‘You will send it back, of course,’ said Jack, frowning at the thing.
‘But, my friend, where should I send it?’
‘To the jeweller. He must know his customer.’
‘I am not so stupid. There can be no harm in accepting an anonymous gift. I shall keep it, of course.’
‘I did not think you had fallen so low.’
Upon this La Chicot retorted insolently, and there were very hard words spoken on both sides. The lady kept the bracelet, and the gentleman went next day to the jeweller who had supplied it, and tried to discover the name of the purchaser.
The jeweller was studiously polite, but he had no memory. Jack Chicot minutely described the bracelet, but the jeweller assured him that he sold a dozen such in a week.
‘I think you must be mistaken,’ said Chicot; ‘this is a bracelet of very uncommon form. I never saw one like it,’ and then he repeated his description.
The jeweller shook his head with a gentle smile.
‘The style is new,’ he said, ‘but I assure you we have sold several exactly corresponding to your description. It would be quite impossible to recall——’