MY LADY OF THE SAPPHIRES.
A photograph of My Lady of the Sapphires is hung immediately opposite tothe writing-table in my private office. It is there much on theprinciple which compels a monk to set a skull upon his praying-stool, ora son of Mohammed to ejaculate pious phrases at the call of the muezzin."_Nemo solus sapit_," wrote Plautus. Had Fate cast him in the mould of ajeweler, rather than that of a playwright, he would have set down astronger phrase.
I first saw My Lady two years ago, though it was only upon the day of myintroduction that I learnt her name. She had then, though I knew it not,been before the town for many weeks as a physiognomist, a mistress ofthe stars, a reader of faces, and in many other capacities interestingto the idle and the credulous. Society, which laughed at herpredictions, paid innumerable guineas for the possession of them; greatdames sat in her boudoir and discussed amatory possibilities; even theyouth of the city, drawn by the prettiness of her manner and herunquestionable good looks, came cheerfully to hear that they would havemoney "from two sources," or had passed through the uninterestingcomplaints of infancy without harm. In her way, she was the event of theseason. Dowagers scolded her, but came again and again to probe familysecrets, and learn the hidden things about their husbands; men flockedto her to know what possibility there was of an early return to thebliss of single life; mere boys ventured upon the hazard of a littlemild flirtation--and were at once shown the door by a formidable lackey.Throughout her career scandal never lifted its voice against her. Shewas engaged ultimately to Jack Lucas, and her marriage was as brilliantas her career had been fortunate.
When a curious chance and combination of events first brought me toacquaintance with her she was in the very height of her practice.Carriages crowded daily in Dover Street where, with her mother, she hadrooms--and it was the thing to consult her. Yet, until I dined casuallyone night with Colonel Oldfield, the collector of cat's-eyes, andBracebridge, at the Bohemian Club, hard by her house, I had never heardof her. The conversation turned during the soup--when talk is alwayswatery--upon the press of broughams in the street without, and Oldfieldmentioned her history to me, and the surprising nature of many thingsshe had told him.
"It is easy enough," said he, "to look at a man's hand and deducescarlet-fever and measles somewhere between two and twelve years of age;but when a woman tells you calmly that you were ready to die for twoother women at the age of one-and-twenty, it's a thing to make youpause."
"Which I hope you did," exclaimed Bracebridge. "Love is distinctly amatter for specialization."
"I did pause, sir," said the colonel severely, "and that's where hercleverness comes in. She told me that neither of the women cared thesnap of a finger for me, and I have really come to the conclusion thatshe was right. Years put a glamour upon most things, but it is hard,even at fifty, to recall a woman's 'no' of thirty years ago."
"Memory is a dangerous vice which should be controlled," saidBracebridge; "if you want peace, you must learn to forget. There shouldbe no yesterday for the man of the world. But I know the morbid kind ofrecollection you speak about. There was a fellow here only the othernight who kept a proposal book. He put the 'noes' on one side, and the'ayes' on the other, and balanced the columns every Christmas. One dayhe left the book in a cab, and has spent his time since going toScotland Yard for it. That comes of reminiscences!"
"I agree with you in the main," said the Colonel! "there is very littlein any man's private life which is of concern to any one but himself.The lady we are speaking of knows this, and makes her fortune by herknowledge. The truth is that we all love a little plain-spokenness.There is far too much praise about. Tell a fool that he is not a cleverman discreetly, and you flatter him; inform him that he is a brainlessass, and he will kick you. But when you put a black cap on your head,and take a wand in your hand, and charge a guinea for the spectacle, thefool will hear of his folly cheerfully."
"Then the girl you mention is a mere vulgar fortune-teller," said I,intervening for the first time. "It's astonishing how little differencethere is, when you come to reckon it up, between the tastes of a granddame and the tastes of her cook. The one goes in at the front door toget her hand read for a guinea; the other goes out of the back to havean equally plausible delineation for sixpence. Credulity does not knowany distinction of class; in the case I mention rank is represented byone pound odd. Those of us who have no particular objection to spillsalt, shiver to see the new moon through glass. That man alone who tellsyou frankly that he believes in all superstitions is free from theblemish. But common fortune-telling, I confess, leaves me unmoved."
