‘Why! You enchantress!’ I exclaimed. ‘I never saw so much of it before. It is wonderfully bright—when one thinks of the years it has been shut in darkness.’
She handed it to me as it was, saying,
‘If that weapon was mine, I should never rest until I had found out everything concerning it.’
‘That is easily said, Clara; but how can I? My uncle knew nothing about it. My grandmother did, no doubt, but almost all I can remember her saying was something about my great-grandfather and Sir Marmaduke.’
As I spoke, I tried to draw it entirely, but it would yield no further. I then sought to replace it, but it would not move. That it yielded to Clara’s touch gave it a fresh interest and value.
‘I was sure it had a history,’ said Clara. ‘Have you no family papers? Your house you say is nearly as old as this: are there no papers of any kind in it?’
‘Yes, a few,’ I answered—‘the lease of the farm—and—’
‘Oh! rubbish!’ she said. ‘Isn’t the house your own?’
‘Yes.’
‘And have you ever thoroughly searched it?’