Turquoises: Taris—London—Romance 65
tzigane
himself, or even Madame "X", to enter the story again with dramatic
effect. "Not so," said I. "What more do you want? To me the real
personages in the drama were the turquoises, and there they were once
more. What is more interesting, unique and beautiful—gems, or
commonplace stock characters like the Betrayed Husband, the Forsaken
Wife, the Guilty Pair? Any average novelist can do that sort of thing
on his head. But for true romance, give me the turquoises and the
strange coincidence that brought them into my life again on the same
day."
That
is why, when I read the scientist's description of turquoise—that it is
a chemical combination of hydrous aluminium phosphate, coloured with
copper phosphate— I feel I am the richer for my acquaintance with the
stone than the man in the laboratory with his retort.