"If it began and ended in the mere vulgar allotment of tragedy and ofmarriage, I should agree with you," said Bracebridge, speaking withunusual seriousness; "but I am inclined to think that this is a case ofnoteworthy cleverness, or at least of uncommon wit. The girl, possibly,is a charlatan: but if one half said of her be true, she is the _best_at the profession we have known. And after all, it's an achievement tobe _the_ best at some occupation, if it's only that of picking pockets."
"Speaking of that," said Oldfield, "I once knew a man in the '60th' whowas proud because a society paper described him as the finest idler inEurope. That was a negative distinction of surpassing beauty, you mustadmit. In the lady's case, however, there is something substantial topraise. She can talk of things of which I would not attempt to spellthe name, with a fluency which is charming, if it is not accurate; shehas a room full of unreadable books; and I believe there are a dozen menin town who will swear that she has made diamonds before their veryeyes. That should interest you, Sutton. A woman who is the possessor ofwhat she calls the 'alkahest' or universal solvent, is not to beinterviewed for a guinea every day. Besides, she might give you someuseful hints."
"And who knows," said Bracebridge, "what might come of it. I presume youpay three pounds odd an ounce for the genuine metal to-day. Undercertain contingencies, you might get it for threepence, and a wife intothe bargain."
I listened to their banter with amusement for some minutes, and then cutin a little seriously.
"I did not know," said I, "that physiognomy and alchemy usually ran wellin double harness, but I must take your word for it. Anything of thissort is always amusing to a jeweler, though he is apt to get a littletoo much of it. The last gold maker who came to me began by promising tomake a million in six months, and ended by wanting to borrowhalf-a-crown. I've seen scores of that sort."
"You may laugh at her as much as you please," said Oldfield; "but of onething be assured. If I am any judge of precious stones at all, she canmake rubies, and good ones too. She cast one for me when I was last ather place, and I offered her fifty pounds upon the spot for it. A quackwould have taken the money, but she refused it; you couldn't want anybetter proof of her _bona fides_ than that."
"Pardon me," I interrupted, "but I can't accept the conclusion. Probablythe ruby you thought she made was the only one in the place. It was likethe stock knife of the Cheap Jack. You couldn't expect her to part withit."
"Certainly I did. If she had made only one stone, I should have jumpedto your opinion; but she turned them out by the dozen. Most of them weresmall; some were altogether too insignificant to notice. One only, as Isay, was substantial; and in explanation of that, she admitted her wantof control over the action of the crystals in the crucible. Sometimesthey will prove worth money; more often they are quite without value.But she has hopes that the day will come when she will complete adiscovery which will astonish the universe."
"They all hope that," said I; "but the universe remains unmoved."
"And, of course, you don't believe a word of it," cried Bracebridge, ashe helped himself to salad. "Well, it's part of your business, Isuppose, to believe only in what you see, and not altogether in that.But the Colonel's right about the girl, and I can second every word hesays. She made a piece of gold as big as your thumbnail before my veryeyes. There was no pretense or humbug about it; and I may tell you thatshe'll only do this sort of thing for those sh
e knows well. If you wentto her to-morrow, and said, 'I want to see your experiments,' she'dlaugh at you, and send you away feeling like a fool."
"And seriously," said I, beginning to experience a glimmer of interest,"you believe that she has discovered something of importance?"
"Seriously I do; and if you went to her house you would swear by her forthe next month, possibly for two."
"You don't convince me at all," I replied, trying to look utterlyunconcerned. "I have known too many gold-makers for that. Some of themare now in workhouses; others are in prison. One of the last got threemonths for stealing an overcoat, which was ridiculously unromantic."
"Not at all," said the Colonel; "theft is a complex subject capable ofanalysis. A thief is a man who buys in the cheapest market. We all tryto do that in our way. There is no earthly reason why a _savant_, who isnear to possessing the philosopher's stone, should not be charged beforea magistrate with stealing a red herring. Life is all contrast, and thecontrast we speak of is a very pretty one. Go and see her at yourearliest opportunity."
"That's my advice too," said Bracebridge; "and if you've a fancy towatch her at the crucible, I'll speak for you. What's more, I'll bet youan even hundred pounds that you admit my conclusions."
"Which are?" I asked.
"That she has come nearer to the solution of the diamond problem thanany man or woman living or dead."
"I don't bet on certainties," said I; "but if you care to trouble thelady to burn her doubtlessly pretty hands on my account, well, let'shave the interview by all means. If she convinces me that she can makeany sort of precious stone worth selling in the market, I'll give ahundred pounds to a children's hospital--the Colonel can name it."
