"Yes, quite so; now do you think that any lady wears feathers on the right side of her hat?"
"No,—now I come to think of it, ladies usually wear feathers on the left side of their hats," Monk said, looking uncertainly at us both.
"Usually, do you say? Not at all! No lady ever wears feathers on the right side."
"There may be something in what you say, Mrs. Viller," Monk's voice was still somewhat uncertain; "but this is of course only the little wing of a woodcock, and Evelina—Miss Frick—I mean the lady in the photograph—might for once have placed it on the other side."
"Not to mention," I added, "that the lady in a hurry might have put on the hat the wrong way."
"That is exactly the argument I expected!" shouted Clara, triumphantly. "That's just the way men argue; but see here! Here is the selfsame hat which Evelina and Sigrid wore that day the diamond was stolen. Now you can see for yourselves!"
She tore the paper off the parcel and drew out a little green felt hat with a brown wing in it, and showed it to Monk.
Monk jumped up and clutched the hat greedily. His hands trembled with excitement.
"I have bought it from Mrs. Reierson to-day," continued Clara. "I pretended that a rich English lady was collecting curiosities from celebrated trials. As it was fortunately rather far on in the quarter, I could see that Mrs. Reierson was apparently in great need of money. She was even sober."
Monk sat with the hat in his hand, staring at it; I went up to him.