'I daresay it has been too much for him,' said the dean. 'Joy is often as hard to bear as grief.'
'He is such a fellow for work,' said the vicar, 'I never knew any one like him.'
The curate sat up quite straight. 'Did any of you ever see an amethyst like this set in steel?'
'In steel? What an odd idea!' said the maiden aunt.
'He is not quite himself yet,' said the dean in a low voice, tapping her on the shoulder.
'I think it would be very inappropriate, indeed very wrong, to set a valuable stone in any of the baser metals,' said Mrs. Moore. She spoke as if the idea were a personal affront to herself, but then she had an immense notion of her own importance, and always looked upon all wrong-doing as a personal grievance.
'Whatever made you think of it?' asked Violetta.
'I daresay it was rather absurd,' said the curate meekly.
'By no means,' said the barrister; 'the idea of making jewellery exclusively of gold is modern and crude. In earlier times many beautiful articles of personal ornamentation were made of brass and even of iron.'
'Mamma,' said Violetta, 'I remember one day seeing a curious old thing in the bottom of your dressing-case. It looked as if it might be made of steel. It was a very curious old thing—chain, and a pendant with some inscription round it.'