"Is it a serious offer?" asked the Colonel, looking, as I thought, alittle meaningly at Bracebridge, but I said,--
"I was never more serious, and town will be quite dismal enough afterthis week" (it was the week of Goodwood). "Fix it up as early as youcan; and conjure the lady, whose name I have not yet had the pleasure ofhearing, to take care of your reputation. If she can cast me a ruby or asapphire worth looking at, I will set it in diamonds and make her apresent of it. You may tell her so from me."
"I'll give her your message undiluted," said Bracebridge, with a greatdeal of content, "but I'll warrant that she'll have the laugh of you,and so shall we."
They said no more upon the matter until the end of the dinner, and itwas not referred to in the smoking room after. We quitted the club at anearly hour to hear a song at a music-hall which the Colonel raved about;and after that I left them and returned to Bayswater, with therecollection of my rash promise gone clean out of my head. I did noteven recall it on the following morning, and it was some three daysafter that I received a note from the Colonel saying that he had, duringBracebridge's absence from town, made an appointment for me with MissJessie Fleming--for such was the fair alchemist's name--and that shewould be glad to tell me anything she could about her work on thefollowing afternoon at half-past two o'clock. The letter at oncebrought to my mind the whole of the conversation, at the club. Iremembered with a smile of contempt that the lady was to show me, duringa short interview, how the whole of a jeweler's occupation was soon tobe done with; how diamonds and sapphires and even the precious metalitself, were presently to be as common as pebbles in a brook; and Iconcluded with easy assurance that if any children's hospital dependedupon my being convinced, it would have to close its doors at an earlydate. I had seen so much of this sort of thing; so many stories offortunes lying in a metal pot had been whispered into my ear; this couldbe but an addition to the list; it remained to see if it would be anamusing addition.
I will confess readily that if the pretender had been a man, I wouldhave declined curtly to see him. The whole of those who had come to mehitherto with a pretended insight into the arcana of metals weremen--mostly half-pay officers--whose wits were half gone with theirmoney. Here, however, was, by all accounts, a charming professor of thelost art. The season was beginning to be dull; there were no more "athomes"; possibly she would amuse me. I had given my promise to themen--and to put it briefly I found myself at Miss Jessie Fleming's dooron the following day, not a little expectant, disdainfully incredulous,and exceedingly anxious to prove for myself if the physiognomist'spersonal attractions were even a tithe of those which had been claimedfor her by so many long headed and usually sensible men.
My knock at the modest-looking portal was answered by a formidableflunky, who did not wait to hear my name, but conducted me up astaircase draped almost to darkness with heavy curtains, and so to awell-furnished waiting-room on the first floor. Here three women, allwell known in society, were engaged in an heroic effort to appearabsorbed in the illustrated papers; but they were obviouslyuncomfortable at my presence, and cast furtive looks over the pages asthough in appeal to me to make no mention of anything I had seen. I hadno opportunity, however, to abate their fear of publicity; for scarcewas I come into the room when the flunky appeared again at thefolding-doors which cut it off from the sanctum of My Lady, and beckonedme to follow him.
I had come out on this expedition purely, as I have said, to be amused.When I found myself at last before the new Pythia of London, enthronedas she was for the immediate interpretation of the oracle, I confessthat I did not foresee any disappointment of the venture. The room washalf in darkness, but there was light enough by which to observe manyfine pieces of china and delicate sketches upon its gold and greenwalls; and to note the quaint conceits of the whole scheme ofdecoration. A lamp of Eastern shape spread a soft red glow upon sofasand seductive lounges; a conservatory, heaped up with shade-suggestingpalms, gave off at one end of it through doors of exquisitely coloredglass; there was a strange tripod of brass before the fireplace; andflowers everywhere, seeming to grow from the very grate, to flourish inall the crannies, to cover tables and bookcases, and even to decoratethe dress of the young girl who now stood to receive me, and welcomed mewith cordiality.
