I

invited her in - she had never been inside my house - and we sat. I waited while she composed herself. I noted that she had changed her clothing yet again and was attired rather more demurely than in the morning, almost like a Quakeress. Finally she said: "I have something to ask of you, but I can't explain the reason for the request. You must do as I ask nevertheless."

"What is it you ask, Betsy?"

"You must wear this around your neck."

She held up a plain silver chain. "You must wear it and never take it off."

I immediately assumed that she intended this as some sort of claim over me, by giving me jewelry. But before I could respond she said, as if she had read my mind: "This is not for my sake - it is for your own benefit. Your safety."

"How will a slight silver chain keep me safe from anything?" I asked.

"Think of it as a good luck charm." she replied.

Well I have never been one to go in for superstitions much, and so I was about to deny her request, when she pleaded: "Oh Oliver, do this for me. It won't be much trouble and it would mean so much to me."

She looked as though she might break down in tears, and so I consented to have her put the chain on me. She stood behind me and put it around my neck and fastened the clasp - and then while still behind me, she suddenly hugged me - one hand around my belly another holding my chest and she did sob, after all my precautions, and said "what would I do if something happened to you? What would I do if you were taken away from me?" And she held me there for a moment. I'm sorry to report that rather than sympathy, this turn of events aroused a different kind of feeling, with her holding me tight and pressing her bosom against me. It was a very odd situation to suddenly find myself in, in my own parlor. And so I gently extracted her arms from my person and turned to face her. "I'm not going anywhere, Betsy. I shall always be here you know, I have no plans to move." This seemed to quiet her.

She sat and composed herself again, then said: "I am quite serious that you must not take it off. Ever. And why should you - it is no trouble. You cannot even see it under your collar."

This was true, but still, I chaffed at bit at this imposition. It was a very light chain indeed - I hardly felt it against my skin, but I was not pleased to humor Betsy's strange whims. And I was not entirely convinced that this was not some sort of subtle way of staking her claim. In any case, I gave her tea and then walked her half-way home and we did not discuss the chain again. And except for bathing, I forgot I was wearing it. And so we settled back into our old routine of working on our green-house project. Betsy made an arrangement with the Gimmerton Band and we determined the party would be an end-of-summer sort of affair.

(To be continued...)