Then she suddenly remembered, with a thrill that made her feel faint, Isabel’s account of her strange interview with his lordship at Lady Peasewell’s, and she began to fear that she was getting beyond her depth in this matter; and yet this very revelation made her more determined than ever to keep the jewels, at least until after Isabel’s marriage; for their absence would occasion a great hue and cry, and necessitate such awkward explanations that Sir Charles would mistrust something wrong, and then all their plans would be ruined, for he had only that day named the wedding day. Yet, if she resorted to force to keep them, Brownie, on the other hand, would instantly take active measures to recover them, and if she could, she said, prove through Lord Dunforth that they were hers, they would immediately be brought into open disgrace. Whichever way she turned, it looked dark. There was only one way of escape from this threatening danger, and that was very hazardous; but she had resolved from the first, if worse came to worst, that she would try it, and that was why she appeared so anxious to get her into her rooms. She stood measuring her strength against Brownie’s, while these thoughts passed through her mind, and that same cunning gleam lurked in her eyes as before. “Lord Dunforth!” she repeated. “Do you know him?” “No, madam; at least, not well enough to claim his acquaintance and protection, except in case of stern necessity; but he knows all about these jewels, and when I told my story he would know that I spoke the truth.” “How would he know it? When did he ever see those jewels before he saw Isabel wear them?” the woman asked, inquisitively, and burning with a desire to know more about them herself. “Madam,” Brownie answered, haughtily, “I decline answering any more questions. I insist that you let me go quietly; you can then make whatever explanation regarding the absence of these gems you may see fit. But, if you persist in giving me further trouble, I shall immediately make the whole matter public, and doubtless you know what the consequences will be.” Mrs. Coolidge’s eyes flashed, and the young girl, catching their gleam at that instant, involuntarily shivered, they looked so evil. “My dear Miss Douglas,” she began, politely, after a moment, “can we not temporize in this matter? You know if Isabel ceases suddenly to wear those jewels it is going to make matters very awkward for her. Could you not be persuaded, for a handsome consideration, to loan them to her until after her marriage, which will be in a little more than a month?” Brownie’s lips curled with scorn at this proposition. The woman who could make it under the existing circumstances seemed so little and small of soul to her. “No, madam; I think I have loaned them long enough already,” was her quiet but scathing reply.