My first impression of the physiognomist--an impression which remainswith me--was the outcome of her extremely youthful appearance. I amcertain that whatever age she might have been she did not look it. Youthin rich generosity was stamped upon her slightest action and her mostserious word. It flashed from her eyes, was seen in the unsurpassablefreshness of her complexion, in the golden sheen of her hair, in therotundity of her arms, and the development of her slight but well-formedfigure. If she had any serious mood, it was not apparent when first Ispoke to her; nor did a rapid analysis of her face tell me of anyuncommon mental power. Her chin was a firm one, it is true; but Inoticed that she had little height of head above her ears, and thatthere was even something of weakness in her forehead. At the same timethere could not be two opinions of the general charm of her manner; andshe possessed in a very large degree that magnetic power of attractingsympathy and admiration which is peculiarly the attribute of women.
Directly I had come into the pretentious chamber of audience, and theflunky had closed the folding-doors behind me, this fascinating littleprophetess began to talk, her words rippling over one another like thewaves of a river; her natural excitement betraying itself in the obviousrestraint of her gestures.
"I'm so glad it's you!" she exclaimed, clasping her hands together, asthough in ecstasy. "Those old women bother me to death, and there havebeen twelve of them here this morning. Colonel Oldfield told me allabout you yesterday, and I was interested at once. We must have a goodlong talk. Oh, do listen to that dreadful creature; she talks in scalesbeginning at the lower C and going up to no possible note in the musicof heaven or earth. I suppose she won't go away."
Her remark, and the clapping of her little hands to equally little ears,followed upon the sound of altercation between one of the ladies in thewaiting-room and the flunky of formidable mien. Apparently the ladywould not depart without a _seance_, and the footman was compelling her.In the end she went, declaring the whole thing a cheat, and "that chitof a girl" a particular imposture. When the sound of her
voice had diedaway upon the stairs, My Lady took up the thread of her remarks.
"Now," said she, "I want to have a good look at you, and you must have agood look at me. People like ourselves should know each other to beginwith. Don't think I'm going to bore you with the nonsense I tradein--you are far too clever for that, and would find me out in a minute.You see, I'm like a man with a good cellar: I keep the old wine for theold birds who are not caught with chaff. That's a delightfully mixedmetaphor, isn't it? and not very polite, when I think of it. But comeand sit down near the light, where I can see you."
She spoke so quickly that I did not pretend to hear half of that whichshe said, or to answer her; but I seated myself upon the ottoman nearthe entrance to the conservatory; and when she had thrown open the glassdoors, she herself took the low arm-chair facing me. I saw then that shewore a strange dress in the Egyptian fashion, and that her breast wasall covered with jingling gold medals, while her hair was similarlyornamented.
"Come," she said, resting her head upon her hand, "I want to know fromyou _why_ you are here. It is not for me to tell you about your life, isit?"
"I will be frank," I replied; "it is not. My life has already spoken agood deal for itself. What I did come here to see was the making ofdiamonds. They tell me you possess the philosopher's stone, or somethingnear to it."
She looked at me with a penetrating gaze, and then laughed a littlehardly.
"And you believed it?" she asked presently.
"Not for a moment," said I; "but I thought it was not unlikely that youhad some amusing trick which you would not mind showing me. I am verymuch interested in jewels, you know."
"So am I," she exclaimed, but with the air of one whose mind is awayfrom the words--"there is nothing more beautiful or more mysterious onearth than a diamond. It just seems to be a prison for lovely things ofwhich it gives us the lights when we treat it well. And you thought Imight amuse you with a trick? That was a poor compliment, wasn't it?"
The thing was said with a swift reversion of her mind to the subject,as I could see; and there was a world of humor in her eyes when sheturned them on me.
"It was no poor compliment," said I, "since you have convinced such aman as Colonel Oldfield that you can make rubies. He is a judge ofjewels, too."
"And a very good one," she replied; "but really there was nothing in myexperiment. What I do has been done by French chemists for twenty yearspast. The Colonel came here with an open mind--but you, you closed thedoors of yours as you came upstairs."
I protested feebly, but she did not listen to my answer.
"Yes," she exclaimed, speaking very rapidly, "I have been thinking aboutyou as you sat there, and I am sure that I know you now. You are a manso well accustomed to steer in the shallows of your business that younever look beyond them. You make a gospel of distrust, and you considerconfidence the sign of a weak intellect. You have been often deceived,for your breadth of view is not large; and you will be often deceivedagain. It is impossible for you to conceive beauty which is notsaleable; and for romance you have no place in your heart. You have comehere, saying all the way, 'I am going to interview an impostor; she willnot amuse me--most possibly she will bore me. It is ten thousand to onethat her experiments are all rubbish, but I will take the ten thousandthchance, in the hope that she might have found out something which I cansell--sell--sell.' Yet you are honest in a measure, since you ask mefor a trick, knowing well that a trick is all you can reasonably expectfrom me. You are, in short, not very far removed from that dreadfulperson 'the pure man of business'; and you feel wofully strange alreadyin the presence of one whose occupation is romance, and whose professionis undisguisedly practised in the offices of mystery. Do I speak thetruth?"
