‘I can’t wait to see that snooty Cissy’s face when she clocks that ring,’ giggled Ivy. ‘It must be worth a fortune.’

Rita thought of Cissy going green with envy. ‘Come on, let’s do it.’ Clasping hands, they ran down the stairs and burst into the kitchen.

Every eye was on them, so Rita swept back her hair, ensuring the light flashed on the ring. ‘Pete and I aren’t engaged yet,’ she said, noting the shock in Cissy’s eyes. ‘But this ring is a promise between us that we will decide when the time is right.’

‘So what was all that ruckus about?’ asked Cissy, her gaze still fixed on the ring. ‘Surely you weren’t fighting over a bit of rather vulgar pink glass he must have got from Woolworths?’

‘I’m surprised you don’t know a diamond from glass, Cissy,’ Rita retorted, stung by her sneering reaction. She waved her hand under Cissy’s nose so she got a proper eyeful. ‘Big it might be, but it’s the real thing.’

Peggy brought Rita and Ivy’s supper plates from the warming oven and shot them both a wink, clearly delighted that they were friends again. ‘Be careful, Cissy, you’re in danger of letting your envy show. Stop staring and get on with your tea,’ she reproved mildly.

‘It must have cost a fortune,’ Cissy breathed, her greedy gaze still glued to the diamond. ‘How on earth could some roughneck Australian afford such a thing?’

‘That’s none of your business, really, Cissy, and I find you calling him a roughneck rather insulting. But to satisfy your curiosity, I’ll tell you anyway.’ Rita placed her hand flat on the table between them. ‘He found the pink diamond and the gold whilst prospecting between shearing and crop-dusting seasons, so all it cost him was to get a jeweller to turn them both into a ring.’

‘Gosh,’ gasped Cissy.

‘Gosh indeed,’ piped up Cordelia, eyeing the stunning ring more closely. ‘You’re a very lucky girl, Rita, for not only is Peter handsome, clever and brave, but he’s clearly adept at finding treasure as well.’

‘I know I’m lucky,’ replied Rita, blushing. ‘But according to Pete, treasures like this are lying about in the Outback just waiting to be found.’

‘That’s true,’ said Sarah. ‘My grandfather found a nugget of gold that was worth over a hundred pounds when he was planting a new cane field back in the twenties, and another just as valuable when his horse pawed the ground in the home paddock and kicked it up.’

Silence fell whilst they all absorbed this, and Rita waited nervously for the questions that would inevitably follow. And then decided to take the bull by the horns and get in first.