“There is not the slightest need of that, your highness,” Barry returned hastily. “I am more grateful to you than I can say, for without your aid I should probably have missed—the greatest happiness of my life.”
“You are good to say that,” the prince said simply. “I am very happy.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lawrence asked, as they arose.
The crown prince looked slightly puzzled. “I’m afraid I do not understand.”
“This,” explained Lawrence, drawing the emerald ring from his finger and holding it out. “It belongs to you, you know.”
“Not at all. That is yours. It is part of the bargain, and I am sure you have earned it.”
“But it’s worth a king’s ransom,” Barry protested. “I really can’t take it. You have given me more than enough without that. Besides, it is much too rare a jewel for me to be wearing.”
The prince darted a mischievous glance at Shirley Rives.
“Perhaps there is some one else who might be willing to relieve you of its care,” he murmured, his fine eyes twinkling.
There was no mistaking his meaning, and the girl dropped her lids, while a rush of color crimsoned her lovely face. The next instant, however, she lifted them again and looked bravely into Barry’s questioning eyes.