"Only this: She was seen to pick up something from the driveway, where
no one else had succeeded in finding anything."
"She? When? Who saw her?"
"I cannot answer all these questions at once," I said, smiling. "She was
seen to do this--no matter by whom--while you were stepping down from
the carriage. As you preceded her, you naturally did not observe this
action, which was fortunate, perhaps, as you would scarcely have known
what to do or say about it."
"Yes, I should," she retorted with a most unexpected display of spirit.
"I should have asked her what she had found, and I should have insisted
upon an answer. I love my friends, but I love the man I am to marry
better."
Here her voice fell, and a most becoming blush suffused her cheek.
"Quite right," I assented. "Now will you answer my former question? What
troubles Miss Glover? Can you tell me?"
"That I cannot. I only know that she has been very silent ever since she
left the house. I thought her beautiful new dress would please her, but
it does not seem to. She has been unhappy and preoccupied all the
evening. She only roused a bit when Mr. Deane showed us the ruby, and
said----Oh, I forgot!"
"What's that? What have you forgot?"
"Your remark of a moment ago. I wouldn't add a word----"
"Pardon me," I smilingly interrupted, looking as fatherly as I could,
"but you _have_ added this word, and now you must tell me what it means.
You were going to speak of the interest she showed in the extraordinary
jewel which Mr. Deane took from his pocket, and----"
"In what he said about the reward he expected. That is, she looked
eagerly at the ruby, and sighed when he acknowledged that he expected it
to bring him five hundred dollars before midnight. But any girl of means
no larger than hers might do that. It would not be fair to lay too much
stress on a sigh."
"Is not Miss Glover wealthy? She wears a very expensive dress, I
observe."
"I know it, and I have wondered a little at it, for her father is not
called very well off. But perhaps she bought it with her own money. I
know she has some; she is an artist in burnt wood."
I let the subject of Miss Glover's dress drop. I had heard enough to
satisfy me that my first theory was correct. This young woman,
beautifully dressed, and with a face from which the rounded lines of
early girlhood had not yet departed, held in her possession, probably at
this very moment, Mrs. Burton's magnificent jewel. But where? On her
person or hidden in some of her belongings? I remembered the cloak in
the closet, and thought it wise to assure myself that the jewel was not
secreted in this garment before I proceeded to extreme measures. Mrs.
Ashley, upon being consulted, agreed with me as to the desirability of
this, and presently I had this poor girl's cloak in my hands.
Did I find the ruby? No; but I found something else tucked away in an
inner pocket which struck me as bearing quite pointedly upon this case.
It was the bill--crumpled, soiled, and tear-stained--of the dress whose
elegance had so surprised her friends and made me for a short time
regard her as the daughter of wealthy parents. An enormous bill, which
must have struck dismay to the soul of this self-supporting girl, who
probably had no idea of how a French dressmaker can foot up items. Four
hundred and fifty dollars, and for one gown! I declare I felt indignant
myself, and could quite understand why she heaved that little sigh when
Mr. Deane spoke of the five hundred dollars he expected from Mrs.
Burton, and, later, when, in following the latter's footsteps up the
driveway, she stumbled upon this same jewel, fallen, as it were, from
his pocket into her very hands, how she came to succumb to the
temptation of endeavouring to secure this sum for herself.
That he would shout aloud his loss, and thus draw the whole household
out on the porch, was, naturally, not anticipated by her. Of course,
when this occurred, the feasibility of her project was gone, and I only
wished that I had been present and able to note her countenance, as,
crowded in with others on that windy porch, she watched the progress of
the search, which every moment made it not only less impossible for her
to attempt the restoration upon which the reward depended, but must have
caused her to feel, if she had been as well brought up as all
indications showed, that it was a dishonest act of which she had been
guilty, and that, willing or not, she must look upon herself as a thief
so long as she held the jewel back from Mr. Deane or its rightful owner.
But how face the publicity of restoring it now, after so elaborate and
painful a search, in which even the son of her hostess had taken part!
That would be to proclaim her guilt, and thus effectually ruin her in
the eyes of everybody concerned. No, she would keep the compromising
article a little longer, in the hope of finding some opportunity of
returning it without risk to her good name. And so she allowed the
search to proceed.
