During her brief stay in Paris, one of her trunks was either lost or stolen, she is not certain which.

As she pays no personal attention to her baggage, she was not aware of her loss for several days.

So much is fact.

Now we come to mere conjecture.

A plausible conjecture seems to be that the gowns in the trunk were sold to a second-hand dealer, and these gowns, being attractive, the dealer must have immediately resold to various purchasers, and one of these purchasers must have--" "Yes, yes! Plain as day!" exclaimed Mr.Mayfair.
"The face was unrecognizable," continued Mr.Pyecroft, "but since the gown had sewn into it Mrs.De Peyster's name, of course--" "Of course! The most natural mistake in the world!" cried Mr.Mayfair excitedly.