“‘That query I must decline to answer,’ said I.
“‘Well, you know, I’m not going to be long in doubt,’ the boy declared, as he left me.
“The event was an epoch-maker. Long reports of it appeared in the daily press and traveled far in a surge of thoughtful merriment. For instance: ‘Miss Mary Maginness, the accomplished lady-in-waiting of Mrs. William Warburton, of Warburton House, wore a coronet and a dog-collar of diamonds above a costume of white brocaded satin, trimmed with old duchesse lace and gold ornaments. Miss Maginness is a lineal descendant of Lord Rawdon Maginness, of Cork, who early in the seventeenth century commanded an army that drove the Italians out of Ireland.’
“And so it went, with column after column of glittering detail. Since then the servants have enjoyed a monopoly in splendor––it’s been a kind of Standard Jewel Company, and certain rich men have boasted in my presence that they haven’t a jewel in their houses; and one added with quite unneeded emphasis: ‘Not a measly jewel. My wife says that they suggest dish-water and aprons.’
“‘It is too funny!’ said Mrs. Warburton. ‘You know those jewels at the ball were quite as real as many that are worn by ladies of fashion. Most rich women who want to save themselves worry keep their jewels in the strong-box and wear replicas of paste and composition.’
“The instalment jeweler has gone out of business, and half a dozen servant-girls have refused to make further payments on their solitaires and returned them.
“One singular thing happened. Nearly 97 all those servants paid their bills to our store, and we closed out with an unexpected profit, while a number of stores who charged their goods to the noble band of employers have stopped for need of money.”