I have entered thus elaborately into the supposed condition of this
girl's mind on this critical evening that you may understand why I felt
a certain sympathy for her, which forbade harsh measures. I was sure,
from the glimpse I had caught of her face, that she longed to be
relieved from the tension she was under, and that she would gladly rid
herself of this valuable jewel if she only knew how. This opportunity I
proposed to give her; and this is why, on returning the bill to its
place, I assumed such an air of relief on rejoining Mrs. Ashley.
She saw, and drew me aside.
"You have not found it," she said.
"No," I returned; "but I am positive where it is."
"And where is that?"
"Over Miss Glover's uneasy heart."
Mrs. Ashley turned pale.
"Wait," said I. "I have a scheme for getting it back without making her
shame public. Listen!" and I whispered a few words in her ear.
She surveyed me in amazement for a moment, then nodded, and her face
lighted up.
"You are certainly earning your reward," she declared; and summoning her
son, who was never far away from her side, she whispered her wishes. He
started, bowed, and hurried from the room.
By this time my business in the house was well known to all, and I could
not appear in hall or parlour without a great silence falling upon every
one present, followed by a breaking up of the only too small circle of
unhappy guests into agitated groups. But I appeared to see nothing of
all this till the proper moment, when, turning suddenly upon them all, I
cried out cheerfully, but with a certain deference I thought would
please them:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have an interesting fact to announce. The snow
which was taken up from the driveway has been put to melt in the great
feed caldron over the stable fire. We expect to find the ruby at the
bottom, and Mrs. Ashley invites you to be present at its recovery. It
has now stopped snowing, and she thought you might enjoy the excitement
of watching the water ladled out."
A dozen girls bounded forward.
"Oh yes! What fun! Where are our cloaks--our rubbers?"
Two only stood hesitating. One of these was Mr. Deane's lady-love, and
the other her friend, Miss Glover. The former, perhaps, secretly
wondered. The latter--but I dared not look long enough or closely enough
in her direction to judge rightly of her emotions. Amid the bustle which
now ensued I caught sight of Mr. Deane's face peering from an open
doorway. It was all alive with hope. I also perceived a lady looking
down from the second storey, who I felt sure was Mrs. Burton herself.
Evidently my confident tone had produced more effect than the words
themselves. Every one looked upon the jewel as already recovered, and
regarded my invitation to the stable as a ruse by which I hoped to
restore universal good feeling by giving them all a share in my triumph.
All but one! Nothing could make Miss Glover look otherwise than anxious,
restless, and unsettled; and though she followed in the wake of the
rest, it was with hidden face and lagging step, as if she recognised
the whole thing as a farce, and doubted her own power to go through it
calmly.
"Ah, ha! my lady," thought I, "only be patient and you will see what I
shall do for you." And, indeed, I thought her eye brightened as we all
drew up around the huge caldron standing full of water over the stable
stove. As pains had already been taken to put out the fire in this
stove, the ladies were not afraid of injuring their dresses, and
consequently crowded as close as their numbers would permit. Miss Glover
especially stood within reach of the brim, and as soon as I noted this,
I gave the signal which had been agreed upon between Mr. Ashley and
myself. Instantly the electric lights went out, leaving the place in
total darkness.
A scream from the girls, a burst of hilarious laughter from their
escorts, mingled with loud apologies from their seemingly mischievous
host, filled up the interval of darkness which I had insisted should not
be too soon curtailed; then the lights flared up as suddenly as they had
gone out, and while the glare was fresh on every face, I stole a glance
at Miss Glover to see if she had made good use of the opportunity given
her for ridding herself of the jewel by dropping it into the caldron. If
she had, both her troubles and mine were at an end; if she had not, then
I need feel no further scruple in approaching her with the direct
question I had hitherto found it so difficult to put.
She stood with both hands grasping her cloak, which she had drawn
tightly about the rich folds of her new and expensive dress; but her
eyes were fixed straight before her, with a soft light in their depths
which made her positively beautiful.
The jewel is in the pot, I inwardly decided, and ordered the two waiting
stablemen to step forward with their ladles. Quickly those ladles went
in, but before they could be lifted out dripping, half the ladies had
scurried back, afraid of injury to their pretty dresses. But they soon
sidled forward again, and watched with beaming eyes the slow but sure
emptying of the great caldron at whose bottom they anticipated finding
the lost jewel.
As the ladles were plunged deeper and deeper, the heads drew closer, and
so great was the interest shown that the busiest lips forgot to chatter,
and eyes whose only business up till now had been to follow with shy
curiosity every motion made by their handsome young host now settled on
the murky depths of the great pot whose bottom was almost in sight.
