Brownie made no reply to this concession, but stood quietly regarding her enemy. “Come into my room and let us talk the matter over quietly,” the wily woman added, flashing a cunning look at the young girl from her half-closed eyes. “I think we can come to a better understanding, and I have a proposition to make to you.” Brownie felt somewhat suspicious of this smooth talk, and feared that the sudden change in Mrs. Coolidge’s manner was only assumed for some hidden purpose; yet she thought it might be better to temporize with her, and it would, perhaps, save publicity. She could not leave the room, as things were, without making a disturbance, for the door was locked, the key in the woman’s pocket, and she knew of no other means of egress, although there were several arches in the spacious apartment, hung with draperies, which she thought must conceal entrances to some other portion of the house. “I do not know what better understanding you may wish for,” she replied, coldly. “Your daughter took this box from my room, and I have told you repeatedly that it and its contents belong to me, and you know, as well as I, Mrs. Coolidge, that any judge would decide in my favor should the case be brought into court. But we can talk it over here as well as anywhere.” “Then why did you come sneaking into this room, like a thief, to get them? Why didn’t you take the matter into court, and let the judge decide in your favor?” sneered the exasperated woman, almost losing her self-control again under Brownie’s coolness and her refusal to go with her. “I did not sneak into the room like a thief, madam. I was passing along the corridor, the door was open, and, glancing in, I saw my casket upon the table, I entered and took it, intending to inform Miss Coolidge of the fact as soon as I had it beyond her reach.” “You say you can prove your claim. Who is this nobleman who knows so much about these jewels?” asked Mrs. Coolidge, with sudden interest. Brownie thought a moment before answering. She disliked to implicate his lordship in the matter if she could possibly help it; but she saw that Mrs. Coolidge was desperate about the jewels, and perhaps the power of his name might frighten her into letting them go, and the matter would drop there, so she said: “It is Lord Dunforth!” “Lord Dunforth!” she exclaimed, with a violent start of surprise.