Lady Sophia’s Sapphires.

An Over True Story of English Life

 by Sir Gilbert E.Campbell, Bar

The news had spread all over town, and had been discussed in many a select coterie. It was discussed with much shrugging of shoulders and gesticulation in Parisian salons, and had even penetrated to Nice and Monaco, where for nearly the whole day it formed the staple of conversation. Lady Sophia Girleton’s sapphires were missing. These matchless stones which had been the envy and admiration of society during many London seasons, and which were the most valued of the Girdleton heirlooms, had suddenly vanished and left no trace behind them. It was at Hillside hall, in Loamshire, the country seat of the Girdleton’s, that the appalling discovery was first made. Sir Peregrine and Lady Sophia Girdleton had been preparing for a return to town and civilization, when the sapphires were missed, and, as may be imagined, a terrible amount of consternation at once ensued. A thorough search was at once set on foot. Hillside Hall was literally turned upside down, possible and impossible places were ransacked, servants’ boxes were searched, and the domestics themselves subjected to a rigorous course of cross-examination, and every effort made to recover the missing jewels, but all efforts proved fruitless. Sir Peregrine Girdleton and wife superintended the search in person, and when that distinguished county magnate, wearied out with his wife’s lamentations, pleaded fatigue and retired to his library, nominally to think over the best course to be pursued, but in reality to indulge in a clandestine cigar, Lady Sophia, under the escort of her faithful dog Lance, continued the investigation with unabated vigor. Lance was a large nondescript dog, of no particular breed, which Lady Sophia had purchased during a visit to Biarritz from a young man whose parents had for a long time carried on… Read More