Will You Love Me in September

"You will come again in happier times," went on my uncle. "Dear child, it seems so churlish of me to send you away, but I know these men I work with. I am not able to keep them in order as your father could. You understand?”

I kissed him tenderly and told him how much I had enjoyed meeting him and that I would come back as soon as I could.

He was frowning. "You will have to be careful," he said. "We don't know what the state of the country will be later, but for the next few days it should be safe for you. Get south as quickly as you can. The grooms are good fellows, and I have impressed on them the importance of taking the utmost care. I shall pay them well, and I have promised-on behalf of your family at Evers- jejgh that they will be amply rewarded when they deliver you safely to them. Will you see that my promise is honored?”

"I will, Uncle. I will.”

"Then be prepared to leave at the first signs of dawn in the morning." He hesitated, then he went on. "Before you go, there is something I want to give you. Wheel me into the anteroom.”

I did so and took him to a bureau there which he indicated. He unlocked it and took out a case. He sat for a while thoughtfully holding it in his hands.

"This is a ring," he said. "It has been in our family's possession since the days of Elizabeth. In fact, it is very valuable because she gave it to one of our ancestors ... one of her attendants of whom she was very fond. You see ..." He had taken the ring from the case, and I saw that it was similar to the one he wore on his finger.

"It is not as beautiful as diamonds, sapphires or emeralds, but because of its antiquity and what it stands for it is more valuable than those stones. Try it on.”

I put it on the third finger of my right hand. It was much too big.

"You have some growing up to do," he said with a smile. "Surely there is one finger it fits.”

There was. It was my forefinger.

"There," he said. "It is yours, and you will give it to your eldest daughter. The eldest daughters in the family always have it.”

I looked at him sharply and said, "But Aimee-”

He was frowning again. "Yes, I suppose she should have it, but I hesitated. Your father wanted to marry your mother, and he would have done so if she had not been already married. He felt about her as though she were his legitimate wife and you his legitimate daughter. He could not have felt the same about Aimee and her mother, for he did not mention her to me ... except in that last letter. I think there may have been many women in his life who meant as much to him as she did. But with your mother it was different. That is why I am giving the ring to you. I am obeying some instinct. Preserve it. It is worth a small fortune. Look at the setting. It was designed by Elizabeth's favorite jeweler and is recognized as such by experts.

The Queen herself once wore it.”

"I have never seen this stone before.”

"No. It is fairly rare nowadays, but at one time it was worn a great deal by monarchs.

They wore these rings because they were in constant danger of being poisoned. These stones are said to absorb arsenic from any liquid, and they were generally worn by people who feared someone might attempt to make an end of them.”

"It is all very interesting, but I don't think anyone is likely to put arsenic in my goblet.”

He smiled. "The ring is a sort of talisman ... as things become when handed down through families.”

"It is a very unusual stone," I said.

"Yes. It is formed in the digestive organs of the Persian mountain goat.”

I gave a little exclamation of disgust.

"It is all right," he said with a laugh. "It is purified, but that is what it is.

It is formed by digested hair, and it is this which makes it a good antidote to poison.

In the Persian language, 'bezoar' means 'against poison.' And that is the name of the stone.”

"How very interesting." I held out my hand and surveyed the ring. My uncle took my hand and held it tightly for a moment or two. "Now," he said, "you look as though you truly belong to Hessenfield.”

I thanked him warmly, and as I knelt before him he took my face in his hands and kissed me.

"Good luck, little Clarissa," he said. "Come back to us soon.”

When we were retiring that night I told Aimee that I wanted to speak to her. She said, "Come to my room," so I went.

She lay on her bed, her lovely dark hair hanging loose about her face, her eyes alert with interest. I sat by the bed on a chair, looking at her, thinking how attractive she was without being really beautiful.

"I have come to say goodbye," I told her. "I am leaving early tomorrow morning.”

She stared at me incredulously.

"Uncle Paul thinks it best," I went on. "There's trouble corning.”

"Oh, those wretches! Jacobites and Hanoverians, I suppose.”

"Yes.”

"Uncle must be triste because you are not a good little Jacobite.”

"Uncle is too wise for that. He wouldn't try to persuade anyone to be what they didn't want to.”

"And you are against these Jacobites.”