human
That settles it! he exclaimed.
gpt
It _is_ a theft, and a clever one! Strange we should find it out when I was demonstrating to you how much I wished it would happen. Hurrah! That miniature alone is insured against burglary for seven or eight hundred pounds. Nothing to what it's worth, but a lot to pay a premium on, with the rest of the things besides. I wish now I hadn't been so cheese-paring. You'll be witnesses, you two, of our discovery. I'm glad Connie and I weren't alone when we found it out. Something nasty might have been said.
human
We'll back you up with pleasure, Knight replied.
gpt
What was the miniature like? I wonder if we saw it when we were here the other day, Anita? I remember these, but can't recall any other.
human
Neither can I, returned Annesley.
gpt
But I am stupid about such things. We saw so many--and passed so quickly.
human
I wonder if Paul Van Vreck was here in disguise among the tourists? said Dick, beginning to laugh.
gpt
It would have been the one he'd have chosen if he couldn't grab the lot.
human
Oh, surely no one in the crowd could have cut a piece of glass out of a cabinet and stolen a miniature without being seen!
gpt
Dick is half in joke, Constance explained.
human
It would have been a miracle, yet the servants are above suspicion. Those horrid trustees never let me choose a new one without their interference. And, of _course_ Dick didn't mean what he said about Mr. Van Vreck.
gpt
Of course not. I understood that,
human
All the same, to carry on the joke, let's go into the octagon room and see if the alleged Fragonard pictures have gone, too, said Annesley-Seton. He led the way, turning on more light in the adjoining room as he went; and, outdistancing the others, they heard him stammer,
gpt
Good Lord!
human
They aren't gone?
gpt
One of them is.