A SECOND FLIGHT
Luke Onion was sitting by the fire, his feet extended, and the
soles scarlet with the reflected glow as though he had been
treading in blood. No less red was his face. The expression was
sinister.
A flame, the reflection of that which played above the coals, danced in his eyes. His head was bound up, and the fever of his wound had produced a twitching in his hands and feet that showed, in spite of the position of repose he had assumed, that he was in a condition of inner unrest.
Now and again, he bit his fingers, gnawing the nails; and then
he spread out his hands before the fire to screen his face.
To him entered his mother.
"Luke! News!"
"Well!" He did not turn his head. "Has the cat kittened?"
"Luke, we have been robbed."
"We always are being pillaged. Nicodemus is an arrant
rogue."
"We have been robbed by that wench from Stewponey."
"How so? What of her?"
"Of her, nothing but what is evil. There has been a curse on
us and a blight on our affairs ever since you brought her
here."
"What has she taken? My grandmother's salve box, with the
Queen Anne shilling on it?"
"Luke, rouse up. She has carried away all the jewellery of
that woman we burnt."
"There was none for her to take. Nicodemus secured the wedding
ring and guard."
"I tell you, Luke, that she has got jewellery to the value of
many hundreds of pounds."
"You have had an afternoon doze, and have been dreaming, mother."
"Luke, rouse up! I have seen them. She has already sold a
brooch to Purvis, the goldsmith, for sixteen guineas, and it is
worth five times that amount."
The hangman was now thoroughly roused. He sat up in his chair, put his hands on the elbows, and turned himself about.
His mother approached the hearth, and said:
"I was in High Street, when I caught a glimpse of her as she
went up and down, looking into shop windows. I wondered what she
sought, and I watched her without allowing myself to be seen. She
remained awhile in front of Purvis's shop, first; put forth her
hand as though to open the door and enter, then changed her
intent and walked on, still observing the windows. After a while
she came on the shop of Radstone, and stayed there. She halted
before no other window but that of a jeweller; not before that of
a milliner or a draper. But she did not go in at Radstone's, although she seemed to have a mind to do so; instead, she returned through the street to Purvis's. Then I was certain that she intended to buy something or sell something, and, either way, it astonished me. So I drew close, where I might see. After she had entered, then, she stood with her back to the window, and there was a light inside, by which the goldsmith had been repairing some trinket. I saw her take a box from out of her pocket."
"What box?"
"None belonging to us. None I had ever seen before. She had a
key and unlocked it; but apart, so that she showed none of the
contents. She drew from it a glittering ornament. It was a
diamond brooch. The jeweller held it to the little lamp to
examine it, and then he brought it to the window that he might
inspect it by the daylight, and assure himself of the water of
the stones; and he further tested them with a diamond-cutter, to
assure himself that they did not scratch, and so were not of
paste. I drew somewhat aside, but for all that I did not remove
my eyes from him and the little brooch. Presently he went back to
where she was stood, and I thrust myself nearer once more, and I
saw how that he was questioning her.
Then I opened the door and entered. He looked well content, and she was startled, but speedily collected herself again, cold and hard as she is—like a block of marble The man Purvis said at once to me that he was glad I had arrived; he had been offered a diamond brooch, and that it was his custom never to purchase jewellery from one with whom he was unacquainted, lest he should be brought thereby into trouble. He said that he did not question that whatever she had said was true—"
"What had she said?"
"That I asked; and she repeated her words, looking at me
straight in the face."
"What said she?"