I want to be alone now . '' At the doorway he turned to look back at her , standing in all her sweet stateliness in the twilight duskness , and the keen realization of all he had lost made him bow his head with a quick pang of regret . Then he went out into the darkness of the summer night . An hour later he stood alone on the little point where he had parted with Magdalen the night before . A restless night wind was moaning through the pines that fringed the bank behind him ; the moon shone down radiantly , turning the calm expanse of the bay into a milk-white sheen . He took Marian 's ring from his pocket and kissed it reverently . Then he threw it from him far out over the water . For a second the diamond flashed in the moonlight ; then , with a tiny splash , it fell among the ripples . Esterbrook turned his face to the Cove , lying dark and silent in the curve between the crescent headlands . A solitary light glimmered from the low eaves of the Barrett cottage . Tomorrow , was his unspoken thought , I will be free ; to go back to Magdalen . An Invitation Given on Impulse It was a gloomy Saturday morning . The trees in the Oaklawn grounds were tossing wildly in the gusts of wind , and sodden brown leaves were blown up against the windows of the library , where a score of girls were waiting for the principal to bring the mail in . The big room echoed with the pleasant sound of girlish voices and low laughter , for in a fortnight school would close for the holidays , and they were all talking about their plans and anticipations . Only Ruth Mannering was , as usual , sitting by herself near one of the windows , looking out on the misty lawn . She was a pale , slender girl , with a sad face , and was dressed in rather shabby black . She had no special friend at Oaklawn , and the other girls did not know much about her . If they had thought about it at all , they would probably have decided that they did not like her ; but for the most part they simply overlooked her . This was not altogether their fault . Ruth was poor and apparently friendless , but it was not her poverty that was against her .
Lou Scott , who was `` XXXXX poor as a church mouse , '' to quote her own frank admission , was the most popular girl in the seminary , the boon companion of the richest girls , and in demand with everybody .
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