him and his wife, Mortimer Darcy had awaited an opportunity to buy the
business of a man whom he had known for a number of years and to whom
he had sold many diamonds and other stones. This man--Harrison Van
Doren by name--had what was termed the best jewelry trade in
Colchester. The "old" families--not that any of them could trace their
ancestry back very far--liked to say that "we get all our stuff at Van
Doren's."

This name, on little white plush-lined boxes, containing pins or
sparkling rings, came to mean almost as much as some of the more
expensive names in New York. Young ladies counted it a point in the
favor of their lovers if the engagement circlet came from Van Doren's.
And Mortimer Darcy, knowing the value of that class of trade, had, when
he purchased Mr. Van Doren's business fostered that spirit. Mrs.
Darcy, on the death of her husband, had further catered to it, so that
the Darcy establishment, though it was not the richest or most showy in
Colchester, was safely counted the most exclusive--that is, it had a
full line of the best goods, be it clocks or diamonds, and it had what,
in bygone days, was called a "carriage trade," but which is now
referred to as "automobile."

That is to say, those, aside from a casual trade with people who
dropped in as they might have done to a grocery, to get what they
really needed in the way of jewelry, came in gasolene or electric cars
where their ancestors had come with horses and carriage.

So Darcy's jewelry store was known, and though a bit old-fashioned in a
way, was favorably known, not only to the older members of the rich
families of the place, but to the younger set as well. The pretty
girls and their well-groomed companions of the "Assembly Ball" set
liked to stop in there for their rings, brooches, scarf pins or cuff
links, and very frequent were the rather languid orders:

"You may send it, charge."

It was to that class of trade that Mrs. Darcy catered. She understood
it, and it understood her. That was enough. She took a personal
interest in the business to the extent of being in the store almost
every day, as her husband had been before her, to advise and be
available for consultation, whether it was the buying of a gold
teething ring for the newest member of the family, an engagement ring
for the latest debutante, a watch for "son," attaining his majority, or
perhaps new gold glasses for grandpapa or grandmama.

The store was not a large o