when celia first discovered her loss, she was too shocked to utter a sound. she dropped into a chair and covered her face with her hands whilst she tried to collect her thoughts and make up her mind how to act. then the full horror of her position fell upon her. the butterfly brooch was lost, there could be no doubt about that; and, as she would not be able to replace it, sir jasper would think it had been stolen, and even if she told the truth, he would never accept her explanation that she had only intended to borrow it for the time.
had her mother been there, very likely celia would have made a full confession to her of all her misdoings; but she shrank from telling either lulu or mr. tillotson the true facts of the case. how could she say she had taken the brooch unknown to sir jasper when she had led them to believe he had made her a present of the jewel? she uttered a wail of distress as she reflected thus, which sound brought lulu into the room, looking dismayed and startled, to ascertain what was amiss.
"for goodness sake, speak, celia!" cried lulu after several vain attempts to make her friend tell her trouble. "are you ill? what is it?"
"my brooch!" gasped celia, sobbing as if her heart would break, and raising a pail of miserable blue eyes bedewed with tears to lulu's concerned face.
"your brooch? the diamond brooch, do you mean?"
"yes. i've lost it! oh, what shall i do?" —and celia wrung her hands despairingly.
"lost it!" for a moment lulu looked as shocked as her friend. "oh, celia, impossible!" she cried. "perhaps you've dropped it in the room somewhere, or on the stairs."
a gleam of hope illuminated celia's face, but it died away when, after an exhaustive search, no brooch could be found. the servants, summoned by lulu, had joined in the search; and mr. tillotson, hearing a commotion, had come from the dining-room to learn what was wrong. very grave had he looked on hearing that the butterfly brooch was lost, and late though it was, had put on his hat and overcoat, and had gone out. on his return, he explained that he had been to the concert hall, and to the police station, and added that nothing more could be done that night.
"do you think there is a chance of the brooch being found?" celia asked. she had ceased crying now, but her face looked very shocked and white. "oh, how i wish i had not worn it!" she cried in great distress.
"i wish so, too," mr. tillotson replied gravely. "in fact, i cannot imagine what induced sir jasper to make you such a valuable present. i cannot possibly tell whether it is likely we shall ever see it again or not; it all depends who finds it; should it fall into honest hands of course it will be returned, if not—"
he paused, shaking his head, and presently bade the girls have their suppers and go to bed. they followed him into the dining-room, but neither celia nor lulu could eat, though they made a pretence of doing so.
"i will have some bills printed in the morning, giving a description of the brooch, and offering a suitable reward for its return," mr. tillotson said, kindly. "cheer up, my dear, perhaps you may get it again. anyway, do not grieve about it, for you are not to blame."
the tears rushed to celia's eyes afresh as she listened, and she wondered what he would think of her if he knew how greatly she was to blame.
"uncle jasper will be so angry," she faltered.
"no, i do not think he will be. he will be sorry, i have no doubt, but he is a just man, and not one to be angry without a cause. he gave you the brooch, and i am sure you set great store by it; you could not help losing it."
lulu lingered in her friend's bedroom until she was in bed, and tried to console her all she could, but celia was not to be comforted.
"i'm very, very sorry," lulu said at length, "but i don't see why you should give way like this. father will do all he possibly can to find the brooch for you, and—anyway, it's no good crying and making yourself ill, is it?"
"no," celia agreed, "but—but, i'm so miserable, and you don't understand."
"what don't i understand?" lulu inquired, considerably mystified.
but celia declined to explain, and lulu retired to her own room, telling herself it was useless trying to get any sense from her visitor.
long did celia lay awake that night. she wept until she made herself feel positively ill and then, when she was quite exhausted, she could not rest for wondering what everyone would think of her when it became known that she had stolen the butterfly brooch and had lost it.
"yes, that's the real truth," she reflected. "oh, what a wicked, wicked girl i've been! i wish mother was here—or joy! oh, i would tell joy all about it! how i regret i ever came to visit the tillotsons! and yet they've been so kind. oh, what shall i do? i shall be going back to the moat house in a few days, and if i don't get the butterfly brooch before then, i don't know what will happen."
the next morning celia took her place at the breakfast-table in a very subdued frame of mind. lulu and mr. tillotson looked at her pale cheeks and heavy eyes pityingly; and the latter, with the best intentions in the world, did not tend to raise her spirits by telling her that he himself would inform sir jasper of her loss.
"oh, please, not to-day! do not tell him to-day!" celia implored. "perhaps the brooch may be found, and then he need never know it was lost. oh, i am afraid he will think me so—so careless!"
as soon as breakfast was over, mr. tillotson began writing out a description of the lost article, with the intention of having bills printed and posted about the town, whilst celia watched him, actually quivering with nervousness. before he had completed his task to his satisfaction, however, there was a ring at the front door bell, and a few moments later a servant came to inform him that he was wanted. when he returned, which was in a very short while, his face wore a look of relief, and going straight up to celia, he placed the butterfly brooch in her hand. the little girl uttered a cry of intense joy, and gazed at the sparkling jewel with eyes shining through a mist of glad tears.
"where did you get it, father?" lulu asked, eagerly.
"the caretaker of the hall found it late last night. i had seen him and told him of celia's loss, so he made a careful search and discovered the brooch on the floor under a chair near the door through which we left the hall, and being an honest man, he brought it to me the first thing this morning; it was he i was called out to see just now." mr. tillotson did not say he had rewarded the caretaker handsomely for the return of the jewel; he had been only too delighted to do so. "you are indeed fortunate, celia," he told her. "i confess i never thought you would get your brooch again."
"oh, how glad i am! how glad i am!" celia cried, ecstatically. "oh, mr. tillotson, uncle jasper need not be told now that i lost it, need he? you won't say anything about it, will you?" she pleaded, coaxingly.
"why should you mind?" he asked in surprise. "i suppose you are afraid he will think you were to blame, eh? well, no, i won't tell him—on one consideration."
"and that?" celia questioned anxiously.
"that you refrain from wearing the brooch till you are older."
"oh, i promise you that! i never wish to wear it again—never! i—i will let uncle jasper keep it for me."
"not at all a bad plan. i know little girls are fond of jewellery," he said, with a smiling glance at his daughter, "but you are too young to wear such a valuable ornament as that diamond brooch. i advise you to do as you say, and when you return to the moat house give it to sir jasper, or to your mother, to keep for you."
"i will give it to uncle jasper," celia rejoined decidedly, reflecting how wonderfully things were being put straight for her. "i —i'm afraid i've made a lot of trouble for you," she continued, hesitatingly, "but, indeed i couldn't help it."
he answered her reassuringly, and bade her put the butterfly brooch away at once. she ran upstairs and hid it, as before, at the bottom of her box, her heart fluttering with joy; her drooping spirits quite revived.
during the day she tried to extract a promise from lulu to the effect that she would not mention the loss of the brooch to anyone; but lulu stubbornly declined to pass her word.
"why should you mind, now, celia?" she inquired, curiously. "i suppose all your people know sir jasper gave you the brooch, don't they?"
"no," celia was obliged to admit, "i never told them."
"the idea! why not?"
"i—i—i thought joy might be jealous."
lulu looked dubious. she did not believe this statement; in fact, she was beginning to have a very ugly suspicions of her friend, and frankly told her so.
"the very first time i see mrs. wallis i shall tell her about the fuss you made last night," she said, decidedly; "you upset the whole household. i thought then it couldn't be all fair and square about that brooch. come, tell me why you are so anxious to make me promise to keep it a secret that you lost it."
celia was at her wit's end what to say. she saw she was completely in lulu's hands, and, at last, came to the conclusion that her only course was to take her fully into her confidence.
"if i tell you the reason why i don't want you to mention the brooch at all at the moat house, will you faithfully promise not tell tales about me?" celia questioned, uneasily.
lulu demurred, but her curiosity overcame doubts as to the wisdom of making such promise, and she finally gave it. then celia explained the situation to her whilst listened in amazed silence.
"there, now you know all about it," said celia, in conclusion. "i've told you what i wouldn't tell anyone else in the world, but you're my friend, and i've trusted you."
