'Yes. like _that_,' I said; 'and now tell me what your father was
saying about precious stones; for I, too, take an interest in jewels,
and have a great knowledge of them.'
'My father,' said Winifred, 'is going to have some diamonds and
rubies given to him to-night by a friend of his, a sailor, who has
come from India, and I am to go to London to-morrow to sell some of
them; for you know, dear, we are very poor. That is why I am
determined to go back to Shire-Carnarvon and see if I can get a
situation as governess. Miss Dalrymple's recommendation will be of
great aid. Poverty afflicts father more than it afflicts most people,
and the rubies and diamonds and things will be of no use to us, you
know.'
I could make her no answer.
'It seems a very strange kind of present from my father's friend,'
she continued, meditatively; 'but it is a very kind one for all that.
But, Henry, you surely are still very unwell; your heart is thumping
underneath my ear like a fire-engine.'
'They are all love-thumps for Winifred,' I said, with pretended
jocosity; 'they are all love-thumps for my Winnie.
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