Ida had been looking down calmly at the roses she held. But as mention of the diamonds fell from her husband's lips, a change that was alarming came over her face.
She grew white as death; her eyes lost their light. The roses which she held fell to her feet.
"Why, Ida, you look as if it were an occasion for sorrow instead of one of joy," Eugene remarked.
"What is the date of the ball?" she asked.
"The fourteenth," he responded.
Again that ashen pallor spread over her face, leaving it white to the lips.
That was the date upon which Royal Ainsley was to bring her child to her.
What was the great ball to her compared with this event?
While in the village Eugene had got the money she had asked of him. He had handed it to her inclosed in an envelope.