She tugged at a slender chain which hung around her neck, and brought forth from beneath the embroidered thinness of her gown the two rings, which gave out flashing lights as she bent toward Diana. Diana did not touch them. "They're lovely," she said, steadily; "aren't they, Sophie?" "I'm glad he didn't give me pearls," Bettina went on, as Mrs. Martens exclaimed at their beauty, "because pearls mean tears." "I've always worn pearls," said Diana. "Oh, but not as love gifts," said Bettina, quickly. "It's only when your lover gives you a pearl that you weep--my mother's gift from my father was a great pearl--and when--he went away--she dropped it--into the sea. "And I didn't blame her." Bettina was swinging her own rings back and forth, and they gave out a silvery tinkle like a chime of fairy bells. "I didn't blame her, although the pearl was worth a great deal of money and we were poor. I shouldn't want a ring after a man had ceased to love me, would you?" "Of course not," said Diana, "and now--tell me, what were the other nice things which happened while I was away?" "Oh," Bettina laughed, "I went fishing with Captain Stubbs and Miss Matthews, and Justin----" "Justin?" "Yes. Justin Ford. He invited himself. I told Mrs. Martens when I came home that I tried not to have him go, but he would, and it stormed---- Oh, well, we had a lovely time." Somehow she had found it hard to tell Mrs. Martens, as she was finding it hard to tell Diana, just what had made the day so lovely. And as for her compact of friendship, she would tell Anthony but no other. "Then there was the yacht club dance," she continued, "and oh, Diana, you should have seen my gown--it was a dream." Sophie confirmed her verdict. "She was lovely in it, Diana," she said, "and everybody is talking of the success she made." "And Anthony came," said Bettina, "and when we reached home he gave me the ring, and yesterday I had a long ride with him; oh, yes, and the day before, Justin and Sara and Doris and I had lunch on Bobbie's boat." "I thought Bobbie's boat was in the yard for repairs?" "It is," said Bettina, "and that's the fun of it. He's living on board, and yesterday he and Justin looked up and saw me on the porch, and they insisted on having a lunch party, and Bobbie made his man get up a perfectly wonderful little lunch, and he telephoned for the other girls, and Duke, and we climbed the ladder and ate up there in the air, and Sophie chaperoned us from your front porch." "They wanted me to climb the ladder too," said Sophie, "but I told them I would be a little angel up aloft, and play propriety at a safe distance. It's a good thing the yacht yard happens to be at the foot of your rocks, Diana, or I'm afraid Bettina would have gone unchaperoned. It's a dizzy height up that ladder." "And Bobbie sent things up to her in a basket," Bettina related; "we let down a piece of hammock rope, and we tied the basket to it."