How the things flashed in the sunshine--but so did the crystal
drops in the old Venetian girondoles.
'No, Molly, they are not paste; they are Brazilian diamonds, and, as
Maulevrier would say, they are as good as they make them. They are
heirlooms, Molly. My dear mother wore them in her summer-tide of wedded
happiness. My grandmother wore them for thirty years before her; my
great grandmother wore them at the Court of Queen Charlotte, and they
were worn at the Court of Queen Anne. They are nearly two hundred years
old; and those central stones in the tiara came out of a cap worn by the
Great Mogul, and are the largest table diamonds known. They are
historic, Mary.'
'Why, they must be worth a fortune.'
'They are valued at something over seventy thousand pounds.'
'But why don't you sell them?' exclaimed Mary, opening her eyes wide
with surprise, 'they would give you a handsome income.'
'They are not mine to sell, Molly. Did not I tell you that they are
heirlooms? They are the family jewels of the Countesses of Hartfield.
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