Euphrasia’s eyes were not on the speakers, nor was any envy to be seen in her face. She still gazed at the jewels in the box. The chosen gem was put aside; and then, one after another, the various articles were taken out and examined. At length, a large gold chain, set with emeralds, was lifted from where it lay coiled up in a corner. A low cry, like a muffled moan, escaped from Euphrasia’s lips, and she turned her head away from the box. “What is the matter, Euphra?” said Mr. Arnold. “A sudden shoot of pain—I beg your pardon, dear uncle. I fear I am not quite so well yet as I thought I was. How stupid of me!” “Do sit down. I fear the weight of the box was too much for you.” “Not in the least. I want to see the pretty things.” “But you have seen them before.” “No, uncle. You promised to show them to me, but you never did.” “You see what I get by being ill,” said Lady Emily. The chain was examined, admired, and laid aside. Where it had lain, they now observed, in the corner, a huge stone like a diamond. “What is this?” said Lady Emily, taking it up. “Oh! I see. It is a ring. But such a ring for size, I never saw. Do look, Miss Cameron.” For Miss Cameron was not looking. She was leaning her head on her hand, and her face was ashy pale. Lady Emily tried the ring on. Any two of her fingers would go into the broad gold circlet, beyond which the stone projected far in every direction. Indeed, the ring was attached to the stone, rather than the stone set in the ring. “That is a curious thing, is it not?” said Mr. Arnold. “It is of no value in itself, I believe; it is nothing but a crystal. But it seems to have been always thought something of in the family;—I presume from its being evidently the very ring painted by Sir Peter Lely in that portrait of Lady Euphrasia which I showed you the other day. It is a clumsy affair, is it not?” It might have occurred to Mr. Arnold, that such a thing must have been thought something of, before its owner would have chosen to wear it when sitting for her portrait. Lady Emily was just going to lay it down, when she spied something that made her look at it more closely. “What curious engraving is this upon the gold?” she asked. “I do not know, indeed,” answered Mr. Arnold. “I have never observed it.” “Look at it, then—all over the gold. What at first looks only like chasing, is, I do believe, words. The character looks to me like German. I wish I could read it. I am but a poor German scholar. Do look at it, please, dear Miss Cameron.” Euphra glanced slightly at it without touching it, and said: