"'A ring in pledge he gave her,
And vows of love he spoke.'
How strange that by this stream you should offer me a ring!"
"You seem to think there is a fatality in the water, Leone," he said, quietly.
"I have an idea that I cannot express, but it seems to me that story is told in the falling water."
"If the water tells of a golden bright life, all happiness, with the most devoted and loving of husbands, then it may tell you as much as it likes. Let me put the ring on your finger, Leone."
She held out her hand—such a beautiful hand, with a soft, pink palm and tapering fingers. As he went to place the ring on her finger, it fell from his hand into the water below, and Leone uttered a low cry.
"It is not lost," he said; "it has not fallen into the stream, it is here."
Looking down, she saw the flash of the diamonds in the little pool that lay between two stones, Lord Chandos wiped it and dried it.
"You will prize it all the more because it has been dipped in your favorite stream," he said. "Give me your hand again, Leone; we shall have better fortune this time."
He placed the ring securely on her finger, then kissed the white hand.