As I heard the ladles strike this bottom, I instinctively withdrew a
step in anticipation of the loud hurrah which would naturally hail the
first sight of the lost ruby. Conceive, then, my chagrin, my bitter and
mortified disappointment, when, after one look at the broad surface of
the now exposed bottom, the one shout which rose was: "_Nothing!_"
I was so thoroughly put out that I did not wait to hear the loud
complaints which burst from every lip. Drawing Mr. Ashley aside (who, by
the way, seemed as much affected as myself by the turn affairs had
taken), I remarked to him that, after this, there was only one course
left for me to take.
"And what is that?"
"To ask Miss Glover to show me what she picked up from your driveway."
"And if she refuses?"
"To take her quietly with me to the station, where we have women who can
make sure that the ruby is not on her person."
Mr. Ashley made an involuntary gesture of strong repugnance.
"Let us pray that it will not come to that," he objected hoarsely. "Such
a fine figure of a girl! Did you notice how bright and happy she looked
when the lights sprang up? I declare she struck me as lovely."
"So she did me, and caused me to draw some erroneous conclusions. I
shall have to ask you to procure me an interview with her as soon as we
return to the house."
"She shall meet you in the library."
But when, a few minutes later, she joined me in the room just
designated, I own that my task became suddenly hateful to me. She was
not far from my own daughter's age, and, had it not been for her furtive
look of care, appeared almost as blooming and bright. Would it ever come
to pass that a harsh man of the law should feel it his duty to speak to
my Flora as I must now speak to the young girl before me? The thought
made me inwardly recoil, and it was in as gentle a manner as possible
that I made my bow and began with the following remark:
"I hope you will pardon me, Miss Glover--I am told that is your name. I
hate to disturb your pleasure"--this with the tears of alarm and grief
rising in her eyes--"but you can tell me something which will greatly
simplify my task, and possibly put matters in such shape that you and
your friends can be released to your homes."
"I?"
She stood before me with amazed eyes, the colour rising in her cheeks. I
had to force my next words, which, out of consideration for her, I made
as direct as possible.
"Yes, miss. What was the article you were seen to pick up from the
driveway soon after leaving your carriage?"
She started, then stumbled backward, tripping in her long train.
"I pick up?" she murmured. Then with a blush, whether of anger or pride
I could not tell, she coldly answered: "Oh, that was something of my
own--something I had just dropped. I had rather not tell you what it
was."
I scrutinised her closely. She met my eyes squarely, yet not with just
the clear light I should, remembering Flora, have been glad to see
there.
"I think it would be better for you to be entirely frank," said I. "It
was the only article known to have been picked up from the driveway
after Mr. Deane's loss of the ruby; and though we do not presume to say
that it was the ruby, yet the matter would look clearer to us all if you
would frankly state what this object was."
Her whole body seemed to collapse, and she looked as if about to sink.
"Oh, where is Minnie? Where is Mr. Deane?" she moaned, turning and
staring at the door, as if she hoped they would fly to her aid. Then, in
a burst of indignation which I was fain to believe real, she turned on
me with the cry: "It was a bit of paper which I had thrust into the
bosom of my gown. It fell out----"
"Your dressmaker's bill?" I intimated.
"She stared, laughed hysterically for a moment, then sank upon a sofa
nearby, sobbing spasmodically.
"Yes," she cried, after a moment; "my dressmaker's bill. You seem to
know all my affairs." Then suddenly, and with a startling impetuosity,
which drew her to her feet: "Are you going to tell everybody that? Are
you going to state publicly that Miss Glover brought an unpaid bill to
the party, and that because Mr. Deane was unfortunate enough, or
careless enough, to drop and lose the jewel he was bringing to Mrs.
Burton she is to be looked upon as a thief, because she stooped to pick
up this bill which had slipped inadvertently from its hiding-place? I
shall die if you do!" she cried. "I shall die if it is already known,"
she pursued with increasing emotion. "Is it? Is it?"
Her passion was so great, so much greater than any likely to rise in a
breast wholly innocent, that I began to feel very sober.
"No one but Mrs. Ashley, and possibly her son, know about the bill,"
said I, "and no one shall if you will go with that lady to her room, and
make plain to her, in the only way you can, that the extremely valuable
article which has been lost to-night is not in your possession."
