Then, with fingers that trembled a little, she had turned the box upside down and shaken out her other jewellery upon the table, although it was obvious the chain was not there. She remembered having taken it out the previous day, and carelessly left it lying on the dressing-table. Hastily she opened the chest of drawers and swept the contents aside, hoping to find it had been placed in safe custody by Betsy. Then she had stood up, looking down upon the disorder she had created among her possessions, her breath coming a little gaspingly as she murmured to herself: "It is gone--_stolen_----" And a thought, so ugly, so disconcerting, had rushed unbidden to her mind, making her heart beat unpleasantly at the mere suggestion which came as a flash of illumination, to be followed by a cloud of doubt, which enveloped her mind and filled her with untold misery. She had come to this house a stranger, she had been kindly treated, and had grown fond of the young people who had entered into her life. The household had appeared a strange one, and things had puzzled her. Now something of bitterness sounded in her voice as she spoke her thoughts aloud. "I trusted them--I trusted them _all_," and now--the fact could not be doubted, it had to be faced, and faced bravely, she had been robbed, it seemed, by someone in this house who must be a thief. And yet--Could she think it of any of them? The very suspicion sent the hot blood surging to her face--she had felt shamed by the idea of doubting her friends--for they had now become that to her. Even Betsy, the old and valued servant, had lately been ready to do anything for her, and James, too, did many little things which added to her comfort. She was miserable and upset when she lay down to rest; she did not suspect anyone particularly, and yet the horrid fact that the jewels were gone could not be got over. Margaret awoke the following morning with a headache; much of the night had been spent in restless, wakeful tossing. Not until the sun was shedding its soft beams through her lattice window did she fall into a troubled sleep. Immediately after breakfast she asked to see Mrs. Medhurst, and poured out the story of her loss into sympathetic ears. "My dear Miss Woodford, no wonder you are upset," she said. "Your beautiful necklace you showed me one day--you remember--gone? I can scarcely believe it. I can assure you there are no thieves in this house--at least I have every reason to believe Betsy and James to be above suspicion, they have been so many years in our service, and we have so trusted them--but of course one can never say one is _perfectly_ sure. I suppose you have searched everywhere? Could it have fallen behind the dressing-chest?"