"Of course! I knew I was right. Elsbeth swore to pearls."
"Oh, I've always coveted her string. She's going to give it to me when I'm forty. I'd like to know what you're talking about, Roger, if you don't mind?"
"Why forty?"
"Years of discretion! You are tidy and never lose anything once you're forty. But why? Were you having a bet?"
"Not exactly." Roger searched his pockets. "Here, catch hold!"
He had produced a small package, gay with sealing-wax and coloured string. He handed it to her awkwardly, with immense detachment.
She opened it curiously.
In a little white kid case lay an emerald, round and shining like a safety signal. It was set in silver, quaintly carven.
Alwynne exclaimed.
"Oh, Roger! How gorgeous! How perfectly ripping! Where did you pick it up? Was it awfully expensive?"