She threw up her arms with a scream. "Oh, what a horror! I cannot! I
cannot! Oh, I shall die of shame! My father! My mother!" And she burst
from the room like one distraught.
But in another moment she came cringing back.
"I cannot face them," she said. "They all believe it; they will always
believe it unless I submit! Oh, why did I ever come to this dreadful
place? Why did I order this hateful dress, which I can never pay for,
and which, in spite of the misery it has caused me, has failed to bring
me the----" She did not continue. She had caught my eye and seen there,
perhaps, some evidence of the pity I could not but experience for her.
With a sudden change of tone she advanced upon me with the appeal: "Save
me from this humiliation. I have not seen the ruby. I am as ignorant of
its whereabouts as--as Mr. Ashley himself. Won't you believe me? Won't
they be satisfied if I swear----"
I was really sorry for her. I began to think, too, that some dreadful
mistake had been made. Her manner seemed too ingenuous for guilt. Yet
where could that ruby be, if not with this young girl? Certainly, all
other possibilities had been exhausted, and her story of the bill, even
if accepted, would never quite exonerate her from secret suspicion while
that elusive jewel remained unfound.
"You give me no hope," she moaned. "I must go out before them all, and
ask to have it proved that I am no thief. Oh, if God would only have
pity----!"
"Or some one should succeed in finding----Halloo, what's that?"
A shout had risen from the hall beyond.
She gasped, and we both plunged forward. Mr. Ashley, still in his
overcoat, stood at the other end of the hall, and facing him were ranged
the whole line of young people whom I had left scattered about in the
various parlours. I thought he appeared to be in a peculiar frame of
mind; and when he glanced our way, and saw who was standing with me in
the library doorway, his voice took on a tone which made me doubt
whether he was about to announce good news or bad.
But his first word settled that question.
"Rejoice with me!" he cried. "_The ruby has been found!_ Do you want to
see the culprit, for there is a culprit? We have him at the door. Shall
we bring him in?"
"Yes, yes!" cried several voices, among them that of Mr. Deane, who now
strode forward with beaming eyes and instinctively lifted hand. But some
of the ladies looked frightened, and Mr. Ashley, noting this, glanced
for encouragement in our direction.
He seemed to find it in Miss Glover's eyes. She had quivered and nearly
fallen at that word _found_, but had drawn herself up by this time, and
was awaiting his further action in a fever of relief and hope, which,
perhaps, no one but myself could fully appreciate.
"A vile thief! A most unconscionable rascal!" vociferated Mr. Ashley.
"You must see him, mother; you must see him, ladies, else you will not
realise our good fortune. Open the door there, and bring in the robber!"
At this command, uttered in ringing tones, the huge leaves of the great
front-door swung slowly forward, revealing two sturdy stablemen leading
into view--_a huge horse_.
The scream of astonishment which went up from all sides, united to Mr.
Ashley's shout of hilarity, caused the animal, unused, no doubt, to
drawing-rooms, to rear to the length of his bridle. At which Mr. Ashley
laughed again, and gaily cried:
"Confound the fellow! Look at him, mother! look at him, ladies! Do you
not see guilt written on his brow? It is he who has made us all this
trouble. First, he must needs take umbrage at the two lights with which
we presumed to illuminate our porch; then, envying Mrs. Burton her ruby
and Mr. Deane his reward, seek to rob them both by grinding his hoofs
all over the snow of the driveway till he came upon the jewel which Mr.
Deane had dropped from his pocket, and, taking it up in a ball of snow,
secrete it in his left hind shoe--where it might be yet, if Mr.
Spencer"--here he bowed to a strange gentleman who at that moment
entered--"had not come himself for his daughters, and, going first to
the stable, found his horse so restless and seemingly lame--there, boys,
you may take the wretch away now and harness him, but first hold up that
guilty left hind hoof for the ladies to see--that he stooped to examine
him, and so came upon _this_."
Here the young gentleman brought forward his hand. In it was a
nondescript little wad, well soaked and shapeless; but once he had
untied the kid, such a ray of rosy light burst from his outstretched
palm that I doubt if a single woman there noted the clatter of the
retiring beast or the heavy clang made by the two front-doors as they
shut upon the _robber_. Eyes and tongues were too busy, and Mr. Ashley,
realising, probably, that the interest of all present would remain, for
a few minutes at least, with this marvellous jewel so astonishingly
recovered, laid it, with many expressions of thankfulness, in Mrs.
Burton's now eagerly outstretched palm, and advancing towards us,
greeted Miss Glover with a smile.
