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Mackay, Isabel Ecclestone, 1875-1928

"Up the Hill and Over"

She looked just as she used to look in one of her
little rages before the great change came.
"That's enough, Esther. I'll take no more from you. I did what seemed to
me right. If Amy were in her right mind I should not have had to take
the ring, she would have offered it. Under the circumstances I did the
only sensible thing. Amy will never discover the loss. I am getting a
very good price for it from Jessica Bremner. It is a valuable jewel. She
snatched at the chance of getting it."
Behind its whiteness Esther's face seemed to glow with pale flame. "Is
it possible that you have forgotten the history of that ring?" she
asked. "That it was poor Auntie's engagement ring and that, although she
can't remember anything about it, she knows it means something more than
life to her. And that she always says that she cannot die without the
ruby on her finger?"
Mrs. Coombe looked uncomfortable, but kept her poise.
"It's all rubbish. She'll forget all about it. Dying people don't think
of ruby rings. And anyway, she will probably outlive all of us.


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