And so the diamond necklace, known to be worth ten thousand pounds, had at
last been stolen in earnest! Lizzie, when the policemen were gone, and the
noise was over, and the house was closed, slunk away to her bedroom,
refusing any aid in lieu of that of the wicked Patience. She herself had
examined the desk beneath the eyes of her two friends and of the
policemen, and had seen at once that the case was gone. The money was gone
too, as she was rejoiced to find. She perceived at once that had the money
been left, the very leaving of it would have gone to prove that other
prize had been there. But the money was gone--money of which she had given
a correct account--and she could now honestly allege that she had been
robbed. But she had at last really lost her great treasure; and if the
treasure should be found then would she infallibly be exposed. She had
talked twice of giving away her necklace, and had seriously thought of
getting rid of it by burying it deep in the sea. But now that it was in
very truth gone from her, the loss of it was horrible to her. Ten thousand
pounds, for which she had struggled so much and borne so many things,
which had come to be the prevailing fact of her life, gone from her
forever! Nevertheless it was not that sorrow, that regret, which had so
nearly overpowered her in the dining-parlour.
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