ane was sweeping and dusting the back drawing-room,
John Hollands looked in. There'd been a large dinner-party the night
before, and the family was rather late. Steps were heard overhead in
her ladyship's bedroom, and then Georgina comes in. `Come in here, Mr
Hollands,' she says, `and look here, both of you; see what I've found on
the stairs!' The butler came in, and the lady's-maid holds out to him a
beautiful bracelet all sparkling with jewels. He took it in his hand
and turned it over, and says, `It must have been dropped by one of the
ladies as dined here yesterday; you'd better give it to her
ladyship.'--`Of course I shall,' says the other; `only there's no harm
looking at it.--Ain't it a love of a bracelet, Jane? Just take it in
your hand and look at it afore I take it up to mistress.' Jane took the
bracelet, and said that it was a beauty indeed, and was going to return
it to Georgina, but that wicked woman had turned her head away,
pretending not to notice Jane's hand stretched out to her. Then steps
were heard close to the door, and Georgina cried out half aloud,
`There's her ladyship coming; won't you catch it, Jane! Come along, Mr
Hollands;' and they were gone out at another door in a moment, just as
Lady Morville came in at the other end of the room. And there stood
poor Jane, her face all in a blaze, with her broom in one hand and the
bracelet in the other.

"Scarcely knowing what she did, but not wishing; of course, to be found
with the bracelet in her fingers, Jane tried to slip it into her pocket;
but it wouldn't do, her mistress had already seen it. So she says,
quiet and calm-like, `Jane, don't attempt to hide it from me; I believe
that's one of the bracelets Sir Lionel gave me on my last birthday. I
couldn't find either of them when I was dressing for dinner last night,
nor Georgina either. Come, tell me, Jane, how did it come into your
possession?'

"What could poor Jane say or do? She bursts out a-crying, poor thing,
and then turns her round, when she'd thrown up a little prayer to the
Lord from her heart, and she says, `Please, my lady, I never saw the
bracelet till a few minutes ago. Georgina brought it in while I was
sweeping, and showed it to Mr Hollands and me; and I was just going to
give it back to Georgina, for they said that some lady must have dropped
it last night--and I never knew it was your ladyship's--and they ran out
of the room and left it in my hand--and then your la