As she drew it out, to her surprise Emily said,
“I’ll wait outside, miss, till you calls me,” and went from the room.
Gilda thought that this was obviously the way that Heloise had instructed Emily to behave, so she said nothing, but as soon as the door closed behind the maid she went to the wardrobe and knelt down to open the jewel case.
It was certainly very large and she could only suppose that Lady Neyland had given it to Heloise as a present or perhaps it had been one of her own that she had no further use for.
She turned the small key in the lock and raised the lid.
Then she stared in sheer astonishment for on the tray that lay inside on the top of the case there was a remarkably large amount of jewellery.
‘How can Heloise have owned all this?’ Gilda asked herself.
There was t
