The missing brooch

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Mr Sorrell placed the empty velvet case beside his breakfast plate as carefully as if the brooch were still inside it. Ellen, who had entered with the coffee, stopped between the table and the door. Mrs Bell noticed that the girl’s fingers tightened around the handle of the pot.

“It was on my dressing table at ten,” Mr Sorrell said. “At seven this morning, your servant brought the coal. No one else entered.”

Ellen’s face had lost its colour. Mrs Bell remembered seeing the brooch the previous evening: a red stone surrounded by small pearls, bright enough to draw the eye even in a dim room. She also remembered that Mr Sorrell’s door had stood open while his boots were being cleaned in the passage. When she mentioned this, he replied that he had remained close by, although he could not say for how long.

“The girl should be searched,” he said. “After that, you may dismiss her.”

Mrs Bell set down her cup. Ellen had served in the house for eight years. Eight years of early fires, returned coins and unanswered bells seemed to gather behind the girl; yet none of them could account for this particular morning. Trust was not proof. Neither, Mrs Bell thought, was a pale face.

“You may question her,” she said, “and you may send for a constable if you wish. But you will not punish her merely because punishment is convenient.”

Mr Sorrell glanced towards Ellen’s closed hand. At Mrs Bell’s request, Ellen opened it. A sovereign lay in her palm. She said that it had arrived from her brother the previous day and produced a folded letter from her pocket. The letter carried the town postmark, but the name beneath it was unfamiliar to Mrs Bell. Mr Sorrell gave a short laugh and pushed back his chair.

Mrs Bell’s voice remained steady. She sent Ellen to continue her work and told Mr Sorrell that his room would be searched in his presence. If the brooch was not found, the constable could hear every person’s account, including his own. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Ellen left, walking slowly enough to preserve her dignity until the door had closed.

Mrs Bell stood at the foot of the stairs while Mr Sorrell went to fetch his coat. Her hand rested on the newel post. She had spoken as though eight years formed a key, but now, in the quiet hall, she could not tell which lock it fitted. Before following him upstairs, she crossed to the sideboard and turned the key in the household cash-box. She had never locked it in the daytime before.

“The writer makes Mrs Bell’s defence of Ellen admirable, but also suggests that it is easier to act certain in public than to feel certain in private.”

Evaluate how successfully the writer presents this idea. Support your judgement with detailed references to the passage.