guilt; these, whatever the appearances, proclaimed innocence--an
innocence she was here to prove if fortune favoured and the
really guilty person's madness should again break forth.

For madness it would be and nothing less, for any hand, even the
most experienced, to draw attention to itself by a repetition of
old tricks on an occasion so marked. Yet because it would take
madness, and madness knows no law, she prepared herself for the
contingency under a mask of girlish smiles which made her at once
the delight and astonishment of her watchful and uneasy host.

With the exception of the diamonds worn by the Ambassadress,
there was but one jewel of consequence to be seen at the dinner
that night; but how great was that consequence and with what
splendour it invested the snowy neck it adorned!

Miss Strange, in compliment to the noble foreigners, had put on
one of her family heirlooms--a filigree pendant of extraordinary
sapphires which had once belonged to Marie Antoinette. As its
beauty flashed upon the women, and its value struck the host, the
latter could not restrain himself from casting an anxious eye
about the board in search of some token of the cupidity with
which one person there must welcome this unexpected sight.

Naturally his first glance fell upon Alicia, seated opposite to
him at the other end of the table. But her eyes were elsewhere,
and her smile for Captain Holliday, and the father's gaze
travelled on, taking up each young girl's face in turn. All were
contemplating Miss Strange and her jewels, and the cheeks of one
were flushed and those of the others pale, but whether with dread