Litchfield enquirer., 1879-08-14
WHOLE NO. 2775

erent style,) with great deal of waggishness and enjoyment. .a... .-. ....-... '. f.
 One afternoon brougham stopped at Messrs Moonstone's establishment with widow in it; about the brougham there could be no sort of l doubt; it was not a private vehicle, but one | of those which are hired by the day or hour | the appearance of the driver, not to mention | that of the horse, precluded the possibility of | it's being the property of the person who em- | ployed it. If she thought to be set down among ''carriage people" because she used such con- l veyance, she must have been sanguine indeed. l And so far that was good sign. People that came to rob on scale worth mentioning, q | am not thinking of those who slipped any un- considered trlfe, such as ring or a spray, in- l to their muffs; they were always detected and | bowed out of the shop into the arms of po- liceman in plain clothes who stood at the dOor) people, I say, who wanted to Sa0indIe, were always very particular about the vehicle that | brought them. What reused suspicion in the watchful eye of MT. John Riddel was the widow herself. Like Weller, senior, (though without his mat rimonial experience to excuse it, he had prejudice against widows-at least in jewellers | shops nor. l am bound to confess, was it al- l together without grounds the garb and the | mien of sorrow being the stalking horses under | which good deal of knavery is accomplished. And then this widow was 80 bewitching to ! look at that he was naturally alarmed; from every neat plait of her beautiful hair, and every fold of her modest suit of mourning, 1 there seemed to him to flutter danger signal | He was wont to declare, indeed, that he knew | she was after no good from the first moment he set eyes on her but that statement must, think, be received with caution. If his face grew severe and his manner painfully polite, as she came up to where he stood, it was because he knew that Boltby and Nation had got their | eyes upon him and were looking out for some | sign of weakness. ....-...t
 ssI wish to see some rings" she said in soft and gentle voice; mourning rings:" and then she took off her glove, displaying the
 whitest little hand imaginable.
 l Of course, he could not help seeing her hand, nor yet her face, from which she had put back her veil It wore an expression of l sadness, and also one of enfranchisement and content it seemed to say, My late husband was very unworthy of me but he has left me free, and forgive him." Who has not seen | such widows, who wear their weeds almost as 1 if they were flowers, and who have apparently selected black as their only wear because it is 1 becoming to them have often thought, if l could have the choice of my own calling that, | next to being ''companion to lady," should like to be young jeweler trying on rings
 It must be almost as good as bigamy, trigamy, polygamy, and with none of the risks.
 Mr. Rlddel said, "Allow me, Madame" in hls most honeyed volce, and slipped Ceased he called it, and certainly it was very easy l work) ring after ring upon the widows dainty
 finger II hope 1 am not hurting you, he ! murmured.
 "Oh, mo-" she sighed; ''there was time,
 but that is passed now-when It would have given me pleasure. Il mean, she added has tily, and with modest blush "when rings
 would have done so; but jewels and gewgaws | nkhro for Mp John Riddel by no means felt certain of this,
 but he had an eye for number, and would have
 missed ring from the tray in an instant,
 though he had been exhibiting thousand. At | last she made her choice Git was the most eX-
 pensive of the whole lot) and produced from
 the prettiest little bag in the world-a check
 book.
 Pardon me, Madame, we do not take checks except from -ahem-old customers"
 ''Well, am not a very old customer" she said, smiling. (''No but you're queer one,"
 he thought, "or Pm much mistaken. ") "Still
 1 should have thought in the case of lady like myself"
 Madame" said this crafty young man, eff it lay in my power to oblige you, there would of course be no difficulty in the matter; the rule of the firm is, unhappily what l have | stated"
 '"Then the firm will take my last sixpence," she reioined with tender playfulness; and | from the most elegant of 'porte-monnaies" l she counted him out the sum required, when | it's contents in truth were quite exhausted. '1 am lodging at De la Bois's the court hair dresser" she said ''my name is Mrs. Mont fort. However, 1 will not trouble you to send the ring, as shall have to go home to get some more money" and she looked at him | with eyes that seemed to say, 'Cruel man, l thus to reduce me to destitutiOn."
 l Than cha rncn and aailpd down the ah0D
 carelesslY glancing at this or that (chle1y in | the hair and mourning department) as she | passed out. If she is not on the square, she | does it uncommonly well, thought Mir. Rid del; perhaps have done her an injustice, l poor dear"
 On the third morning after her visit the wid- ow called again. sailed quite naturally up to l our hero, and cast anchor under his eyes | "You will think, she Pemarked, ''after what I said the other day about gewgaws, that am very changeable in my tastes but 1 am not | come this time upon my own account l want | to see some diamond lockets for friend" | This is quite the usual course with ladies and others who victimize the jewellers. They | buy ring for ten pounds, and after having | thus established themseIves-cast out their sprat to catch herring-they patronize the | establishment in earnest.
 Singular to say, however, this did not rouse MT. RiddePs suspicious. Notwithstanding his pretence of indifference to Mrs. MontfOrts | charms, he had privately sent to De la Bois, in 1 the interim, and found that the lady did re- side at that fashionable hairdresser's, and on
 the first floor he had done it, of course, in the
 interests of the firm, and in case she should call again !; but perhaps he would not have
 been pleased had Messrs. Nation and Boltby
 been made aware of his precaution.
 The locket that pleased her most was an ex- l DpOaiVn nQPhQnQ mnnh fOr her friends purse, she said. It was very foolish of that lady, but she had such a complete
 reliance upon her (Mrs. Montfort's) taste and | judgement that she had placed the matter en- | tirely in her hands. It wasa great responsi- | bility. What did Mir. Riddel think? l MT. Rlddeps thoughts were always cut and | dried on such occasions. He expressed his opinion that the locket selected by Mrs. Mont | fort was certainly the most elegant of all, and testified to the sagacity of the lady who had snch confidence in her good taste. But as to the price, Mrs. Montfort herself was the only judge as to the state of her friends exchequer.
 ''Oh. she's rich enough" smiled Mrs. Mont | fort, ''and as open-handed as any woman can be- Our sex are naturally inclined to be little close," she added with q smile, ''dOn't you think so '" ... s.-.., ... MT. Riddel did not think SO; he had always found ladies very generous in their dealings; | in this lady's particular case he felt more cer- tain than ever the locket and he let the light play on it so as to show the brilliants to the best advantage-was the very thing to suit her. s-
 ''I think so too," murmured the widow; ''but then you see there's the responsibility. tell you what you must do. You shall send I all the lOckets to my lodgings for an hour or and then my niece. who is staying with me, shall give her opinion on the matter; and by her advice will abide" .D 5.., .., .......
 Mir. Riddel smiled, but shook his beautiful head of hair. Every curl of it-and there were thousands of them-exprrssed polished but decided negative. ''We couldn't do it, Mad ame, we really couldn't" "What! not leave the lockets for an hour ?"
 ''NO, Madame, not for moment. Of course it is but mere formula, one of those hard and-fast regulations, the existence of which one so often has to deplore; but have no au-