"You'll join the next set."
"O no. It is too hot," said Dolly, in a listless tone. "I'm going among the trees."
She strolled away; and two minutes later she would have given anything not to have refused, for Edred was among the players. If only she had seen him coming in time! Too late now! Mervyn strode after her, to say, with a smile, "Think better of it, Dolly!" But how could she retract, just because Edred was there? What would everybody say?
"I can't. It is too hot!" she repeated.
Then she found a cane chair under a may-tree, from which she could watch the game at a distance. Edred certainly did not play well. He was not in practice, and he missed often the easiest balls. But Dolly cared nothing about his bad play, as compared with Mervyn's good play; or for his unrelaxed gravity, as compared with Mervyn's pleasant ease. The one thing she did care for was that Edred never once looked towards the may-tree, under which a little figure in white sat forlornly alone,—never once! Dolly was sure of that; and yet how could she really know?
This set did not last very long; and Edred was standing not far off, talking to somebody. Would he come to Dolly, or would he not? She was longing for a reassuring word or glance from him, with a craving which for the time almost smothered her dread of what people might say. Now he had drawn nearer still, and Dolly knew he saw her. If he had not seen her before, he saw her now. The uncertainty set her heart beating again, faster than before. Would he—oh, would he—?
Emmeline walked up, and said something to Edred. Then she went away, and he seemed to hesitate. He looked towards Dolly—yes, straight towards her. The next moment, he turned and walked in the opposite direction, out of sight.
Dolly felt stupefied. She grew cold, and shivered all over.
"What! Here still?" exclaimed Mervyn, coming under the shady tree. "Hidden from view!"
"Yes, I—It's a nice corner."