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Slowly, almost like one afraid that if she touched it, it

would disappear, I plucked the ring out of the box and

looked at it closely It was breathtaking

"Not having a mother to advise me, I had to

depend on an expert jeweler," he said "I hope you

like it"

"It's a beautiful ring," I gasped I was

hypnotized by its ical twinkle

"Try it on," he urged

I considered it and then did so, finding it a

perfect fit I turned my hand around to look at it from

different angles The hand that I thought looked so

thin and bony now looked like it belonged to a

princess

"How did you know the correct size?" "That was a bit of conspiracy," he confessed,