ut her apparel bespoke her a
favorite of wealth and luxury.

Her appearance was the more marked from the fact that her hair was a
deep, rich red, and curled about her fair forehead in lovely natural
curls, while she wore over her face a spotted black lace veil, which,
however, did not quite conceal some suspicious wrinkles and
"crow's-feet," if that had been her object in wearing it.

She had driven to the store in a plain but elegant _coupe_, drawn by a
pair of black horses in gold-mounted harness. Her driver was apparently a
man of about thirty years, and of eminently respectable appearance in his
dark-green livery.

She approached a counter on entering the store, and, in a charmingly
affable manner, asked to look at some diamonds.

As it happened, at that hour, one of the clerks was absent, and Mr. Amos
Palmer was himself in attendance in his place, and politely served the
lady, laying out before her a glittering array of the costly stones she
desired to examine.

He saw at once that she was a judge of the gems, for she selected not the
largest and most showy, but the purest and the best, and he could but
admire her discernment and taste.

When she had made her selections, and she took plenty of time about it,
chatting all the while with the gentleman in the most intelligent and
fascinating manner, she remarked that she wished her husband to see them
before she concluded her purchase.

"But," she added, thoughtfully, "he is something of an invalid, and
not able to come to the store to examine them; have you not some one
whom you could trust, Mr. Palmer, to take the stones to my home for his
inspection? If he sanctions my choice he will at once write a check for
their price, or the attendant could return them if they were not
satisfactory."

"Certainly," Mr. Palmer graciously responded; "we frequently have such
requests, and are only too willing to accommodate our customers. Will
madame kindly give me her address?"

Madame smiled as she drew a costly card-case from her no less costly
shopping-bag, and taking a heavy card with beveled edges from it, laid it
upon the counter before the jeweler, remarking that she should like to
have the clerk accompany her directly back in her own carriage, as she
wanted the matter decided at once, for the diamonds were to be worn that
evening if they suited.

"Mrs. William Vanderbeck, No. 98 ---- street," Mr. Palmer read, and then
slipped the card into his vest pocket, aft