"My dear," said Mr. Prohack, "I didn't let him go. He did not consult me, but merely and totally went."
"And what is the blue paper?" Eve demanded.
"Well, supposing it was the receipt for what I paid for the pearls?"
"Oh! I see. But how would that help?"
"It wouldn't help," Mr. Prohack replied. "My broken butterfly, you may as well know the worst. The sleuth-hound doesn't hold out much hope."
"Yes," said Eve. "And you seem delighted that I've lost my pearls! I know what it is. You think it will be a lesson for me, and you love people to have lessons. Why! Anybody might lose a necklace."
"True. Ships are wrecked, and necklaces are lost, and Nelson even lost his eye."
"And I'm sure it was one of the servants."
"My child, you can be just as happy without a pearl necklace as with one. You really aren't a woman who cares for vulgar display. Moreover, in times like these, when society seems to be toppling over, what is a valuable necklace, except a source of worry? Felicity is not to be attained by the—"
Eve screamed.