“What are you searching for?” asked Barclay, breaking his long silence.
“Cousin Jane’s seal.” Ethel laid the sealing wax down on the desk and searched diligently among her papers. “How provoking! The notes are all written, and I cannot send them off until they are sealed—Cousin Jane’s latest fad,” she added in explanation. “And the invitations must be sent out this morning.”
“Use this,” Barclay, drawing his chair nearer, removed his Chinese ring and laid it in Ethel’s hand.
“Oh, won’t I ruin the stone?”
“I think not, the dealer said it could be used as a seal.”
Ethel again examined the ring. “I think he was wrong,” she announced. “I would be afraid to use it—the jade is too beautiful.”
“You admire it then?” eagerly.
“Very much; it is unique,” proffering it back again, and Barclay held the ring against the whiteness of her hand.
“It will be becoming to you,” he said, and before she guessed his intention, he had slipped it on her finger. “Ah, I was right; don’t remove it.”
Ethel laughed unsteadily. “I never accept presents of value from acquaintances.”