Bright Arrows (Musaicum Romance Classics). Grace Livingston Hill
know," she said, shaking her head. "I don't remember Daddy ever saying anything to me about it. Isn't there some writing on that box? It looks like it. Yes! See!"
The lawyer handed her the box, and she turned it over and read, " 'For Eden. Your grandmother's pearls.' "
"Oh," she said. "And that is my mother's handwriting! She must have put this here a long time ago, and then perhaps it was forgotten."
"I remember," said Janet. "I remember weel when she writ thet an' stowed it awa' in the wee bit drawer. But I'd thought it was tuk to the bank this lang agone! Is the pearls in the bit box yet?"
"Open it, will you, Miss Thurston? This is something we must understand if we're to go searching for a possible thief."
Eden took the box in trembling hands, untied the white ribbon with which it was bound, and opened the box cautiously. The little audience watched her and the box breathlessly.
There was tissue paper folded neatly on the top, and then soft pink cotton, and more tissue paper. And at last she brought to light a double string of fine lovely pearls with a delicate clasp set with tiny diamonds.
"Oh!" said Eden with great awe upon her, and then suddenly the tears rolled down her face, and she could scarcely hold the box for trembling.
The young man leaned over and lifting her hands set them down on the desk, box and all, and Janet stepped up with a delicate handkerchief for Eden. In a moment more the young girl was smiling, in spite of her shaken emotions.
"I'm sorry I had to be such a baby," she said, half giggling, "but I'd just been reading some of my mother's letters, in this same handwriting, and it sort of broke me up. It was as if she had suddenly stepped into this room and given me these pearls, which must have been her mother's."
"They were, that," said Janet in an undertone. "She'd often spoken tae me of thim, an' once she showed thim tae me. They is rare pearls."
"It's quite understandable that you should be broken up at finding them, Miss Thurston," said the lawyer. "I'm sorry I had to be the cause, but I'm glad for your sake that we found them. And now I don't want to bother you any longer than is necessary. If you'll just answer a few more questions, we'll be done. Do you have any idea whether there were other things, more jewelry perhaps, in this drawer, and what they were? Would there be a list anywhere?"
"No," said Eden. "I wouldn't know. Perhaps Janet would, and of course the rest might be in the bank if there were other things."
"Yes," said Janet decidedly. "There was ither bits. A diamond bracelet, a lovely pin wi' rubies, an' some rings my leddy couldna wear ony mair since she got so thin they kept slipping off."
"You're sure of that?" asked the lawyer and wrote down carefully every little item Janet could remember.
"Of course, these may be in the bank. I'll check that over when Mr. Worden gets back. These things may have been the booty the young man was after. Do you know whether he knew about them? Could he have known of the secret drawer?"
"I couldna answer thet," said Janet, "boot I dontna he mightov foond it. He was thet nosey. Leave him in a room, he'd get tae the bootum ov it in no time, an' things would be missin' and naeboody to account fer thim."
The lawyer looked up at Mike.
"Better get Hiley on the phone at once. Tell him to search the boy before he gets a chance to make away with anything. Search the old lady, too. He may have managed to hand something over to her. Here's the list. Tell him to make a thorough job of it, before he gets a chance to hide anything."
Eden listened in wonder.
"Did Mrs. Fane know of the existence of this jewelry?" asked Lorrimer.
"I don't know," said Eden, and he turned toward Janet.
"She might have known," said the old nurse, "although Mrs. Thurston was thet ill after she coom thet she seldom wore jewels. Still this Fane woman was thet much of a snoop that somehoo she'd smell oot a thing an' pry aroond till she got a sight of it."
The lawyer nodded, showing that he was getting a pretty good idea of the Fane woman's character, and that of her boy also.
Eden was sitting by the desk with the fine old pearls dripping through her fingers, and the young man as he looked up could not but think how fitting such jewels were to go around a lovely throat like this young girl's.
He gave her an admiring glance and an apologetic smile.
"I hope you'll forgive me," he said, as he got up to take his departure. "This really was necessary, and I shouldn't wonder if these pearls would help a lot in solving our problems. It's been nice to have you and your servants cooperate so well. I thank you."
"Oh, I'm glad if we helped any, and I'm grateful to you for finding the pearls," said Eden. "Perhaps I never would have known about them if this hadn't happened." She smiled into his eyes, and he thought again how sweet her young eyes were.
"Well, I'm glad we could find them, and I'll find out from Mr. Worden at once how much he knows of the contents of this secret drawer. You know, it just may be that this little box fit so tightly into the bottom of the compartment that it escaped notice when the other things were taken out to go to the bank."
"Yes, of course," said Eden. "I wish I knew just what those things were, the rest of the valuables. Somehow I never took much interest in them while Father was alive and while I was in college. I just thought of them as some old family relics. But I guess I ought to go down to the bank and look the rest over. Should I do it right away?"
"Don't worry yourself now. If Mr. Worden hasn't returned yet, I think I'll call him on the telephone. This is important, to get hold of the facts in the case before anything more can happen. If I get any more information, I'll call you."
And so with a smile and a quick friendly clasp of the hand he went away with Mike, and the household settled down to what they hoped was going to be peace and quietness.
Eden, standing at the window, watching the young lawyer walk down the street, thought how very kind his voice was and how restfully dependable he seemed. Of course, she didn't know him at all, but he seemed very nice, and she felt almost comfortable knowing that he was working to protect her interests.
Then Janet suddenly appeared on the scene.
"Coom ye oof an' heve yer loonch!" she commanded. "Ye hed niver a bite o' breakfast, an' verra little dinner the night before. We didna want ye to blow awa' wi' the first little breath of air."
"Oh," laughed Eden, "I didn't realize I hadn't had my breakfast. I was just so excited over what they were talking about. Isn't it awful that anybody tried to break in? Do you really think it was Ellery, Janet?"
"Think!" sniffed Janet. "I shud say there's na doubt about it. Little snake in the grass! I only wish he would be put where he couldna be botherin' the likes of ye ony mair. An' tae think of thet old sneak of a mither of his coomin' around sayin' she was goin' tae be yer chaperone! I sure would like tae see her bashed in the face the way Mike talks aboot dooin' tae soom of the criminals."
Eden laughed a merry little ripple of a relieved sigh.
"What did she say, Janet? Did she talk to you?"
"No, but Tabor give her gude an' plenty back agin. Her wi' her sham tears and her pretenses! But noo, coom ye out tae yer loonch. It's already settin' on the table, and the cook's fair frantic fer ye tae eat afore it gets cold. Coom noo, an' I'll tell ye the rest whilst ye eat."
So Eden went to her lunch and heard the full tale of Lavira Fane's attempt to get into the house earlier in the day.
"And where do you think she went?" asked Eden, with still a bit of trouble on her brow. "Will she try to come back here to-night, do you suppose, and plead that she hasn't any place to sleep?"
"Na, she'll nae do thet. Mike said he would see thet she was safely hoosed."
"You–don't mean they've arrested her, do you, Janet?"
Janet gave a significant shrug to her