The lapidary would not look at it; nevertheless, it is the only article of jewellery I possess, and I value it accordingly.

And I intend to keep this native ruby by me for as long as the lords of Abbotsbury continue in their present mind.

The time may come when I shall be obliged to throw it away.

That any millionaire should hesitate for a moment to blast and blacken any part of the earth's surface, howsoever green and refreshing to the heart it may be, when by so doing he might add to his income, seems like a fable, or a tale of fairyland.
It is as if one had accidentally discovered the existence of a little fantastic realm, a survival from a remote past, almost at one's doors; a small independent province, untouched by progress, asking to be conquered and its antediluvian constitution taken from it.
From the summit of that commanding hill, over which the red path winds, a noble view presents itself of the Chesil Bank, or of about ten miles of it, running straight as any Roman road, to end beneath the rugged stupendous cliffs of Portland.

The ocean itself, and not conquering Rome, raised this artificial-looking wall or rampart to stay its own proud waves.