Page:Between Two Loves.djvu/136

Rh "Very impertinent and greedy of her!"

"And to wear it to Bashpoole would be an insult, not only to her, but also to my uncle and aunt."

"Nevertheless, I shall wear it."

"You shall not."

"I beg your pardon, I shall!"

She stood defiantly before him in her rich black satin gown, with the glinting stones in hand. Her beauty was so compelling, his admiration of her so deep, and his love for her so great, that almost under any other circumstances he would have acknowledged her right to order her own toilet. But he could not insult his nearest kin and lose the friendship of two generations for the wearing of a necklace, and he told her so tn plain and positive terms.

She answered him by a scornful mimicry of the words, "my cousin Jane!" and a ripple of contemptuous laughter. Then she lifted the jewels to her white throat herself, and Anthony caught her hands and took them from her. This act of authority was followed by an angry dispute, and finally Eleanor declared that Aske had struck her hand, and she lifted the sapphires and flung them from her with passionate