lightish brown … very light … would look effective.”
“Yes, perhaps,” I said. “I have a scarf which I think would be just the right color to match up with the blue. It will be in that drawer behind you.”
“May I?” she said, opening the drawer.
There was a short silence. She was staring at something in the drawer. She picked up the ring I had found at the pool. I had put it there when I came home and forgotten all about it.
“This gold ring …”she said. “Is it yours?”
I felt uneasiness gripping me as it always did when there was any reference to that day.
“Oh …” I stammered. I held out my hand for the ring. “I … I found it.”
“Found it? Where?”
“It … was when I had my accident. I remember it now. I picked it up without thinking.”
“On the beach?”
I did not answer. I ruffled my brows as though trying to remember … although I recalled perfectly well every detail of that fearful time.
“What? When you fell?”
“Y-yes … it must have been. I fell … and there was the ring.”
“On the beach,” she repeated. “And you picked it up then. Why?”
“I don’t know. I always pick up things. I suppose I do it without thinking … It’s difficult to remember … I must have seen the ring and picked it up and put it in my pocket.”
“It’s rather a nice one,” she said. “It is gold, I think. What are you going to do with it?”
“Oh … nothing.”
“You didn’t think of returning it to its owner.”
“I don’t know whose it is. I shouldn’t think any of the fishermen have a ring and it wouldn’t be theirs because they don’t come to that part of the beach. It might have been there a long time. Some visitor lost it I expect and it’s so long ago they’ve forgotten about it.”
“If you don’t want it … may I have it?”
“Of course.”
She slipped it onto the first finger of her right hand.
“This is the only one it fits,” she said.
I found the scarf and we set it side by side with the blue linen. But I was not really attending. It was incidents like that which shook me terribly and brought it all back to my memory.
Miss Gilmore seemed a little absent-minded too.
Grace Gilmore was quite a good horsewoman. My mother was constantly urging her to accompany me when I went riding.
“Angelet is so independent,” I heard her say. “She does love to ride off on her own. But I’d rather someone was with her.”
Grace Gilmore was nothing loath. There was little she seemed to like better than regarding herself as a member of the family.
We were riding along the beach one day when we came close to the boathouse. She pulled up suddenly.
“It must have been somewhere near here where you found the ring,” she said.
I nodded. I hated telling a lie, but it was necessary.
She was looking along the shore, past the boathouse to where the harbor was just visible. She took off the ring.
“Look at these initials inside it,” she said. “Did you notice?”
“No. I didn’t look at it … much. I just picked it up.”
“You weren’t in a fit state to examine it closely, I suppose.”
“No. I don’t know why I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Just force of habit, I expect. I wasn’t really thinking of it.”
“No, you wouldn’t at such a time. Do you see what the initials are?”
She handed me the ring. Engraved inside were the initials M.D. and W.B.
“I wonder who they are,” I said.
She took the ring from me. What a fool I had been to pick it up. If I tried to return it the people would want to know where I found it. It might well be that the owner of the ring had never been near the sea. Ben had talked of clues. This could be one of those. I wished that Grace had never found it. I would have thrown it away if I had remembered. I should have remembered. When one practiced deceit one had to be careful. Her next words made me shiver.
“Those initials M.D. What was the name of that man who escaped from Bodmin
“Yes, perhaps,” I said. “I have a scarf which I think would be just the right color to match up with the blue. It will be in that drawer behind you.”
“May I?” she said, opening the drawer.
There was a short silence. She was staring at something in the drawer. She picked up the ring I had found at the pool. I had put it there when I came home and forgotten all about it.
“This gold ring …”she said. “Is it yours?”
I felt uneasiness gripping me as it always did when there was any reference to that day.
“Oh …” I stammered. I held out my hand for the ring. “I … I found it.”
“Found it? Where?”
“It … was when I had my accident. I remember it now. I picked it up without thinking.”
“On the beach?”
I did not answer. I ruffled my brows as though trying to remember … although I recalled perfectly well every detail of that fearful time.
“What? When you fell?”
“Y-yes … it must have been. I fell … and there was the ring.”
“On the beach,” she repeated. “And you picked it up then. Why?”
“I don’t know. I always pick up things. I suppose I do it without thinking … It’s difficult to remember … I must have seen the ring and picked it up and put it in my pocket.”
“It’s rather a nice one,” she said. “It is gold, I think. What are you going to do with it?”
“Oh … nothing.”
“You didn’t think of returning it to its owner.”
“I don’t know whose it is. I shouldn’t think any of the fishermen have a ring and it wouldn’t be theirs because they don’t come to that part of the beach. It might have been there a long time. Some visitor lost it I expect and it’s so long ago they’ve forgotten about it.”
“If you don’t want it … may I have it?”
“Of course.”
She slipped it onto the first finger of her right hand.
“This is the only one it fits,” she said.
I found the scarf and we set it side by side with the blue linen. But I was not really attending. It was incidents like that which shook me terribly and brought it all back to my memory.
Miss Gilmore seemed a little absent-minded too.
Grace Gilmore was quite a good horsewoman. My mother was constantly urging her to accompany me when I went riding.
“Angelet is so independent,” I heard her say. “She does love to ride off on her own. But I’d rather someone was with her.”
Grace Gilmore was nothing loath. There was little she seemed to like better than regarding herself as a member of the family.
We were riding along the beach one day when we came close to the boathouse. She pulled up suddenly.
“It must have been somewhere near here where you found the ring,” she said.
I nodded. I hated telling a lie, but it was necessary.
She was looking along the shore, past the boathouse to where the harbor was just visible. She took off the ring.
“Look at these initials inside it,” she said. “Did you notice?”
“No. I didn’t look at it … much. I just picked it up.”
“You weren’t in a fit state to examine it closely, I suppose.”
“No. I don’t know why I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Just force of habit, I expect. I wasn’t really thinking of it.”
“No, you wouldn’t at such a time. Do you see what the initials are?”
She handed me the ring. Engraved inside were the initials M.D. and W.B.
“I wonder who they are,” I said.
She took the ring from me. What a fool I had been to pick it up. If I tried to return it the people would want to know where I found it. It might well be that the owner of the ring had never been near the sea. Ben had talked of clues. This could be one of those. I wished that Grace had never found it. I would have thrown it away if I had remembered. I should have remembered. When one practiced deceit one had to be careful. Her next words made me shiver.
“Those initials M.D. What was the name of that man who escaped from Bodmin
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