"I thought I once heard you say you did, so I have brought it with me. May I show it to you?" "How good of you, dear Miss Egerton; let me see it at once. Real Spanish lace is of great value. Oh, and white, too! What lovely flounces!" "The lady to whom they belonged know nothing of their real value; she was disposing of both shawl and flounces yesterday evening for ten shillings." "Oh, Miss Egerton! oh, poor, poor thing! I will gladly give her fifty pounds for them." Miss Egerton coughed, and colored slightly. "The fact is," she said, "I do not think she ought to sell them; they are mementoes, and belonged to her mother. Mrs. Ellsworthy, I won't deceive you any longer. This lace is now the property of Jasmine Mainwaring. She took it to a pawnshop last night, and but for me would have absolutely given it away; I was just in time to redeem it. Now the fact is, I happen to know that Primrose does not wish this lace to be sold; I offered, long ago, to find a purchaser for it, but she looked terribly distressed at the idea. What I should like to do would be this; in short, in short--I do not quite know how to put it--" "I know, I know," said Mrs. Ellsworthy, clapping her hands, "you want me to be a pawnbroker, and to lend money on it. I will, I will, with pleasure; oh, this is quite a fresh and delightful idea." "Give me ten pounds to help the poor child over her present difficulties," said Miss Egerton, tears in her eyes. "Yes, ten pounds is quite enough. I will not take a penny more." "Now, Mrs. Ellsworthy, as we have comfortably disposed of this little matter, I want to talk to you most seriously about the girls." Mrs. Ellsworthy bent her head to listen with rapt attention; and the two women were engaged for a couple of hours in most earnest conversation. That afternoon, when Jasmine, very weary and very depressed, toiled up the stairs to her Palace Beautiful, she found two letters awaiting her. One was from Primrose, containing very cheerful news about Daisy. Daisy was really getting better, and had even been out for a few minutes. The other letter had not come by the post, and Jasmine wondered who her correspondent could be. She opened it eagerly. It contained a folded sheet of paper, out of which dropped two crisp Bank of England notes for five pounds each. The sheet of paper itself contained the following words:-- "DEAR JASMINE:--I have found a pawnbroker who better understands the value of your old lace. I have borrowed ten pounds for you on it, with liberty for you to redeem the shawl and flounces at your convenience. You can pay me back the ten shillings I lent you last night when you get change; but there is no hurry. Come and have tea this evening at six, dear. I have much to talk over with you. "Your affectionate friend, "AGNES EGERTON."