I've the wedding
ring, too. But it isn't the time for that. A good-sized diamond's the
obvious sort of thing: advertises itself for what it is, and that's
what we want. You'll wear it, as much as to say, 'I was engaged like
everybody else.' But if there wasn't a reason against it, _this_ is what
I should like to put on your finger."
As he spoke, he hid the spark of light in his other hand, and from the
pocket whence it had come produced another ring.
If she had not seen this, Annesley would have exclaimed against the word
"obvious" for the splendid brilliant as big as a small pea which Knight
put aside so carelessly. But the contrast between the modern ring with
its "solitaire" diamond and the wonderful rival he gave it silenced her.
She was no judge of jewellery, and had never possessed any worth having;
but she knew that this second ring was a rare as well as a beautiful
antique. It looked worthy, she thought, of a real princess.
Even the gold was different from other gold, the little that was visible,
for the square-cut stone, of pale, scintillating blue, was surrounded by
a frame of tiny brilliants encrusting the rim as far as could be seen on
the back of the hand when the ring was worn.
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