"your friend, indeed!" lulu cried. "good gracious! what have you done? don't you see that you've actually stolen the brooch? why, you're nothing more nor less than a thief! oh, you may get red and angry, but what i say is true! it's all very fine to talk of the brooch being yours some day. that some day isn't now. you've taken it without permission, and if sir jasper discovers that it's gone in your absence, he'll consider it has been stolen. i'm surprised at you, celia, i am indeed. what a risky thing to do! if sir jasper finds you out, he'll never think anything of you again. and he's been so kind to you, too."
celia had not anticipated lulu would take the matter in this way, and she quailed beneath her indignant words.
"really, i think you're more ungrateful than anyone i ever heard of in my life," lulu continued, her pale blue eyes glowing with excitement. "think of all that sir jasper has done for you and yours. and you were so poor before he had you at the moat house! and he's so fond of you, too, and has made so much more of you than of joy. put the brooch back? i only hope you may have a chance of doing so! i knew you were selfish, celia, but i never guessed you were so wicked as this."
"you've no right to speak to me so cruelly!" said celia, hotly; "don't you see how unhappy i am?"
"so you ought to be!"
thereupon began a quarrel which lasted nearly half an hour. both girls lost their tempers, and said many hard, bitter things to each other which neither actually meant. it ended by celia declaring she would write to her mother to send for her return to the moat house, and by lulu retorting that she should be glad when her visitor was gone. accordingly celia retired to her bedroom and commenced her letter; but before it was finished lulu knocked at the door and demanded admittance.
"come in, if you like," celia replied, in an injured tone.
so lulu entered, and crossing to her friend's side put her arms round her neck kissed her repentantly.
"oh, celia, forgive my wicked temper!" said with great earnestness. "i ought not to have spoken to you as i did; but i cannot imagine how you could have brought yourself to take the brooch. i know i'm very naughty myself, and do heaps of things father wouldn't approve of, but, oh, don't you see how wrong you've been?"
"yes," celia acknowledged, sighing, "of course i do."
"don't you think you'd better tell your mother all about it? i would, if i were you. oh, i'm sure your secret is going to make me very unhappy! i wish you had never told it to me."
"you made me."
"i know i did."
"it will be all right now the brooch is found, lulu. i shall put it back."
"but supposing sir jasper finds it gone whilst you're still here?"
"he won't do that," celia replied confidently; "but i'm writing to mother saying i've arranged to leave here on saturday. i think it is time i went back to the moat house."
lulu agreed. she felt she would have no rest until she knew the butterfly brooch was once more in sir jasper amery's keeping.
"you know, celia, if sir jasper discovered you had taken the brooch he would never make you his heiress," she said, "and you know you would like to be rich; you told me you never wanted to return to a—"
"indeed, no! that would be unbearable. we are friends again, are we not, lulu?"
"yes, i suppose so. but you've made me very unhappy. i can't help thinking how your mother would grieve if she knew what you've done. oh, i think if my mother had lived i wouldn't have grieved her for anything!"
"i didn't think of mother when i took the brooch," celia murmured.
"no; i expect you only thought of yourself, and how the diamonds would suit you. i can understand that. but didn't you remember afterwards that god had seen you? that is the thought that would have haunted me. i never thought much about him till joy spoke of him so seriously to me; since then i can't help remembering he sees me, and sometimes i feel frightened and miserable, and wish i was a better girl. but i'm vain, and foolish, and fond of dress, and light literature, and i'm much afraid there's no good in me at all!"
lulu was in a wonderfully humble frame of mind. truth to tell, celia's confession had frightened her, by showing her what vanity and deception might lead to. she was really shocked at her friend's conduct, and anxious beyond measure that the butterfly brooch should be replaced in sir jasper safe, to which end she, at the risk of appearing inhospitable, raised no protest against celia's arrangement for leaving, but allowed her to post her letter, and was actually relieved in mind when it was gone.
"celia has decided to go on saturday," she informed her father, later in the day; "she thinks it is time she went home, as she has been here more than a fortnight, and she would like a little while with her brother before he returns to school. she says she has had a most enjoyable visit."
"she shall come again," mr. tillotson replied, smilingly, "but next time she had better leave the butterfly brooch at home."
