“'Ah, Mistress Forest,' answered she, beginning to whimper,' I only wish I dared.'
“'This young lady has got you under her thumb, I see, Annie. Now, if you'll tell me the whole truth of what is going on between her and Master Walter, I promise you that I'll turn her thumb back. It will hurt her a little—and that you won't be sorry for, perhaps—and it will set you free.'
“'Oh, Mistress Forest, if you could only do that, I would be a good girl all my life, and never try on other people's clothes again, nor be a spy upon my Lady, and'—— Here she stopped quite short, and looked as though she would have bitten her tongue off.
“'Now, Anne,' said I, 'you must tell me, whether you will or not: for you have gone too far to turn back. How did Miss Rose Aynton make a slave of a well-conducted girl like you—with nothing but vanity, that I know of, to be said against you—and compel you to do all this dirty work for her?'
“Well, Mistress Forest, as you truly say, I was always a vain child; and Heaven has punished me pretty sharp for it. One day, when the young ladies were out, and I was in Miss Aynton's room a-setting it to rights, what should I come upon—where, perhaps, I had no right to look for it, for it was evidently-meant to be hidden—but a queer-shaped leather box with trinkets in it.'
“'A jewel-case, I suppose you mean, Anne.'
“'Yes, ma'am; but they were none of those as Miss Aynton was in the habit of wearing—nor had she that box when she first came: she must have brought it down with her after she went back to London for a week in the early part of the year. However, all as struck me then was the beauty of the jewels; and I thought there was no harm in my just trying them on in the front of the swing mirror. My ears not being pierced, I couldn't fix the earrings, although I wouldn't a-minded a little pain, and they sparkled like morning-dew; but I clasped on the pearl necklace and the bracelets, and stood admiring myself in the looking-glass a good long time. Then all of a sudden I saw an angry face looking over my shoulder, and heard a cruel voice whisper: “Thief, thief!” just like the hiss of a wood-snake. I scarcely recognised Miss Rose, who had always looked so pleasant, and been such a smooth-spoken young lady.
“I could send you to prison, Anne Eees for this,” continued she, very grave and slow; “and I will, too, if you don't do everything I tell you. I hate a thief.”
“Lor, miss,” cried I, “have mercy, for Heaven's sake! I never meant to thieve nothing.”
“And I hate a liar,” added she, looking so cold and cruel that she made me shudder. “You break open my drawer—not a word, you had girl, or I'll send to Dalwynch for a policeman—and I actually find my property on your very person! You ought to go to jail for this; and perhaps I am wrong not to send you there. However, remember; from this moment, you are my servant—only mine; and whatever I tell you to do, whether it is against your late mistress or not, see that you do it; and dare not to breathe one word of anything that I do, or speak, or possess—such as these jewels, for instance—or you will rue it bitterly, Amie Rees.”