"
He put the little square box, wrapped in tissue paper, into her
hand, and answered: "You can wear it on a ribbon under your dress."
"Oh yes," she whispered, pressing his hand for a moment.
They did not climb on to a 'bus that morning, but walked ahead
blindly, blissfully, they did not know whither. They were now in
wild days at the end of November and the weather was tempestuous,
the wind blowing with a screaming fury and black clouds scudding
across the sky like portents. Little heavy drops of rain fell with a
sudden urgency as though they were emphasising some secret; figures
were swept through the streets and the roar of the wind was so
vehement that the traffic seemed to make no sound. And yet nothing
happened--no great storm of rain, no devastating flood. It was a day
of warning.
They noticed nothing of the weather. It might have been a world of
burning sunshine for all they saw of it.
"You know," said Martin, "I've never liked giving any one anything
so much as I liked giving you that ring."
"I wish I could give you something too," she said.
"Well, you can," he said. "Some little thing that I'll carry about
with me always .
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