ever forgot her lover."

"Did she live in Friendship?" Rosalind asked.

"During her father's lifetime this was her home. She was born in the old
Gilpin house, which was new then; and perhaps you know that the rustic
summer-house at the top of the hill on the left is called Patricia's
arbor. For some years after her lover's death she lived in seclusion,
seeing no one; and always when the weather permitted she would sit in the
arbor, looking out upon the river.

"It was said that this was the scene of their courtship, but it may be
only a story.

"After her father's death she lived in Washington, but she often visited
Cousin Anne in the old place. As I have said, I remember seeing her and
hearing her talk, when I was a child of six or seven. She was a stately
and beautiful old lady, and as I recall it now, her face showed she had
borne her share of trouble and disappointment bravely; and you can't say
more than that for anybody."

"That is what Cousin Louis says," remarked Rosalind, smiling at Maurice.

"But you haven't told us what the ring was like," put in Charlotte.

"I never could tell a straight story," replied Miss Betty, laughing.
"Well, it was a broad band of open lace-work of a most delicate and
beautiful pattern, and made of pure gold. The stone was an oval sapphire
of great depth and purity of color, in a setting of tiny stars, made of
little points of gold. When Miss Patricia died she left the ring to Cousin
Anne, her niece, along with many other valuable things. Cousin Anne never
wore it, but she used to show it to me sometimes as a great treat, and I
have tried it on more than once. Cousin Anne ought to have made a will;
but at best she was an undecided person, and she had a long illness. It
was generally supposed she would leave it to your aunt Genevieve,
Rosalind, or else to Patricia Marshall. Indeed, there were half a dozen of
them who would have given their heads for it. Cousin Anne knew it, and she
hated to disappoint anybody, so she ended by disappointing everybody."

"Why didn't she leave it to you. Miss Betty?" asked Jack.

"Miss Patricia was not related to me. She was aunt to Cousin Thomas and
Cousin Anne on their father's side, and I am connected through the
Barnwells, his mother's family, just as Rosalind's grandmother is," she
explained; adding, "As Cousin Anne left no will, everything she owned went
to her brother; and you have all heard about his will. Most of his money
was to go to t