The woman went, swiftly, noiselessly, with downcast eyes, across the hall, towards the service stairs. When she was out of sight, she turned towards the direction in which they were; she did not look pleased, and she said, quite loudly enough to have been audible to anyone who might have been standing near: "I've as good as half a mind to get him hanged, to spite the two of you." The countess, in the hall, regarded her friend; it was now much lighter, so that it was easy to see how white and worn the girl was looking. It is possible that the consciousness of the pallid face beside her softened the asperity which the lady had meant to mark her tone. She just spoke two words, in the form of a question. "Well, Vi?" Miss Forster's reply was still briefer; she merely echoed the other's first word. "Well?" Her ladyship waited; the girl continued still. "Is that all you have to say to me?" Miss Forster sighed, the long-drawn sigh of the sick at heart. Her tone was in tune with the sigh. "Margaret, if I were to start telling you all there is to tell--and I am so tired. I feel as if I hadn't slept for years, and as if I should never sleep again." Her ladyship's tone was practical. "That's all very well, my dear; I can see you're not feeling yourself, but don't you think you ought to tell me something?" "I'll do better than tell you, since actions speak louder than words." Miss Forster raised the blue velvet cover, and she opened the chest, this time without interruption; from within she took a brown leather bag and held it out to the countess, who observed it with doubtful eyes. "What bag is that?" "Take it and see." The countess took it, a little gingerly, as if she feared that unpleasant consequences might come from touching it. "Vi, what are you playing at? Whose is this bag, and how did it get into that chest, and why have you given it to me, and what is in the thing?" "I cannot tell you quite, as I've only seen the outside of the bag, and that for a moment only, but I can guess what it contains." "Then it's not yours?" The girl shook her head. "Then why have you given it to me?" "I fancy, if you look inside, its contents will supply the answer." "But whose bag is it?" "That I cannot tell you." "But what right have you to give me permission to look into a bag that certainly doesn't belong to you?" "Don't be silly, Margaret; I fancy its contents will explain why you should not stand on foolish points of etiquette; open it." The countess did as she was bid--then broke into exclamation. "Why, Vi, whatever is all this?" "That's what I want to know." "It looks as if it were a diamond necklace." "I shouldn't be surprised if there were more than one." "Vi, it's stuffed with them!" "I thought so; I fancy, when you come to make inquiries, that you will find all those precious things whose loss your guests are bemoaning." "Was it Jane Simmons who took them?"