Miss Drummond had turned with obvious relief to the Doctor and said, "These things do not interest you?"
"As curiosities only, not intrinsically. I never had any craving for jewelry!"
"It is a feminine weakness, I suppose, though I have known men who outvied even the women in their display."
"We have simpler ways in the country, and more robust."
"Mebbe you're right, and mebbe you're wrong," growled Macro, as the result of his cogitations. "I d'n know, an' you d'n know, an' Doctor, he d'n know, an' none of us knows.... They're mebbe all right... What the deil wud folks want mixing bad stuff wi' good like that?"
"It is done sometimes to make a larger show, and sometimes as a matter of precaution," said Miss Drummond quietly. "Those who have valuable jewels are always in fear of having them stolen. They have imitations made, and wear them, and people believe they are the real ones. It is commonly done."
"An' is it a thief you wud call me for taking these?"
"These are dead men's goods and dead women's, and you do not know whose they were, so it is not stealing. But, for me, I do not like them."
"An', for me, I do. An' more I can get, better I'm pleased."
"Each to his taste, and you are very welcome to them all. Now, if you please, we will forget all about them, and speak of pleasanter things," and she turned to Wulfrey and began questioning him as to his knowledge of London, which was not nearly so extensive as her own.