“‘They are splendid!’ she said. ‘I never saw anything like them. No, your mother would need to die before giving up these.’
“‘They won’t look their best until you have put them on. Come!’
“‘Oh, I’m afraid! what if——’
“‘Afraid of what?’
“‘What if someone were to come and see——’
“‘Nonsense, my darling! There’s no one within half a mile of us; and if there were, they would only see a lovely girl looking her loveliest.’
“‘How nicely you talk to me! Well then—you put them on me. I won’t touch them myself.’
“The parure consisted of a necklace and a pair of earrings. I lifted them, flashing, from the case; clasped the necklace round her throat, she sitting motionless, and hung the earrings in her ears. A light, that matched their marvellous gleam, seemed to enter into her eyes as I did so.
“‘You and these diamonds were made for each other!’ I said; and bending forwards, I kissed her on the lips.
“For more than a minute she sat there quite still, I kneeling in front of her; we were looking straight into one another’s eyes. Then, all at once, a troubled anxious look came into her face. She rose with a startled gesture to her feet.