"My dear," said one, "the jewels are real. I am sure they are real. On the stage they wear large glass things. Those are brilliants of the first water in her hair, and those are true pearls about her neck."
"And her dress," said another, "is of the finest silk; and did you see the gold lace in front of her petticoat? The dress and the jewels, they must be worth—oh! worth a whole estate. Who can she be?"
"Such a woman," observed an elderly matron very sweetly, "would probably be ashamed to say where she found those things. Oh! But the master of the ceremonies must be warned. She must not be tolerated here again."
"How kind they are, Jack!" whispered Molly.
"Who is the fellow with her?" I heard next.
"He sells flounders and eels in the market. I have seen him in a blue coat and long white sleeves and an apron."
"No. He is a clerk in a counting-house."
"Not at all. The fellow, like the girl, belongs to the strollers. I saw him last night laying a carpet on the stage."
"A personable fellow, with a well turned leg." This compliment made me blush. "It is his misfortune that he must be coupled with so impudent a baggage."
"You see, Jack," said Molly, "it all comes back to me."