We returned to dinner after an enjoyable afternoon amid those wild mountains and snowy paths, and when she came to table she provided one of us, at any rate, with a startling surprise.
We had taken our seats at our table and were waiting for her. Seated with my back to the door I did not see her enter the room, but I saw Dr. Feng, who was facing me, suddenly stiffen in his chair and not even his Chinese impassivity could disguise the look of amazement, almost of fear, which leaped suddenly into his eyes.
“Whatever is the matter, doctor?” I jerked out in amazement.
Instantly the old man had himself in hand again. But that glimpse of his vivid emotion had startled me. Before I could say anything he had risen and was greeting Thelma Audley. I sprang to my feet.
Mrs. Audley was wearing a dainty gown of ivory silk—her wedding dress, she told us later, put on in compliment to the old doctor. She looked very sweet and girlish in it. But Dr. Feng, I could plainly see, had no eyes for the dress: his attention was concentrated on the extraordinary pendant which Mrs. Audley wore on her bosom, suspended from a thin platinum chain round her neck.
“Look what I have had sent me!” she cried as she called our attention to it. “Did you ever see anything so quaint?” And she took it off and handed it to the doctor. He took it from her with what, had the brooch been some sacred emblem, I should have thought was an expression of deep reverence, and examined it closely.
It was a sufficiently striking ornament to have attracted attention anywhere. It was fashioned in the form of a peacock’s foot, about three inches long. The shank, at the end of which was a tiny ring through which the platinum chain was passed, was of rough gold studded with small diamonds and each of the claws was composed of a single crystal, cut to the natural shape of the claw. The jewels blazed in the glare of the electric lights. The pendant was of exquisite workmanship and was quite obviously enormously valuable.
“Why, wherever did you get that, Mrs. Audley?” I exclaimed. “It’s really wonderful.”
“Isn’t it pretty?” she said. “It came by registered post this evening and I found it waiting for me when I went up to dress. Mother had sent it on from Bexhill. I don’t know who sent it—there was no letter—but perhaps I shall find out when I get home.” It was evident she had not the least idea of the value of this quaint jewel.
I was keenly watching Dr. Feng. For some reason I could not explain, I connected the crystal claw with the unmistakable agitation he had shown as he caught sight of Mrs. Audley entering the room.