Lina and Johnnie. It was felt that anyone who arrived at a tennis party wearing a great fat diamond thoroughly deserved to go away without it. But this sentiment, reasonable though it might be, did not blind those who voiced it to the extremely delicate position in which their host and hostess found themselves. For unless Johnnie was right in saying that Lady Fortnum would find the thing when she undressed, it certainly was very difficult to see how it could have disappeared, in that very small space, altogether of its own volition.
    Martin Caddis did, in fact, try to get Lina’s suggestion taken seriously that the men should turn out their pockets; but Johnnie, obviously distressed, would not hear of it. The utmost that could be permitted was that they should examine the turn-ups of their trousers; but these yielded nothing but fluff.
    When at last Lina, with a rather high-pitched laugh, insisted an hour later in calling the search off, the diamond had not been found.
    “And now it’s gone for good,” observed Joyce, as they watched the last of the cars swing round the circular drive and out of the gates. “I wonder which of them had it.”
    “Joyce, I won’t believe it,” Lina said stoutly. “It must have got trodden into the ground. We shall find it tomorrow morning.”
    “Of course we shall, darling,” said Johnnie confidently, and put an arm round his wife’s waist. “Don’t you bother your little monkey head any more about it.”
    “Well, I wish I had your simple faith,” Joyce retorted. “I invariably believe the worst of people.”
    “My dear, you are so right,” said Cecil, sadly smoothing his beard.
    Lina gave the hand on her waist a little quick squeeze. “Well, anyhow,” she said, “let’s go in and get ready for dinner.”
    “I’ll just let down the net and collect the balls,” said Johnnie. “You can have first bath, monkeyface, if you jump to it.”
4
    Actually the diamond was found, that same evening.
    Lina found it, in a pocket of Johnnie’s white trousers.
    Johnnie had gone down to mix the cocktails (in spite of having second bath, Johnnie was always dressed first), and Lina, when she was ready, had just looked into Johnnie’s dressing room to see that everything was in order. Johnnie’s flannels lay sprawling on the floor where he had flung them, as he always did; not even Lina had been able to induce him ever to put anything away. She picked them up mechanically, and noticed a long green smudge on one knee, where Johnnie had slipped. Obviously they could not be worn again, and Lina felt in the pockets before putting the trousers in the washing basket. In the left-hand pocket was nothing, in the right-hand one was the diamond pendant. Lina almost cried with relief.
    “Johnnie,” she burst out as soon as she got inside the drawing room, where the other three were already sipping their cocktails. “Johnnie, you really are the limit. Why didn’t you tell me you’d found that wretched diamond?”
    Johnnie, bringing her cocktail to meet her, stopped dead. “What?” he said, almost stupidly.
    “Why didn’t you tell me you found that diamond when you went back to let the net down?” Lina repeated quite crossly. “You knew how worried I was.” She took the cocktail and finished it at a gulp. Johnnie really was very exasperating sometimes.
    “What’s that?” said Joyce. “The diamond found?”
    “Yes. Johnnie found it when he went back to let the net down. It was in the pocket of his white trousers.”
    “She searches my pockets, you see,” Johnnie threw over his shoulder to Cecil. “Does yours?”
    “Why on earth didn’t you tell me?” Lina persisted.
    Johnnie looked at her with his most mischievous smile. “I thought it would give the hag a lesson if we pretended for a day or two that we couldn’t find it. Of course I didn’t tell you, monkeyface. You’d have given the show away in two minutes.” He laughed.
    “I don’t think it’s at all