Jennette Lee

“ It does not seem to you absurd that I should think of jewels as alive—almost as sentient things!" His voice deepened and his eager eyes glowed a little. "It is not an accident that they are called 'precious' stones!" he cried. "Something hidden in them shines—some precious secret that glimmers to us!" He sighed a little. "And it always escapes us!" he said with a smile.
The necklace had fallen to his lap. He did not touch it as he went rapidly on. "I gave the emeralds to Greenwald and told him what I wanted. ”

“ The same scene of moonlit beauty lay before her, but nothing to break its repose, nothing to call her, startled, out of sleep.
A slight sound below caught her ear. She turned swiftly. She passed out of the room and down the stairs, blessing the well-built house that yielded no creaking tread to her swift-moving feet. At the juncture of the two corridors she paused with caution. Along the corridor to the right she could hear footsteps moving lightly and evenly; and she leaned forward far enough to see with a glance down the entire length of the corridor running to the front of the house. ”

“ He turned the necklace absently, and his eyes, resting on it, seemed to follow his thought. "It was Stephen's leaving home that hurt her so. She loves the boy devotedly."
"I have seen that. Why did he go?"
"It is a long story. If I tell it to you, you may see nothing in it." He looked at her musingly. "But you are a woman. A woman may understand what I have been helpless to solve."
He touched the necklace softly.
"When I gave this to her I was the happiest man on God's earth——"
"My husband is a poet," came softly to Milly's ear. "He is not like other men." ”

“ Then he roused himself.
"I went at once to McAndrews's with the necklace and asked for Greenwald, with whom I had an appointment. They know me well at McAndrews's. I have bought many things of them—I am somewhat of a connoisseur in jewels. I care more for them than most people," he remarked quietly. . . . "And at McAndrews's they understand that. I am not a mere customer. Greenwald in particular understands me. He is a man of rare discernment in the value of stones—not the mere money value," he said with a slight gesture of disdain.
"I know Mr. Greenwald. He is a rare man," she assented. ”

“ He pointed to the stones in her hands. "The emeralds are my wife," he said. "They may deceive—but not the crystal!
"She was Stephen's wife," he added after a minute. "I was almost glad when she went away," he admitted. "It was a relief for a little, to my torture, that no one knew. But afterward I missed her sorely. I was glad when the boy told me he was going to her. . . . Now she is dead."
He sat brooding on it. "Life is finished," he said slowly, "for all of us. There is a curse on this house that not even an innocent girl's devotion could remove. . . . Perhaps it is our punishment!" ”

“ Leave it in plain sight, and the emeralds in it—where they were before." She got up and laid the necklace beside him on the table.
"Try it," she said. "You have nothing to lose—but mock jewels. You may have everything to gain!" She moved from him with quiet step. At the door she looked back. He had lifted the necklace and was looking at it with half-wistful eyes, and the stones seemed to glimmer mockingly in the firelight. ”

“ The events of the last few hours had left her confident that only one person possessed the knowledge that could solve the mystery that permeated the house and hung its impalpable veil between all natural human relations. ”

“ Then Stephen came the next day and said he must have the money at once, and I decided what to do."
He looked down at the necklace, handling it softly, passing it through his fingers with wistful look.
"I could not bear to tell my wife, and at last I decided to have false stones substituted. She need never know. I should replace them soon. The stones would be as safe in McAndrews's hands as in her jewel-box, and I could have them reset when the emergency was past—I fancied I could do it perfectly—I could deceive her!" He smiled wanly.
"She always wore the key on a little chain on her neck. ”