Slowly, almost like one afraid that if she touched it, it
would disappear, I plucked the ring out of the box and
looked at it closely. It was breathtaking.
"Not having a mother to advise me, I had to
depend on an expert jeweler," he said. "I hope you
like it."
"It's a beautiful ring," I gasped. I was
hypnotized by its magical twinkle.
"Try it on," he urged.
I considered it and then did so, finding it a
perfect fit. I turned my hand around to look at it from
different angles. The hand that I thought looked so
thin and bony now looked like it belonged to a
princess.
"How did you know the correct size?" "That was a bit of conspiracy," he confessed,
"between me and your father. He got me one of your
present rings and I had it fitted."
I dropped my hand to my lap as if the ring had
taken on the weight of a lump of lead.
"My father already knows about this?" I
groaned with disappointment.
Samuel nodded.
"I didn't want to appear too forward in his
eyes," he said quickly. "And I thought if he got one of
your rings to me . . well, as you see, it worked as far
as fitting."
"I don't like secrets, especially when I'm the
only one not in on them," I intoned as if I stood
behind a pulpit.
He shook his head.