And, having ruled the point, old Lady Chelford leaned back and resumed her doze.
There was no longer anything playful in Dorcas's look. On the contrary, something fierce and lurid, which I thought wonderfully becoming; and after a little she said—
'I promised, Rachel, to show you my jewels. Come now—will you?—and see them.'
And she placed Rachel's hand on her arm, and the two young ladies departed.
'Are you well, dear?' asked Rachel when they reached her room.
Dorcas was very pale, and her gaze was stern, and something undefinably wild in her quietude.
'What day of the month is this?' said Dorcas.
'The eighth—is not it?—yes, the eighth,' answered Rachel.
'And our marriage is fixed for the twenty-second—just a fortnight hence.
I am going to tell you, Rachel, what I have resolved on.'
'How really beautiful these diamonds are!—quite superb.'