"I—I—thank you—oh, thank you!" she murmured, confusedly.
"I will let Eric have a sovereign, too, by-and-by," Sir Jasper said, turning his attention from Joy to her mother; "we must 'whip all dogs alike,' you know," he added with a chuckle.
Mrs. Wallis, deeply touched by his generosity to her children, began to thank him, but he held up his hand to stop her.
"Oh, Joy, I'm so glad!" Celia whispered to her sister. She was indeed quite delighted. It was upon her conscience that she had allowed Sir Jasper to think ill of Joy, and she now thought the past was forgotten, or at any rate that Sir Jasper had determined not to revert to it again. "Aren't you pleased?" she asked, as her sister still remained silent.
Joy nodded. There were tears in her eyes, and a lump in her throat which prevented her speaking. She felt her few, stammering words of thanks to Sir Jasper had but ill-expressed the deep sense of gratitude which filled her heart; but she had been utterly incapable of saying more when she had accepted his gift. What must he think of her? She feared he would imagine she did not appreciate his kindness. Oh, she hoped he would not think her ungrateful.
The following day Celia took her departure, Sir Jasper's carriage conveying her and her luggage to the lawyer's house, where she was received by her friend with open arms and many demonstrations of affection.
"I'm so glad you're come," Lulu said, as she led the way upstairs to the room next to her own, which had been prepared for her visitor. "It's so dreadfully dull for me during the holidays, for father's in his office all day, and I've no one to speak to! I'll unpack your box for you, shall I?"
"Oh, thank you," Celia answered, and then it was that she wondered how she was going to account to Lulu for having a handsome diamond brooch in her possession. "I think I won't trouble you," she added, hastily, and though the other protested it would be no trouble at all, but quite the contrary, Celia insisted on unpacking her box herself, whilst her companion looked on, and she was successful in hiding the trinket from Lulu's curious eyes.
"I must think what I can tell Lulu about it before she sees it," Celia reflected; "it would never do to let her know I had taken it without Uncle Jasper's permission. Perhaps I had better say he gave it to me, for he did give it to me in a way—it would not be an actual story."
Thus did Celia take one step further in the slough of deception in which she had set her feet. She was now deep in the mire, but had no intention whatever of turning back; she knew she was doing wrong, though she tried to still her conscience; but her vanity, and a great desire to appear of importance, stood between her and the straight, narrow path which from her earliest years her mother had urged her to tread.