"Who did you tell this to, Granny?" asked Basil, who knew her well.
"To your brother Theodore. Bless you, deary, he often came to consult me. I didn't like him, though, as he brought such bad Ones with him."
"What is the It you meant?" questioned Patricia, wondering if Mrs. Lee had any knowledge of the fatal Jewel.
It appeared that she had not. "Ah, lovey! They didn't tell me that. All I knew and all I told him was that It would crush him as flat as a pancake." She looked at the tumbled red earth and chuckled maliciously. "And it has, deary; it has. A grave for an emperor that is."
"I don't believe these things, Granny," said Basil, placing Patricia's arm within his own. "Here's a shilling."
"Bless you, deary; may you never want bread," croaked the old crone, biting the shilling before tying it up in a corner of her apron. Then she faced them and waved a circle thrice, which she crossed once. "The sign of power to bring you luck, my dears," she explained, wagging her head. "But, bless you both, you ain't wicked to the marrow as he was, drat him! I can see your future bright and fair." Her eyes became fixed as she spoke, and she looked into the viewless air. "You'll both be happy all your lives, for sorrow is ended and the debts of Fate are paid. Money and children and rank and lots of good, staunch friends. All that you desire will come to you and the poor will bless you evermore. So be it and let it be." After which weird speech the old creature toddled down the hill with a senile laugh.
"What do you make of that, Basil?" asked Patricia, when they reached the top of the winding road and came in sight of the carriage which was to take them to Hendle railway station.
"Well," said the young man reflectively, "after what has taken place I dare not disbelieve in many things."
"I hope that what Granny says will come true."
"My dear," Basil amidst all his trouble turned to catch her in his arms, "I am sure that with such a darling as you are for my wife everything is entirely feasible and possible. If the emerald of Amyas Colpster brought luck to no one, it certainly has done so to me. And now let us drive to Hendle and catch the evening train to London. To-morrow we must get married."