“Take the law, then; you’ll have a fight of it, if you do, let me tell you, for no one will believe the tale of a governess, who has been dismissed for unworthy conduct. Now, go!” cried the irate woman, almost beside herself with passion. Brownie uttered no words, but walked like a queen from the room; but once within her own, she broke down utterly. To lose those treasures, which had been the silent companions of her heart-broken aunt during all those lonely years, and around which clustered so much of hope and despair, was more than she could bear. The little chain, too, with its golden key, which her aunt had told her to wear as long as she lived, that, too, was in the power of those cruel women. She grew nearly wild over the thought of her loss. She must have them again—she would have them, but how to get them was the question. She realized all the difficulties which lay in her path. She was a stranger in this foreign land, without a friend outside the family to whom to turn in her hour of need. If she should take the law, as she had threatened, no one would believe the story, as Mrs. Coolidge had said. Only Isabel and her mother knew anything of what had just transpired, and if they should deny her statement, how could she help herself, and who, indeed, would believe that a poor governess owned such valuables? The more she thought the more hopeless her case seemed to become. Once her thoughts turned involuntarily to Adrian Dredmond; perhaps he would help her. But her maidenly delicacy recoiled from seeking aid from him, a stranger. Where should she go? What should she do? CHAPTER XVI DECLARATION OF LOVE While Brownie was weeping out her misery alone, and trying to plan what was best for the future, Isabel Coolidge and her mother were examining, more at their leisure, the beautiful ornaments, which had so excited their admiration and astonishment and which they both began now to covet. Isabel tried the effect of each separate piece upon herself. To do the two women justice, they really believed that the jewels had been stolen. “Mamma, this tiara of opals, pearls, and diamonds will be just the thing for me to wear next Wednesday night at Lady Peasewell’s; see how becoming it is.” And Isabel turned from the mirror, where she had been catering to her vanity for the last half hour. “It is lovely, my dear; but I doubt whether your father will be willing you should wear it. His ideas are peculiar, you know.” “He won’t be here, mamma. You know he said he should not be home for a week or ten days; so he need not know anything about it.” “I am at a loss to know whether it is best to tell him anything about this affair,” said Mrs. Coolidge, musingly. “But what excuse will you give him for bouncing Miss Douglas?” asked Isabel, who had a taste for using slang once in a while.