"It was the body of a woman, clad only in a nightdress. As he
stooped over her, Lucien saw that she was exceeding beautiful; yet
not a girl, but a well-developed woman of thirty or thereabouts, with
heavy coils of dark hair, well-rounded shoulders, and (as he
described it to me later on) a magnificent throat.

"He had reason enough to remark her throat, for as he turned the body
over--it lay on its right side--to place a hand over the heart, if
perchance some life lingered, the nightdress, open at the throat,
disclosed one, two, three superb necklaces of diamonds. There were
rings of diamonds on her fingers, too, and afterwards many fine gems
were found sewn within a short vest or camisole of silk she wore
under her nightdress. But Lucien's eyes were fastened on the three
necklaces.

"Doubtless the poor lady, aroused in her berth as the ship struck,
had clasped these hurriedly about her throat before rushing on deck.
So, might her life be spared, she would save with it many thousands
of pounds. They tell me since that in moments of panic women always
think first of their jewels.

"But here she lay drowned, and the jewels--as I said, Lucien could
not unglue his eyes from them. At first he stared at them stupidly.
Not for some minutes did his mind grasp that they represented great
wealth; and even when the temptation grew, it whispered no more than
that here was money--maybe even a hundred pounds--but enough, at all
events, added to his savings, to purchase the cottage at home, and
make him and Jeanne happy for the rest of their lives.