"Congratulate me," he prayed. "All our troubles are over. Oh, what now?"
The poor young thing, in trying to smile, had turned as white as a
sheet. Before either of us could interpose an arm, she had slipped to
the floor in a dead faint. With a murmur of pity and possibly of inward
contrition, he stooped over her, and together we carried her into the
library, where I left her in his care, confident, from certain
indications, that my presence would not be greatly missed by either of
them.
Whatever hope I may have had of reaping the reward offered by Mrs.
Ashley was now lost, but in the satisfaction I experienced at finding
this young girl as innocent as my Flora, I did not greatly care.
Well, it all ended even more happily than may here appear. The horse not
putting in his claim to the reward, and Mr. Spencer repudiating all
right to it, it was paid in full to Mr. Deane, who, accompanied by his
two ladies, went home in as buoyant a state of mind as was possible to
him after the great anxieties of the preceding two hours. I was told
that Mr. Ashley declined to close the carriage door upon them till the
whole three had promised to come again the following night.
Anxious to make such amends as I personally could for my share in the
mortification to which Miss Glover had been subjected, I visited her in
the morning, with the intention of offering a suggestion or two in
regard to that little bill. But she met my first advance with a radiant
smile and the glad exclamation:
"Oh, I have settled all that! I have just come from Madame Dupre's. I
told her that I had never imagined the dress could possibly cost more
than a hundred dollars, and I offered her that sum if she would take the
garment back. And she did, she did, and I shall never have to wear that
dreadful satin again!"
I made a note of this dressmaker's name. She and I may have a bone to
pick some day. But I said nothing to Miss Glover. I merely exclaimed:
"And to-night?"
"Oh, I have an old spotted muslin which, with a few natural flowers,
will make me look festive enough. One does not need fine clothes when
one is--happy."
The dreamy far-off smile with which she finished the sentence was more
eloquent than words, and I was not surprised when some time later I read
of her engagement to Mr. Ashley.
But it was not till she could sign herself with his name that she told
me just what underlay the misery of that night. She had met Harrison
Ashley more than once before, and, though she did not say so, had
evidently conceived an admiration for him which made her especially
desirous of attracting and pleasing him. Not understanding the world
very well, certainly having very little knowledge of the tastes and
feelings of wealthy people, she conceived that the more brilliantly she
was attired the more likely she would be to please this rich young man.
So in a moment of weakness she decided to devote all her small savings
(a hundred dollars, as we know) to buying a gown such as she felt she
could appear in at his house without shame.
It came home--as dresses from French dress-makers are very apt to
do--just in time for her to put it on for the party. The bill came with
it, and when she saw the amount--it was all itemised, and she could find
no fault with anything but the summing up--she was so overwhelmed that
she nearly fainted. But she could not give up her ball; so she dressed
herself, and, being urged all the time to hurry, hardly stopped to give
one look at the new and splendid gown which had cost so much. The
bill--the incredible, the enormous bill--was all she could think of, and
the figures, which represented nearly her whole year's earnings, danced
constantly before her eyes. She could not possibly pay it, nor could she
ask her father to do so. She was ruined. But the ball and Mr.
Ashley--these still awaited her; so presently she worked herself up to
some anticipation of enjoyment, and, having thrown on her cloak, was
turning down her light preparatory to departure, when her eye fell on
the bill lying open on her dresser.
It would never do to leave it there--never do to leave it anywhere in
her room. There were prying eyes in the house, and she was as ashamed of
that bill as she might have been of a contemplated theft. So she tucked
it into her corsage, and went down to join her friends in the carriage.
The rest we know, with the exception of one small detail which turned to
gall whatever enjoyment she was able to get out of the evening. There
was a young girl present, dressed in a simple muslin gown. While looking
at it, and inwardly contrasting it with her own splendour, Mr. Ashley
passed by with another gentleman, and she heard him say:
"How much better young girls look in simple white than in the elaborate
silks suited only to their mothers!"
Thoughtless words--possibly forgotten as soon as uttered--they sharply
pierced this already sufficiently stricken and uneasy breast, and were
the cause of the tears which had aroused my suspicion when I came upon
her in the library, standing with her face to the night.
But who can say whether, if the evening had been devoid of these
occurrences, and no emotions of contrition and pity had been awakened in
her behalf in the breast of her chivalrous host, she would ever have
become Mrs. Ashley?