“I thought that a term applied only to diamonds”—observed Emily, with an interest I wished she had not manifested.
“It is also applied to pearls—there are pearls of what is called the 'white water,' and they are of the sort most prized in Europe. The 'yellow water' are more esteemed among nations of darker skins; I suppose that is the secret. Yes, I think if you send this necklace to London, Wallingford, you will get six or eight hundred pounds for it.”
“I shall never sell it, sir—at least, not as long as I can avoid it.”
I saw that Emily looked at me, with an earnestness for which I could not account.
“Not sell it!—” repealed her father—“Why, what in the name of Neptune can you do with such an ornament?”
“Keep it. It is strictly my own. I brought it up, from the bottom of the sea, with my own hands; removed the pearls from what the editors would call their 'native homes' myself, and I feel an interest in them, that I never could feel in any ornament that was purchased.”
“Still, this will prove rather an expensive taste. Pray, What interest do you obtain for money, in your part of the world, Wallingford?”
“Six per cent., in New York, sir, perhaps, on the better sort of permanent securities.”
“And how much is sixty pounds sterling, when turned into dollars?”
“We usually say five for one, though it is not quite that; from two hundred and eighty to two hundred and ninety, all things considered—though two hundred and sixty-six, nominally, or thereabouts.”