I fairly gasped when she removed
her hand. A sapphire of irregular shape flashed out its blue lightning on
us. Such a stone! A true, rich, cornflower blue even by that wretched
artificial light, with soft velvety depths of color and dazzling clearness
of tint in its lights and shades--a stone to remember! I stretched out my
hand involuntarily, but Lady Carwitchet drew back with a coquettish
squeal. "No! no! You mustn't look any closer. Tell me what you think of it
now. Isn't it pretty?"
"Superb!" was all I could ejaculate, staring at the azure splendor of that
miraculous jewel in a sort of trance.
She gave a shrill cackling laugh of mockery.
"The great Mr. Acton taken in by a bit of Palais Royal gimcrackery! What
an advertisement for Bogaerts et Cie! They are perfect artists in frauds.
Don't you remember their stand at the first Paris Exhibition? They had
imitation there of every celebrated stone; but I never expected anything
made by man could delude Mr. Acton, never!" And she went off into another
mocking cackle, and all the idiots round her haw-hawed knowingly, as if
they had seen the joke all along. I was too bewildered to reply, which was
on the whole lucky. "I suppose I mustn't tell why I came to give quite a
big sum in francs for this?" she went on, tapping her closed lips with her
closed fan, and cocking her eye at us all like a parrot wanting to be
coaxed to talk.
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