She fancied this, though just then two or three drops fell heavily from her eyes, and one rested for a moment on the very diamonds themselves.
Mrs.Costello's note was longer than Lucia's, and she read it twice over, before she was sure that she comprehended it.

Then she called sharply "Lucia!" "Come here," she said, as the girl turned her face reluctantly; and there was nothing to do but to obey.

Lucia came to the side of the sofa, where her mother had raised herself up against the cushions, but she trembled so, that to steady herself she dropped down on her knees on a footstool.

Her right arm rested on the table, but the other hand, where the ring was, lay hidden in the folds of her dress.
"What does this mean, Lucia ?" Mrs.Costello asked in a tone which she had never in her life used to her daughter before.

"Are you out of your senses ?" Lucia was silent.