"May I examine these glorious pearls ?" he asked--and looked at them through a magnifying glass, and weighed them in his hand.

"I wonder you are not afraid to walk out alone in the dark, with such a necklace as this," he said.

"May I send to my foreman, and let him see it ?" Madame Fontaine granted his request.

He rang the bell which communicated with the work-rooms.

Being now satisfied that she was speaking to the proprietor of the shop, she risked her first inquiry.
"Have you any necklace of imitation pearls which resembles my necklace ?" she asked.
The old gentleman started, and looked harder than ever at the impenetrable veil.