THE EARRINGS

 


ATTENDING A GRAND DINNER AT THE GOLDSMITH'S HALL, AT LLOYD'S OF LONDON, I MET THE ILLUSTRIOUS EDUARD GUBELIN,WEBSTER, CROWNINGSHIELD....JOHN LORING....A VERITABLE WHO'S WHO OF JEWELERS AND GEMMOLOGISTS.......MORE IMPORTANTLY, I WAS SEATED ACROSS THE BANQUET TABLE FROM MADAME "X", WHO, QUITE INEBRIATED, INVITED ME TO LUNCH, THE FOLLOWING DAY, AT AN INDIAN RESTAURANT NEAR LIBERTY'S........SHE TOSSED THESE WONDERFUL GEORGIAN EARRINGS ONTO MY FOLDED NAPKIN AND ASKED, "CAN YOU SELL THESE?".... ALTHOUGH I HAD NOT YET ENGAGED THE WORLD OF JEWELS AT THIS LEVEL, I REPLIED "YES!....MY LADY." WITH NO WRITTEN AGREEMENT, SHE LEFT HER CARD AND VANISHED...... LATER, IN SAN FRANCISCO, I ENCOUNTERED ANOTHER GRAND LADY AND HER YOUNG SON.....AT GUMPS, DURING ITS RENOVATION......SHE HAD PLANNED TO PRESENT SOME OF HER TREASURES TO THE BUYERS THERE, BUT, BECAUSE OF THE MESS AND REMODELLING, THIS WAS NOT AN OPTION......HER YOUNG SON LOOKED ME DIRECTLY IN THE EYES FOR A MOMENT, THEN ASKED OF HIS MOTHER, "WHY DON'T YOU ASK THIS MAN ABOUT IT?"........AFTER A BRIEF AND FORMAL DIALOGUE, MORE TREASURES WERE PASSED INTO MY HANDS; AND, LATER, AT MY HOTEL, THE SON ARRIVED, BY TAXI, WITH SEVERAL IMPORTANT PORCELAINS, WRAPPED IN VICTORIAN NEWSPAPERS......I RETURNED HOME, REJUVENATED BY THESE ASSOCIATIONS...AND EMBOLDENED TO RIDE THE GOLDEN SLEIGH OF OPPORTUNITY AND GOOD FORTUNE.........
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