She bent forward so that I could look straight into her eyes as shefinished the excited sketch of character; and while with any otherspeaker my vanity had been sore wounded, I listened to her with no otherfeeling than those of growing admiration. The potency of her personalitywas beyond description; I have never met a woman who could communicateher own magnetism so quickly when she chose to talk seriously. Andbeyond this, I had already corrected my assumption that she was notclever. She had, indeed, one of the quickest brains I have ever dealtwith.
"You are very hard on me," said I, as she waited for me to speak, "but Icannot say that you do not get to the bottom of the affair. You do me aninjustice, however, when you say that my visit is purely commercial. Noone in London would be more unselfishly interested than myself if anyprogress were made with the thousand attempts to manufacture jewels. Ifyou have succeeded, even in a small degree, your fortune is made."
"Do you think that?" she cried. "Well, a word from Mr. Bernard Sutton isa word indeed; but we shall see. Meanwhile, we are going to have somefruit and wine. Don't you find it fearfully close in here?--that's theheat from my furnace in the conservatory there. I've had a little oneput up especially for my experiments. As you were coming, we had to getthe metal melted; and we've had a fire there since last night."
"You will experiment for me, then?" said I, with considerable interest.
"If you are very good," she replied, "I may show you something; butfirst you must taste my sherbet, and tell me all about the diamondswhich I have bought and not made. You've heard, perhaps, that I wasteall my money on jewelry."
I told her that I had not, but the flunky appearing at that moment, shedid not pursue the subject, occupying herself in mixing me aneffervescing draught in a great crystal goblet. The drink was gratifyingon the hot day; and when I had taken it there was a warm coursing ofblood through my veins as though I had drunk of rich Burgundy.
"Now," said she, when the man had gone, but had left the little tablepiled up with fruit--"now we can talk seriously. Let us carry the liquidwith us--that's what Jack Lucas always calls it; he gets me that sherbetfrom some place in the East with an unpronounceable name. I am going toput you into an arm-chair, and you are not to ask a single questionuntil I have finished. Have you got any cigarettes with you?--you maysmoke if you are very good."
We went into the conservatory, which was ridiculously small, and closealmost to suffocation, and there I saw many evidences of her attempt tofathom the unfathomable mysteries. There were racks with bottles roundthree sides of the apartment, and in the corner of the other side therestood a common little furnace such as smiths use. These, with a numberof brass plates covered with hieroglyphics, some presses in steel, abasket containing strips of metal and a quantity of crystals, were herwhole equipment for the business before her; but there was a lowarm-chair in the shape of those used for dental horrors; and there sheasked me to sit while she herself prepared for the undertaking.
"The first thing for you to do," said she, "is to make yourselfcomfortable. A man who is ill at ease is in the worst possible mentalstate, for he cannot concentrate himself. Just at present I want you toconcentrate yourself on that cigarette and the fizzing stuff. Wheneverything is ready I shall call out."
With this said, she set the fruit and the cup at the side of my chair,and then rolled up the sleeves of her dress quickly, putting on an apronwhich covered her finery; and she looked for all the world like anunusually pretty housemaid. I watched her with even a larger interestthan I had done; and I remember thinking, as I settled in the greatlounge, that whatever her mental claims might be upon the admiration ofthe city, her personal qualities were undeniable.
These were especially to be observed when she began to busy herself withthe furnace and the tiny crucibles upon it, the glow of soft lightseeming to emphasize the youthfulness of her perfect face, and toconverge upon it as light focussed upon a picture. She had now falleninto a very serious mood, and after she had used the bellows vigorouslyat her fire, and placed the smallest of the crucibles upon it again, shesat herself upon a stool at the side of my chair, and resting her headupon her open hand--her favorite attitude--she spoke with evidentearnestness.
