"After the death of James Hampden Hynds, it was discovered that he
had added a singular enough codicil to his will. This codicil
provided that in the event the jewels were found intact, and Richard
Hynds's innocence thereby incontrovertibly established, Hynds House
as it stood should revert to him as eldest son, after the custom of
the family. _But_ until the jewels were recovered, Richard and his
heirs were to have exactly--nothing. And nothing is what Richard and
his heirs got."
"And was he really guilty?" breathed Alicia. Her sympathy was
instantly with Richard. That is exactly like Alicia, who is sorry
for the fatted calf, and the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea, and
Esau swindled out of his birthright; had she been one of the wise
virgins she would have trimmed the lamps of all the foolish ones and
waked them up in time.
"In theory," said the judge, "a man is innocent until he is proved
guilty. In practice, he is guilty until he can prove his innocence."
"And was nothing, absolutely nothing, ever heard or known
further?--nothing that would justify his mother's faith, or comfort
his poor young wife's heart?"
"There was but one incident to which even the most credulous could
attach the slightest importance.
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