the hand almost proprietary.

"But Jeanne looked at him as one scared, and said: 'Shall I marry a
thief?'

"Then, very quietly, she asked for a look at the jewels, and he
handed them to her. She had never set eyes on diamonds before, but
all women have an instinct for jewels, and these made her gasp.
'Yes,' she owned, 'I could not have believed that the world contained
such beautiful things. I am sorry thou hast done this wickedness,
but I understand how they tempted thee.'

"'What is this you are chanting?' demanded Lucien. 'The stones were
nothing to me. I thought only that by selling them we two could set
up house as man and wife.'

"'My dear one,' said Jeanne, 'what happiness could we have known with
this between us?' What with the diamonds in her hand and the little
cottage there facing her, so long desired, she was forced to shut her
eyes for a moment; but when she opened them again her voice was quite
firm. 'We must restore them where they belong. It may be that Pere
Thomas can help us; but I must think of a way. Give them to me, and
let me keep them while I think of a way.'

"'You do not love me as I love you,' said Lucien in his anger and
disappointment; but he knew, all the same, that he spoke an untruth.

"Jeanne took the diamonds home with her, to her bedroom, and sat for
some time on the edge of her bed, thinking out a way. In the midst
of her thinking she stood up, walked over to the glass, and clasped