young mrs. gardiner stooped down until her lips were on a level with the maid's ear.
"my diamonds are not in the little leather hand-bag, antoinette," she panted. "the hour has come when i must make a confidant of you, and ask you to help me, antoinette. you are clever; your brain is full of resources; and you must help me out of this awful web that has tangled itself about me. i—i lost the diamonds on the night of the grand ball—the last night we were at newport, and—and i dare not tell my husband. now you see my position, antoinette. i—i can not wear the diamonds, and i do not know how to turn my husband from his purpose of making me put them on. he may refuse to go down to the reception-room—or, still worse, he may ask for them. i can not see the end, antoinette. i am between two fires. i do not know which way to leap to save myself. do you understand?"
"perfectly, my lady," returned the wily maid. "leave your trouble to me. i will find some way to get you out of it."
"you must think quickly, antoinette!" cried sally, excitedly. "he said he would return for me within ten minutes. half that time has already passed. oh—oh! what shall i do?"
"you must not excite yourself, my lady," replied antoinette, quickly. "worry brings wrinkles, and you can not afford to have any but pleasant thoughts. i have said you can rely upon me to think of some way out of the dilemma."
"that is easier said than done, antoinette," declared her mistress, beginning to pace excitedly up and down the room, the color burning in two bright red spots on her cheeks.
antoinette crossed over to the window, and stood looking out thoughtfully into the darkness. her brain was busy with the numerous schemes that were flitting through it.
at that, moment fate pointed out an unexpected way to her. she heard footsteps in the corridor, and just then it flashed upon antoinette that she had heard her master giving orders to his valet to bring him a glass of brandy. the man was returning with it.
quick as a flash, antoinette crossed the room and flung open the door.
"andrew," she whispered to the man who was passing, "i want you to do a favor for me."
"a hundred if you like," replied the man, good-humoredly. "but i haven't time to listen to you now. i'll take master this brandy—which, by the way, is the best of its kind. i wish he'd take a notion to leave half of it in the glass, for it's fairly nectar—then i'll be back in a trice, and you can consider me at your service for the rest of the evening."
"but it's now i want you, andrew—this very minute!" cried antoinette. "set your glass right down here; nobody will see it; i'll keep guard over it. my errand won't take you more than a minute. master won't miss his brandy for that short time. he'll enjoy it all the more when he gets it."
andrew hesitated an instant, and we all know what happens to the man who hesitates—he is lost.
"well, what is it you want, antoinette?" he replied, good-humoredly. "if it only takes me a minute, as you say, i don't mind accommodating you."
"i lost my little gold cross in the lower hall a few moments ago. i heard something drop as i was hurrying along, but did not miss it until just now, and i can't leave my lady to go and get it. some one may come along and find it, and i'd never get it again. for goodness' sake, go quick, andrew, and look for it. not an instant's to be lost."
suspecting nothing, the good fellow hurriedly set down the glass, and hastened away to do her bidding.
his back was scarcely turned ere antoinette flew to her own apartments, which adjoined her mistress's, and took from a trunk, which she unlocked with a very strange-looking key, a small vial. a few grains of the contents she emptied into the palm of her hand, and in less time than it takes to write it, they were transferred to the glass of brandy and dissolved at once with its amber contents.
she had scarcely accomplished this ere andrew returned, quite flushed from hurrying.
"i am sorry to bring you bad news, antoinette," he said; "but some one has been there before me and picked up your cross. i met the butler, and we both searched for it. he has promised to make strict inquiries concerning it, and get it back for you if it be possible."
"you are very good to take so much trouble upon yourself," declared antoinette, with a well-enacted sigh. "i suppose i shall survive the loss of it. it is a trinket that isn't of much value only as a keep-sake. but i won't keep you standing there talking any longer, andrew; your master will be waiting for the brandy."
"i'll see you later, antoinette," he said, nodding as he picked up his glass.
the next moment he had disappeared within his master's apartments.
when she returned to her mistress she found mrs. gardiner in a state of nervousness.
"the time is almost up, and you have devised no plan as yet, antoinette," she cried, wringing her hands. "see! the ten minutes have almost elapsed. oh—oh! what shall i do?"
"monsieur will not come in ten minutes' time, my lady," replied the maid, with a knowing nod; "nor will he go to the reception. there was but one way out of it," declared antoinette. "if he came after you to go down to the reception, the diamonds would have to be produced, so i said to myself he must not come, he must be prevented at all hazards. i knew of but one way, and acted upon the thought that came to me. monsieur had ordered some brandy; i intercepted the valet, sent him off on a fool's errand, holding the glass until he returned, and while he was gone i put a heavy sleeping potion, which i often take for the toothache, in monsieur's glass of brandy. after taking it, he will fall into a deep sleep, from which no one will be able to awake him. the consequence is, he will not come for my lady to take her down to the reception to-night, and she is free to suit herself as to whether she will wear diamonds or not. no other occasion for wearing them may take place for some time. i will think of something else by that time."
"you have saved me, antoinette!" cried the guilty woman, sinking down upon the nearest chair and trembling with excitement. "oh, how can i ever thank you!"
"if my lady would do something in the way of raising my pay, i would be much obliged," replied the girl, her black eyes glittering.
she knew the trembling woman before her was in her power. the game had been commenced, the first trump had been played, and antoinette meant to win all in the end.
"i shall be only too glad to do so," returned sally, realizing for the first time the unpleasantness of being dictated to by her maid.
"and if madame would make me a present of some money to-night, i could make excellent use of it."
"i haven't any ready money just now," returned sally, a dull red flush creeping over the whiteness of her face. "i have spent all last month's allowance, and it's only the middle of the month now."
"i would take the gold chain in the jewel-case which madame never wears," replied the girl, boldly.
"antoinette, you are a fiend!" cried sally gardiner, starting to her feet in a rage. "how dare you expect that i would give you my gold chain, girl?"
"madame could not afford to refuse my request," answered the girl. "if she wants me to keep her secret, she must pay well. the service i have rendered to-night is worth what i ask."
"take the chain," said young mrs. gardiner, with a short gasp. "i—i shall not need your services after to-night. take the chain, and—go!"
"so, so, madame!" cried the girl. "that is the way you would repay me for what i have done, for you? discharge antoinette, eh? oh, no, my lady; you will think better of those hasty words, especially as i have a suspicion of where madame's diamonds have gone."
"i lost them at the ball that night in newport," cried sally, springing hastily to her feet, and facing the girl, her temper at a white heat.
"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."
