The address was found and the letter was sent, and everyone tried to avoid talking about it for a while. It was easy enough for the first few days, the minimum time that the mail could get to England and back. Ross figured that she wouldn't be able to call him back since she wouldn't know any of his current numbers. There was no point in talking if there could be nothing to talk about.

But after a week, they were all beginning to discuss between themselves what the silence meant. Chandler, who had helped to find the address went back over his sources again to check that he had got it right.

'Maybe she's not going to answer,' Rachel said.

'She's got to answer,' Ross said, and she was shocked at how intensely he had spoken. It was almost as though she'd questioned the fact that the sun would rise tomorrow.

'If she doesn't, you did your best. Your father can't ask for more,' she said. He had to be brought back to reality.

'I don't know,' Ross said. He and Monica were taking this ridiculously seriously, in Rachel's opinion.

'Okay, you're going to get in trouble for not getting it back when you divorced her,' Rachel said, hardly believe that she was using the expression, 'get into trouble' to a grown man, 'But that will pass.'

'You don't know my father,' Ross said seriously.

'I know families,' Rachel said, 'It's always the worst thing in the world, until someone else does something, and someone else will do something because that's what families are like. Monica will do something he doesn't like, you'll see,' she said, with a private apology to Monica for these words. Though truthfully, with Chandler, the twins and their house, there wasn't much that could touch Monica these days.

Finally, Rachel found the reply in the letterbox. Tempted as she was to rip it open and read it, she gave it to Ross who announced to everyone that he had had a reply from Emily.

'Don't open it until we get there,' Monica said. So more self control was needed until everyone piled into the apartment to see what it said.

'Okay,' Ross said, waving the envelope, 'I'm going to open it now.'

'She hasn't sent the ring, I can see,' Monica said.

'Well no but it would be stupid to just send it in an ordinary envelope,' Ross said, 'This must be her telling me what she's doing about it.' Monica glanced at Rachel. What if Emily was planning to do nothing? He sat in an armchair and the others crowded around to look over his shoulder as he unsealed the envelope and opened it out.

'Dear Ross,

How kind to tell me who you want the ring for. What took you so long? You always did know how to flatter a girl. It couldn't have been a problem on whatshername's side because she seemed pretty desperate enough, but with a face like hers, that's understandable.

As for the ring, after you told me to keep it, I threw it in the pond at my parents' house in Shropshire. If you want it back you'll have to come and fish it out yourself.

Yours sincerely,

Emily'

'Oh no!' Ross said standing up, 'I don't believe this!' At the bottom of a muddy pond!

'The bitch!' Rachel swore.

'Well her attitude's pretty clear,' Monica said, taking the letter by its edges and reading it again.

'The bitch!' Rachel swore. ' "A face like hers?" "Desperate?"'

'Come and get it?' Chandler asked.

'The bitch!' Rachel swore again.

'She's seriously expecting you to go diving for that ring?' Chandler asked.

'Well I guess she's not going to go in and look for it herself,' Ross said. The only reason she had bothered to put pen to paper was in order to insult Rachel. And he'd seen a picture of that house in the country. The pond wasn't small.

'No, because she's a bitch,' Rachel said.

'Oh sweetie,' Ross said hugging her, 'You're beautiful, don't think about what she said, she hates you.'

'She's just being nasty,' Monica seconded.

'I hate her,' Rachel said. 'She's the ugly one. And desperate? – ha well she got married to someone after knowing him for – ' she broke off, aware that she was in the arms of a man who got married to someone after knowing her for only a month. His case was different of course.

'You're not going all the way to England,' Chandler said, trying to stay on course.

'I've got to get that ring back,' Ross said. Rachel looked up at him.

'No Ross, you're not going to go. This is just a ring, I can have anything for a ring.'

'It's not just you though,' Ross said.

'Well tell your father you won't do it,' Rachel said. 'Break free!' Monica and Ross just looked at her.

'Dad's been ringing me every day to find out if Emily answered my letter yet. I'm not going to be able to refuse,' Ross said.

'Dad has been ringing me every day to ask the same question,' Monica confirmed.

'Lie,' Rachel said, 'Say she told you to get lost. Everyone will believe that. She practically did tell you to get lost. See, "Ring in pond" translates as "Go jump." It wouldn't be a lie, not really.'

'He'll want to see the letter,' Monica said.

'I can't lie to my dad,' Ross said, 'I'm just no good at it. He'll see through me in a second.'

'Okay so you've got to try to get the ring out of that pond,' Chandler said, 'Easy. Get a professional diver. You don't have to go yourself.'

'That's a great idea,' Ross said. 'It can't be more expensive than me going out there and doing it myself, and I know I'd never find it.'

'That's all you need to do,' Chandler said, while Monica looked at him proudly. He was her man, her very intelligent man. 'So write back to her and tell her that you'll arrange a diver.'

'I don't want to write to her,' Ross said, 'Not after what she said about Rachel.'

'Well you'll have to,' Monica said.

'I'll just get mad at her and then she'll get mad at me and not co-operate…' He'd made his first mistake in making a smart remark to Emily about the ring in the first place. Then there had been his letter to her. On reflection, it had probably been a mistake to mention Rachel.

'I'll write the letter,' Chandler said, 'You leave it to me. I'll write it, you copy it and send it without adding anything.' He said the last bit with emphasis and then went over to a table, searched around for paper and a pen, and on finding these sat down to write. 'Go away,' he said when they tried to look over his shoulder.

When he was finished, he showed them the result.

Dear Emily,

I will arrange for a diver to come and get the ring out of the pond. Please tell me the address of your parents' place. I will let you know the arrangements as soon as they are finalised.

Yours truly,

Ross.'

'Hey there's nothing in there about me,' Rachel said, 'You should have put something in there about me.' Chandler said,

'Like what?'

'Like a sentence at the end mentioning how once Ross has the ring back he can get married to his beautiful and talented fiancee who is better than any woman that Ross has had to do with before, especially British ones with names beginning with E and ending in Y.'

'Rachel, do you think that would help?' Chandler asked. 'I just wanted to make it simple and businesslike. Then you should get a simple and businesslike answer in return.'

They did.

'Dear Ross,

my parents find the idea of professional divers unacceptable. You will have to come and find the ring yourself. The weather is still quite warm. You will need to provide me with one week's notice of your arrival.'

Emily.'