"Wants to what, Mrs. Berry?" asked Dotty, for the lady had stopped speaking very suddenly.
"Never mind. I forgot myself. But Mr. Forbes has a very strong reason for wishing to sift this matter to the bottom. Don't, girls,—oh, DON'T deceive him!"
"What makes you think we're deceiving him?" cried Dotty. "That's the way old Fenn talks! Isn't he a disagreeable man, Mrs. Berry?"
"Mr. Fenn is peculiar," she admitted, "but it isn't nice for you to criticise Mr. Forbes' secretary. He is a trusted employee, and of great use in his various capacities."
"But he was very rude to us," complained Alicia. "He was positively insulting to Dolly and me."
"Don't remember it," counselled Mrs. Berry. "The least you have to do with him the better. Forget anything he may have said, and keep out of his way all you can."
Mr. Forbes' housekeeper was a tactful and peaceable woman, and she well knew the temperament and disposition of the secretary. She herself disliked him exceedingly, but it was part of her diplomacy to avoid open encounter with him. And she deemed it best for the girls to follow her course.
"I think," she said finally, "the best thing for you to do, is to go for a nice motor ride in the park. It is a lovely day, and the ride will do you good and make you feel a heap better. Then on your return, stop at a pretty tearoom, and have some cakes and chocolate, or ices; and while you're gone, I'll have a little talk with Mr. Forbes, and, who knows, maybe we might find the earring!"
"You're going to search our boxes!" cried Alicia. "Well, I won't submit to such an insult! I shall lock mine before I go out."
"So shall I," declared Dolly. "I think we all ought to. Really, Mrs.
Berry, it's awful for you to do a thing like that!"