The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-10-27
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: ACASE OF CHOCOLATE CREAMS. :
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, mond before leaving town. a week
later Mrs. wilson received letter OF
| Christmas greeting from her sister-in-
| law; but II contained not single word
about the necklace. Mr.. Wilson, a few
| days afterward, wrote that he also had
received a letter, in which the same
! silence was observed. II was evident
| ly wrong about Maria" he added. my
diamonds have wounded her feelings
and offended her prejudices. She means
! to reprove me by her silence on the
subject of the ill-judged present We
must accept the reproof by remaining
equally silent"
| Mrs. Wilson, with an old-fashoned
belief in manly wisdom, received her
husbands dctum unqueetioningly,
| though ii struck her that Mrs. Ray
| mond, in the case of such munifi-
cent gift, was allowing wounded feel
ings and prejudices to carry her very
| far.
The Duke of Broughton's ball was
the great social event Of the season
! in Yorkshire. A large party attended
it from Mrs. Wilson's old home, she
shining pre-eminent amongst them In
a perfect toilet and profusion of dia-
| monds. AS she swept from the cloak
| room across the great hail. a sudden
| cloud crossed her radiant face. Her
eyes had Unexpectedly encountered
those of the one woman in the world
of whom she was jealous, though she
would not herself have owned to this
feeling. A pretty, graceful girl still
enveloped in her wraps. The ladies
exchanged distant bows in passing.
Gladys Spencer had been a friend of
George Wilson all her life. The hus-
bands girl friends, especially when
attractive, do not invariably become
those of the wife. Mrs. Wilson's ac-
quaintance with Miss Spencer had
been deliberately slight since her mar
riage; a fact of which George Wilson
was well aware.
The prick of irritation without which
she never saw Miss Spencer had passed
away before Mrs Wilson reached the
ballroom. What matter if the girl
was there. since George was not with
in reach of her wiles? She had soon
lost her. both from mind and sight,
amidst the spacious splendors Of the
duCal residence. It was already late
in the evening; Mrs. Wilson was sit
ting out after supper with her cousin
Gilbert Ives, when he suddenly in
uuired
Have you seen Miss Gladys Spencer
tonight. Edith"
II think so. What about her? You
seem to think her a most interesting
sight, to judge by the way in which
you ask the question"
80 she is-tonight certainly"
Mrs. Wilson raised her eye br0ws.
MY lear Gilbert isn't this ent husiasm
something quite new on your part?'
We'll, so is its cause"
Miss Gladys Spencer. What do
you mean?"
"Oh! l say here she comes with
with Lord Charles" Ives lowered his
voice. Look and see for yourself;
look at the necklace"
Mrs. Wilson, leaning back i'm her
chair, moved her fan and looked up
with elaborate Indifference. With a
sudden, sharp shock her face changed,
her gaze grew fixed, all the languor
vanishing from her eyes and the color
from her cheeks and lips. once before
she had seen such a necklace-there
was no mistaking the unique setting
and arrangement of the brillants. 1t
was on the night when she had sur
prised her husband in his study. Just
as it had flashed before her eyes in
his hands. so was 1t now flashing at
the girls throat. a confusion of
. thoughts rushed through Mrs. Wilson's
brain, beginning with the remembrance
of her husbands assurace that nn
other necklace existed in the kingdom
like the one then in his possession.
Her slumbering Jealousy leaped into
, a sudden flame. 1t cost her a strong
effort to conceal her emotion from
Gilbert Ives. She managed to say,
with apparent indifference, when Miss
Spencer had passed on.
The necklace is indeed very remark
, able. What is its history"
"Well, it was never seen before to-
night. That's just what everyone is
, talking about. 1t must have a hist
ory-an engagement of course--only
no one has heard of it yet. There must
be a lover in the case"
"A lover? You think so-yes, of
course, l understand" Ives did not re-
I mark the queer catch in the breath
' with which these queer incohe rent
words We're spoken.
Everything that is most correct. of
course where the irreproachable Miss
: Spencer is concerned. But we want to
Y know who he is and when it is to be-"
Not quite yet, should think" Mrs.
e Wilson said, with a sudden sharp
= laugh. Let's go back to the ball
room" she added, hastily jumping up,
4 her cousins eyes being fixed on her in
surprise.
No sleep visited Mrs. Wilson's burn
ing eyes all that night over and over
, again she told herself it was madness
to jump at desperate conclusions; ov-
er and over again she reCklessly
> jumped at them. 1t was quite possible
. Notwithstanding Smart's assurance to
the contrary, that another necklace
exactly like the one sold to Mr. VIII
y son, did exist, but yet what a curious
y coincidence to find it in possession of
Miss Spencer, of all women i'm the
e world! And then she had ne-er been
known to possess it until that night
These, however, were not the worst
thoughts that haunted Mrs. Wilson's
sleeplesS pillow. Certain dreadful
memories would assert themselves OF
y her husbands looks and manner on the
night when she had surprised him in
y his study; Of the determined way in
: which he had refused to allow her tC
y accompany him to Mrs. Raymond's
: and the awkwardness of his descrip.
tion of the visit and the presentation
of the box containing the necklace
And, again, his letter from Monte Car,
10 enjoining silence with regard to the
present The terrible meaning which al
these actions might possibly have was
appalling. No wonder Mrs Wilson
could not rest quiet with a mind dis.
traught by such direful suspicious
H..