She had never had an
opportunity of examining it closely before, and she now said, "I am
much inclined to believe that this is the belt that used to be an
heirloom in the Jerfield family, and which ought to be in yours,
Lucy."
My father's first wife had been the last of the Jerfields, and I
asked eager questions. Lady Diana believed that "those unhappy young
men" had made away with all their mother's jewels, but she could tell
no more, as our catastrophe had taken place while she was living at
Killy Marey. Her brother, she said, could tell us more; and so he
did, enough to set Eustace on fire.
Yes, the belt had been well known. It was not taken in the Armada,
but in a galleon of the Peruvian plunder by an old Jerfield, who had
been one of the race of Westward Ho! heroes. The Jerfields had not
been prosperous, and curious family jewels had been nearly all the
portion of the lady who had married my father. The sons had claimed
them, and they were divided between them, and given to the two wives;
and in the time of distress, when far too proud to accept aid from
the father, as well as rather pleased at mortifying him by disposing
of his family treasures, Alice and Dorothy Alison had gradually sold
them off. And, once in the hands of local jewellers, it was easy for
the belt to pass into becoming the prize held by the winner in the
Archery Club every year.
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