He detached a small, old-fashioned gold ring from his watch-chain.
'It is a motto ring that was left by an old relative to my favourite sister Margaret, who gave it to me before her death.'
'Ah! she died?'
'Yes, at eighteen. "A pard-like spirit, beautiful and swift." Do you know, Liebe, you reminded me of her the first night we met—and oftentimes since.'
Stella took the ring and kissed it gently.
'I shall wear it next my heart,' she said. 'There is a motto on the inside—"Amore."'
'Yes. "Amore e 'l cor gentil sono una cosa"—"Love and a noble heart are one and the same." It is out of the "Vita Nuova."'
'Ah, the great master. From first to last he speaks more nobly of love than any other of the sons of light.'
'Shall we read him together next spring, Liebe? You know we shall be old married people by that time. Are you cold, Stella? You seem to shiver.'
'No; not cold. When you spoke of next spring, someone must have walked over the earth in which my grave is to be.'