Read Online A Pearl for Love by Mary Cummins - Free Book Online

while Catherine served a customer with small pearl stud earrings, then she asked her to come over, after her customer had gone.
    ‘ Did you take this necklace for repair, Miss Lyall? ’
    ‘ Yes, I did, ’ said Catherine readily. ‘ You had broken it, hadn ’ t you, madam? Doesn ’ t it look nice now? ’
    ‘ Now it ’ s practically a choker, ’ the woman said coldly. ‘ I brought in a decent necklace of graduated pearls. A great many of them seem to be missing. ’
    Catherine ’ s mouth opened, then she bit her lip. The necklace had only been half threaded, the remaining pearls loose in an envelope. It was difficult to tell how big the necklace was likely to have been.
    ‘ We have sent out our pearls to the same firm for years ,’ Miss Pryce was saying, ‘ and they have never let us down, nor are they likely to make a mistake with the system we use for sending out ! repairs. ’
    ‘ I should like to see someone in authority, ’ the customer told them firmly.
    Only Michael was available, as John was busy with a couple buying an engagement ring, and Uncle James was having a late lunch. Miss Pryce explained the position to Michael, who asked the woman to come through to the office after he had questioned Catherine.
    ‘ Did you count those pearls? ’ he asked her, and her heart sank as she slowly shook her head.
    ‘ Did no one tell you to count the pearls carefully before the customer, and ask her to agree that you have the correct number? ’
    Again Catherine shook her head, her cheeks crimson. Her own common sense should have told her, but she had not thought of it.
    ‘ I suppose I can ’ t blame you entirely, being new, ’ he told her, rather bitingly, ‘ but I shall have a word with Elizabeth later. ’
    He walked away towards the office and Catherine turned to Miss Lyall, appalled. For a brief moment she thought she saw a gleam of satisfaction in the older woman ’ s eyes.
    ‘ What ’ s Elizabeth got to do with it? It was my mistake. ’
    ‘ Elizabeth should have warned you, ’ Miss Lyall said. ‘I should have done ... if I ’ d been here. ’
    ‘ Surely she can ’ t be expected to remember to tell me everything. Some things one must pick up for oneself. ’
    ‘ But not something where the customer is likely to try it on. ’
    ‘ Is she trying it on? ’
    ‘ I ’ m quite sure she is. I doubt if Michael will shake her either. We ’ ll be out of pocket, I ’ m afraid, Miss Lyall. She ’ ll want compensation for the missing pearls, and ... of course ... no charge for the re-threading. ’
    ‘ Oh! ’
    Catherine ’ s heart grew heavier. She could, perhaps, offer to pay for her mistake, but could she | afford it? Not only that, but wouldn ’ t Uncle James be very angry with her? And if it made trouble between Michael and Elizabeth, wouldn ’ t the other girl be more than angry?
    Elizabeth had been rather quiet during the weekend, after her house-hunting trip with Michael, and when Catherine had asked, with friendly interest, if she ’ d had a successful day, she had answered rather shortly, and Catherine had felt snubbed.
    Later Elizabeth had relented, and came to smile with apology at the other girl.
    ‘ We didn ’ t find what we wanted, ’ she said. ‘ Better luck next time, I suppose. ’
    ‘ Oh, what a pity, ’ said Catherine. She felt very real sympathy for the other girl, whose happiness seemed to have dimmed a little. She hoped Elizabeth and Michael hadn ’ t had a difference of opinion.
    The customer left, looking annoyed and far from satisfied, and Michael beckoned for Catherine to come into the office.
    ‘ I think I convinced the lady that she was mistaken, ’ he told her, his eyes gleaming. ‘ Her pearls were graduated. It would have been difficult to restore the balance when re-threading, if some of them had been missing.
    ‘ And anyway, I recognised her as someone who makes a habit of trying it on. ’
    ‘ You mean she ’ s tried to diddle one of you before?