"'No, sir. Your ancestors take the air of a night with their heads under their arms. A ghost that sighed or glided or rustled I could have stood, and thanked you for it, and considered it in the rent. But a ghost that bullets go through while it stands grinning with a bare neck and its head loose under its own arm and little boys screaming and fainting in their beds--no! What I say is, If this is a British hereditary high-toned family ghost, excuse Me!' And he went off by the early train."
"I say," the stricken Jimmy remarked, "I _am_ sorry, and I don't think we did faint, really I don't--but we thought it would be just what you wanted. And perhaps some one else will take the house."
"I don't know any one else rich enough," said Lord Yalding. "Mr. Conway came the day before he said he would, or you'd never have got hold of him. And I don't know how you did it, and I don't want to know. It was a rather silly trick."
There was a gloomy pause. The rain beat against the long windows.
"I say"--Jimmy looked up at Lord Yalding with the light of a new idea in his round face. "I say, if you're hard up, why don't you sell your jewels?"
"I haven't any jewels, you meddlesome young duffer," said Lord Yalding quite crossly; and taking his hands out of his pockets, he began to walk away.
"I mean the ones in the panelled room with the stars in the ceiling," Jimmy insisted, following him.
"There aren't any," said Lord Yalding shortly; "and if this is some more ring-nonsense I advise you to be careful, young man. I've had about as much as I care for."
"It's _not_ ring-nonsense," said Jimmy: "there are shelves and shelves of beautiful family jewels. You can sell them and----"
"Oh, _no_!" cried Mademoiselle, appearing like an oleograph of a duchess in the door of the picture-gallery; "don't sell the family jewels----"
"There aren't any, my lady," said Lord Yalding, going towards her. "I thought you were never coming."
"Oh, aren't there!" said Mabel, who had followed Mademoiselle. "You just come and see."
"Let us see what they will to show us," cried Mademoiselle, for Lord Yalding did not move; "it should at least be amusing."
So they went, Mabel and Jimmy leading, while Mademoiselle and Lord Yalding followed, hand in hand.