"Neither it can, till its time," said Alice with solemnity; "when there is no second son born to the house of Cottiswoode, but only an heir, then the curse was to be over; and when it was worn upon a woman's finger it was to lose its power; if it had not been for that, dear--though I put no trust in such things--I could neither have told you the tale, nor seen that evil thing shining on your innocent finger. Well, it came to pass, Miss Hester, that when the poor lady at Cottiswoode read the words Mr. Edgar had written, and saw the diamond, she screamed out it was shining and looking at her like a living eye, and fell down in a fit, and was brought to bed of a dead baby, and died before the week's end, and the Squire's heart broke, and the two boys grew up with no one minding them. There was strife between them from that very day, the story goes, and when they came to be men--it was the time of the civil wars--and one took one side and one the other; and the youngest boy went off from the house by night with that jewel on his finger, and nothing else but his sword; and Cottiswoode was taken by the rebels, and blood shed upon the kindly threshold--brother's blood, Miss Hester, but neither of them was killed--and when that young man died, the ring came back to the hall by a strange messenger, though it had been sold to buy bread. And so it has been ever since. When there was more than two sons in Cottiswoode, there was less harm--but that has only been twice in all the history of the house. Brother has warred against brother, Miss Hester, from Edgar the scholar's time down to Mr. Brian and your papa; but one way or another, dear, the ring has come back to the house, and never gone to any but the second son of Cottiswoode till now. When your papa was master here, he put it away, and maybe he thought the curse was past; but them that knew the tale, knew well that the curse would not be past till there was a born heir, and only one son in the house. And when the present young squire came, your papa put on the ring again--it goes to my heart to see you wear it, Miss Hester. It never was but a token of evil. I think it put thoughts of strife into the mind of every one that ever wore it; thoughts and examples of ill, darling, and we're all too ready to follow iniquity, God help and preserve us! and that is the story of the ring." "And, Alice, tell me again how it is to be lost?" I asked anxiously. "When there is but one heir, and no second son; and when love and peace is in the house of Cottiswoode, and when those that are nearest in blood are dearest in heart; then the ring that never could be lost before, will fall from the hand of a born Southcote, and never be seen again--that is the prophecy, Miss Hester," said Alice, "and if I saw it come to pass, I would give thanks to God!"