Londoners have been greatly interested in the theft of some
pearls. Captain Osborne and his wife, formerly Miss Ethel Elliott, sued Major Hargreave and his wife for slander, in asserting that Mrs. Osborne before her marriage had stolen Mrs. Hargreave's pearls, worth probably more than 21,000. The slander was justified, and the case resolved itself into an inquiry as to who stole the pearls. Only four people—Major Hargreave, Mrs. Hargreave,, Mr. Engelhart, an intimate friend of the family, and Miss Elliott—knew of the pearls. It was shown that the last-named might have taken the jewels ; that they had been sold to Messrs. Spink, of Gracechurch Street, great coin-collectors and jewellers ; that Messrs. Spink believed the seller to have been Miss Elliott; and that Miss Elliott had, at the time of the robbery, been in possession of a sum of money. The money was, however, accounted for ; there was doubt about the identification ; an alibi nearly perfect was established ; and Mrs. Osborne's demeanour in the witness-box, where she baffled, apparently in all innocence, a cross-examiner like Sir E. Clarke, created a prejudice in her favour so strong that it carried away nearly all judgments. On Saturday, however, a letter was handed to the Judge from a respectable jeweller, which showed that Miss Elliott had asked to change the precise sum taken from Messrs. Spink into large notes, and though she had failed with him, she had succeeded at a bank. One of the notes was, moreover, traced as paid to Messrs. Maple, with 'Ethel Elliott" written clearly across the back. Under this irresistible evidence Mrs. Osborne's marvellous courage gave way, and her husband at once instructed his counsel to withdraw the suit, with the fullest apologies on his part and theirs for the imputations thrown on the defendants.
