"What's this?" I asked carelessly.
"Blue pearls," he rattled off. "Latest smart novelty. A hit. Mrs. Minturn Vesey had one sent up only yesterday. She wore it to the opera last night."
"There isn't such a thing really as a blue pearl, is there?" I asked idly.
"Certainly. These are copies of genuine stones like all our stock. Some time ago a customer sent in the real necklace to have it copied, like they all do. This was such a novelty Mr. Roberts had a pattern made and put them on sale. It's a winner!"
"I wouldn't want a thing everybody had bought," I said.
"I don't mean everybody," he said. "But just a few of the very smartest. It's too expensive for everybody. Seven hundred and fifty. The original is priceless."
"How many have you sold?"
"About ten."
"Who else bought them?"
He reeled off a string of fashionable names.