"The mysteries of jewels," she exclaimed, "and the mysteries of goldhave eaten the he
art out of many a clever man, from Gebir to Sir IsaacNewton. If you will read the history of the philosophers, even of somein the story of that which we call the modern ages, you will findamongst the greatest the names of those who sought for an 'alkahest' oruniversal solvent. Even the wisest of men have hoped for a fullknowledge of the arcana of metals. Paracelsus himself believed in thefifth, or the quintessence of creation. Roger Bacon, to whom death cameout of neglect, prescribed as the elixir of life gold dissolved innitro-hydrochloric acid. Why should I tell you how science now laughs atthese old philosophers, and lumps them together as little better thanmaniacs? Yet does she laugh at them with good reason? Is it not justpossible that she will be ultimately the means of turning the laugh uponherself? In our day she has come very near to knowing of thetransmutability of metals. Allotropy has turned the eyes of many back tothe remoter past. The chemist is beginning to ask himself, Were thesemen such fools? The near future may cast a light upon long centuries ofdarkness. But those only will reap who come to the work with open minds,with the certain conviction that in all pertaining to this vast sciencewe are still children. Do you follow me in this?"
"Perfectly," I replied; and assuredly a prettier lecture was nevergiven. The girl's eyes seemed to flash lights as she warmed to hersubject; her enthusiasm was so contagious that I found myself softeningbefore it. She was earnest, at any rate; and most of her kind werequacks.
"If you grant this long premiss, and do not consider that all inquiry isnecessarily useless," she continued, "you solve the greater difficultieswhich surround my conceptions. It remains to ask, What steps must thechemist follow who would seek to turn from his crucible the perfectjewel? Let us take the sapphire as an instance. It is my favorite stone,one compelling, as the ancients declare, the wearer to all good works.Well, the sapphire in all its beautiful tints is only a variety ofcorundum, colored by metallic oxide. It is a common crystal, a six-sidedprism terminated in a six-sided pyramid. It is taken from gneiss, and weknow to-day that alumina is the basis of it, as it is the basis of somany precious stones. Granted this, what is the work before the chemist?Is it not simply to cast in his crucible the crystals of the base, tocolor them with the metallic oxide, if he can and to harden them so thatthey will bear the test? The process is a long one--it needs days tobring it to perfection: the annealing, the polishing, the setting--theseare not work for an hour. What I have to show you now are but thestages of it. These you shall see and judge for yourself; but I ask youvery sincerely to weigh up this great question for yourself, not to beled by the incredulity of the fanatic, and to believe with me that weare on the brink of a discovery which shall pour jewels on the world asthe sea casts pebbles upon a beach."
I said nothing in answer to this remarkable delivery, for the truth wasthat I watched the girl rather than heard her words. Her earnestness,nay, her enthusiasm, was so pretty to see that all my interest seemedabsorbed in her; and now, when she rose swiftly and drew the curtainsover the windows, leaving the place illuminated only by one rose-coloredlamp, I followed all her actions as one follows the change of a picture.
"Let us keep away the daylight," said she, "and then we can see thecrystals forming. By-and-by I will show you the perfect jewel. Nowlook."
What she did in the next few minutes I am quite unable to say, so swiftwere her movements and so hurried her talk. But I remember that sheopened the furnace door, allowing soft rays of deep yellow light toflood the room; and then quickly she cast a dozen crystals upon thetable from the glowing crucible; and from a press near to her hand shetook three more and laid them on the plate. The largest of the crystals,which was blue as a sapphire, and possessed little light at a distance,she presently picked up with tiny tongs, and coming over to me, sheknelt at my side, holding the jewel before my eyes, and clasping myleft hand in hers. And then she cried with the wildest excitement in hervoice, and her breast heaving with her emotion,--
"Oh, look at it! is there anything more beautiful on earth than aperfect sapphire? and I made it, it is all my work, all my own!"
While she cried thus she held my hand firmly, and the pressure of herown was hot as fire, but this I only remembered afterwards, forgradually, as I looked at the jewel critically, it took the color andthe shape of a perfect gem. It was not a large stone, perhaps one ofthree carats, but the longer I looked upon it the more brilliant andbeautiful did it appear to be. Never had I seen more perfect shape orpromise of light when set; and with the realization of the discovery myhead reeled as the possibility that this mere girl had succeeded whereso many had failed loomed at last before me. It was true, then, asOldfield said, that she could manufacture a perfect jewel before hiseyes. Here was one which, if well cut, I could sell for a hundredpounds. She had made that, as I could swear: why should she not make ahundred, a thousand? My heart leaped at the conclusion.
