said Mabel, looking full at Annie.
Annie felt inclined to stamp her foot.
"You little wretch!" she said. "Do you suppose I have no heart?"
"To be truthful with you, Annie," said Mabel, "I do not think you havemuch; but that's not the point. Are you really going with that--thatdreadful young man?"
"My cousin, Mr Saxon? Yes; we leave here by the midnight train. I haveabout two hours longer to spend in the hotel."
"Then what am I to do?" said Mabel.
Annie sat down determinedly.
"Let me think," she said. She covered her face for a moment with herhand. Already she was beginning, after a fashion, to recover herself,to get back her _aplomb_, her great talent for double dealing. "Let methink," she said again.
"Well, don't be long," said Mabel, "for time passes."
"Yes; but if you will be silent I will have thought out something aftera minute or two." Just then Parker tapped at the door.
"Shall I let her in?" whispered Mabel.
In reply to this, Annie herself went to the door, unlocked it, and flungit wide-open.
"Come in, Parker; come in," she said.
"Why, what is the matter with you, Miss Brooke?" said that astute woman.
"A great deal," replied Annie. "I have got to go home at once; mycousin, Mr Saxon, has come to fetch me. My dear, dear uncle is--isdying. He has been as a father to me. I must leave by the midnighttrain."
"So I heard downstairs," said Parker, putting on a certain sympatheticmanner and trying to penetrate beneath Annie's apparent grief. "I willpack your things for you, of course, Miss Brooke; you need have notrouble on that score. I came up here to offer my services. What dresswill you wear travelling, miss?"
"Oh, my dark-blue serge will be best; but it doesn't matter," saidAnnie.
"I will put in some of the pretty things you wore while you were here,miss," said Parker. "I know her ladyship would wish it. I don'tsuppose your trunks will quite hold them all, but I can get in a goodmany."
"Thank you, Parker; I don't care about them now. I am in dreadfultrouble about dear uncle."
"Of course you must be, miss; but I am sure we are all sorry to loseyou, for you do manage her ladyship in the most wonderful way, and Iwill say that you are as unselfish and pleasant-spoken a young lady asever I came across. You will find the dresses and other things usefulsome time, miss, so I will get as many as ever I can into your trunks."Annie murmured something. She would love to keep her pretty dresses;they would be effective at school. She could think of school and herappearance there, and the looks of envy of her companions even at thissupreme moment.
"Then I will go and pack at once," said Parker, preparing to leave theroom.
She had nearly got as far as the door when she turned.
"By the way, miss," she said, looking at Mabel, "my mistress is quiteannoyed about a necklace she bought for you at Interlaken yesterday.She said that it was valuable, although old-fashioned--a pearl necklaceset in silver. She thought I had it with the rest of the jewels; butyou never gave it to me, Miss Lushington. My mistress said that I wasto see it safely in the jewel-case before I went to bed to-night. Wheredid you put it? Can I get it now, miss?"
Mabel was silent. Her voice quite choked with the agony of the moment.Annie, however, took the initiative.
"Of course you can, Parker," she said. "It was awfully silly of Mabelnot to give you the box that contained the necklace; it was the mostidiotic thing I ever heard of.--I am sure, darling, I urged you to doso. But there, no doubt it is safe. You put it into the lid of yourbig trunk."
Mabel nodded. She could not bring herself to speak.
"Then we will find it immediately," said Annie. "Notwithstanding my owngreat sorrow, it will be a comfort to me to know that the necklace issafe under Parker's care before I leave; for the fact is, Parker, it wasI who discovered it. I thought it was quite a valuable thing, but I amrather afraid now that Lady Lushington paid too much for it. However,that is neither here nor there; we have got to find it."
"Here are the keys of Miss Lushington's trunks," said Parker. Sheproceeded as she spoke to unlock the largest of the trunks, whichhappened to be a canvas one, and slightly the worse for travel.
