"Monsieur Victor Lamont was with my lady when she lost them," returned Antoinette, softly. "She wore them when she entered the carriage on the beach that night, and she returned at day-break without them. You would not like monsieur to know of that romantic little episode, eh?"
"I repeat, you are a fiend incarnate!" gasped Sally, trembling like an aspen leaf.
"My lady sees it would be better to temporize with Antoinette than to make an enemy of her. She will think better of discharging one whose assistance may prove valuable to her. I will say no more. They are coming to see what detains madame and her husband, little dreaming what is in store for them."
CHAPTER XLVIII.
At that moment Andrew, the valet, came flying out of his master's room.
"Oh, Miss Margaret! Miss Margaret!" he cried, hoarsely, "how can I ever tell you what had happened? But it was a mistake—indeed it was all a mistake! I do not see how I ever came to do it!"
Margaret Gardiner hurriedly caught the man's arm in a firm grasp, looking sternly in his face.
"Andrew," she said, with great calmness, "stop that shouting, and tell me instantly what the matter is. Has—has—anything happened my brother or—or his wife?"
Her quiet tone brought the valet to his senses more quickly than anything else could have done.
"Yes, I'll tell you, Miss Margaret," he answered, hoarsely; "and though master turns me off to-morrow for it, I swear to you earnestly that it was all a terrible mistake."