"Tell me," said I, "you had no help in this work?"
"You saw that I had none," she cried. "Look at the other crystals; thereare five of them. You have seen them come straight from thecrucible--and you know that I have succeeded. Will you buy my sapphire?Buy it in proof that I have conquered you. When you return to-morrow Iwill tell you everything. I am exhausted now. The work always excitesme terribly. My nerves are all unstrung; I can do no more to-day."
"If you will sell me the stone you hold in those tongs, I will give youfifty pounds for it," I said, concluding that, even had I been tricked,a real jewel, and a very good one, was before my eyes. But at thispromise she cried out with joy, and putting the stone in a little boxwith lightning speed, she handed it to me.
"Pay me to-morrow, any time," she said. "It was good of you to comehere, and to listen to me. I am very grateful. When you come again youshall know all my secret. Only think well of me and be my friend."
With this she led the way quickly into her own room, and the lackeyappeared in answer to her ring. The interview was at an end, abruptly asit seemed to me, and I left her with a strange feeling of dizziness, andmy head burning with excitement--but her sapphire was in my pocket.
* * * * *
When I met Bracebridge, who was waiting in my room for me, he had anugly leer upon his face.
"Well," said he, "I fancy my hundred's all right?"
"What hundred?"
"With Oldfield," said he. "I bet him a hundred she'd sell you a piece ofglass for a sapphire; and I don't suppose you'll deny that she did it?"
"I'm not going to deny anything of the sort," said I; "she did sell meglass, and of the commonest kind. I am now seeking an undiscoveredsuperlative. The biggest fool in London is no designation for me."
"Ah," said he, "you should take it quietly. She's done a complete dozenof us at the game. That paraphernalia which Jack Lucas rigged up in herconservatory for her is the medium, I fancy. Lucas, you know, is aprofessor or something at Emmanuel, Cambridge. He taught her all thatjargon about crystals."
"But," said I, as I pitched her glass into the fireplace, "what I wantto know is, how did I come to think that the stuff was real? I couldhave sworn to it."
"So could we all," he replied, with a great burst of laughter; "but I'lltell you in a word--she hypnotized you. I always said you were a grandsubject."
I looked him in the face for a minute, during which he made an heroicattempt to be serious. But it was too much for him. Presently he gaveone great shout of hilarity which you could have heard half-way down thestreet, and then rolled about in his chair uncontrollably.
"You seem to find it amusing," said I, "but I fail to catch the point."
"You'll be seeing it by-and-by," said he, and at that he went off to theclub to be first with it.
THE END.
* * * * *
_Shortest Route._
_Beautiful Scenery._
VIA
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN
BETWEEN
Cincinnati Asheville Chattanooga Columbia Birmingham Savannah New Orleans Jacksonville
Shreveport Miami Texas and California Points
_Beautiful illustrated Battlefield folder sent on application._
For rates, etc., address
W. C. RINEARSON General Passenger Agent CINCINNATI, O.
"Down where the living waters flow."
HOT SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.
The best patronized Winter resort in the United States. All the hotelsnow open. Golf, lawn tennis, cricket, base ball, the best of saddle anddriving horses, and other outdoor sports. The
Iron Mountain Route
Is the old reliable and most direct line. Less than twelve hours fromSt. Louis and twenty-one hours from Chicago, with through Compartmentand Standard Sleeping Cars and Free Reclining Chair Cars. Pamphletstelling all about it from any agent of the Company.
W. E. HOYT G. E. P. AGENT, 335 BROADWAY NEW YORK, N. Y.
H. C. TOWNSEND, GENERAL PASSENGER AND TICKET AGENT ST. LOUIS, MO.
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Notes:
Italic typeface in the original book is indicated with _underscores_.
Minor changes have been made to correct typesetters' errors; otherwise,every effort has been made to remain true to the author's words andintent.
Page 38, changed "a" to "at" ("a customer at Dieppe").
Page 140, changed "absense" to "absence" ("the utter absence of clue").
Page 150, added the word "all" ("they all of a sudden").
Page 217, changed "colour" to "color" ("upon a glow of color").
Page 267, changed "conversatory" to "conservatory" ("rigged up in herconservatory").
The following spelling variants have been retained as printed:
"Dunholm" and "Dunholme" "Kennet" and "Kennett"]
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