"I am very sorry indeed, miss, you put it in here," said Parker. "Why,see how loose the cover is. A person could almost put his hand inbetween the cover and the inside of the trunk. Well, where did you putit, miss?"
"I will find it; I will find it," said Annie.
She stooped as she spoke and began that examination which she knewbeforehand must be fruitless. Mabel stood with her back to the two,looking out of the window. Annie longed to shake her. Was not her veryattitude giving the whole thing away?
"I really can't find it," said Annie after a moment's pause. "Do comeand look yourself, May. Are you dazed? Have you lost your senses? Oh,I know, poor darling May! it is sorrow at parting with poor little me.--Parker, Miss Mabel just adores me; don't you, precious one! Well, well,Parker will do all she can for you when I am gone."
"I can't take your place, Miss Brooke. I am really sorry you have togo.--But now, Miss Mabel, the best thing to do is just to empty the lidof the trunk. We'll get to the box that way without disarranging allyour pretty things."
The lid of the trunk was speedily emptied, and of course no necklace wasfound.
"There!" said Annie. Her heart was beating so fast that the pallor ofher face was far from assumed. The fear in her eyes, too, seemed onlytoo natural.
"Some one has stolen it!" she said to Parker. She clasped the woman'sarm. "What _are_ we to do?"
Parker looked distinctly annoyed. Mabel stood stonily silent,apparently almost indifferent.
"Miss Lushington," said the woman--"do wake up and consider, miss.Perhaps you _didn't_ put it into the lid of the trunk; perhaps you putthe box that held the necklace somewhere else."
"No, I didn't; I put it into the lid," said Mabel. "I won't say I putit anywhere else; the lid will do; I put it there. I won't be botheredabout it!"
She marched out of the room, got as far as the wide landing, and burstout crying. Her queer conduct and queer words terrified Annie andamazed Parker.
"What _is_ the matter with Miss Mabel, miss?" said the maid, turning tothe girl.
Annie put her pretty, white hand on Parker's arm.
"Leave her alone with me for a little, please, Parker. Just go off andpack my things, like the jewel you are. She is awfully upset at mygoing--and you know I must, on account of my dear uncle."
Annie's voice quavered. Indeed, she herself was very nearly breakingdown.
"I must go, you know, Parker," she said, her pretty eyes filling withtears which only added to their beauty. "But I'll manage Mabel. It_is_ dreadful about the necklace; but perhaps you will recover it."
"We never will," said Parker. "It's a dreadful bit of business. Herladyship will be wild. She does so hate it when anything is stolen.But there are lots of robberies taking place on the railways of late.It is a perfect disgrace. Even the registering of your goods seems notto secure things. Of course I always carry the jewels in my own hand;it's the only safe way. Miss Mabel must have been mad to put a valuablenecklace such as her ladyship described into that old trunk."
"It wasn't nearly so valuable as Lady Lushington supposed; that is theonly comfort," said Annie.
"But, miss, I don't understand. I thought it was you who urged herladyship to get it, and that you had quite a knowledge of gems."
"I found out afterwards--I will tell you the secret, Parker, and you canbreak it to her ladyship when I am gone--I found out afterwards that Ihad made a slight mistake. The necklace was worth, say, about twentypounds, but no more, for some of the pearls were quite worthless. Ihappened to show it to a gentleman I knew very slightly at the Belle VueHotel, and he deals in that sort of thing. He disappointed me in hisestimate of the necklace; but that doesn't matter. It is terrible thatit should be lost. Still, you might tell
Lady Lushington what he said.There is no use in telling Mabel. She doesn't care twopence about it,poor child, at the present moment; she is so broken down at my leaving."
"Well, miss, I must be off to do the packing. I will make the best ofthings and never forget how pleasant you have been during your visit,miss. I will see, too, that you have a basket of sandwiches and somewine packed for your journey."
Parker went off. The moment she did so Annie went into the corridor andfetched Mabel in.
"Oh, you goose of all geese!" she said. "Now the worst