"No," said Mrs. Walker.
"No," said Mr. Hale.
"No!" said Lesbia.
"All are agreed," smiled the lawyer drily, "a most unanimous opinion. I understand," he addressed Lesbia again, "that your mother originally owned this cross and gave it to your nurse. Mrs. Walker, on the authority of her son, told me as much."
"I understood that the cross had belonged to my mother," replied Lesbia, nervously glancing at her father. "Bridget told me so, when she gave it to me on her death-bed."
"Then she told you wrongly," said Mr. Hale, "and at my request."
"Why?" demanded Jabez, turning towards his unwilling host.
"Because the cross belonged to another woman, and I did not want that known in case someone should claim it."
"Ha!" said Mrs. Walker darkly. "And why did you wish to keep it?"
"I--I--liked the ornament," confessed Hale hesitating, and quite forgetting the sentimental reason he had given to his daughter as to the desire to keep the cross because it had been the property of his late wife.