"But, Constance," he protested, "haven't I climbed trees, and gone down into pits, and waded through swamps, and burrowed through vines and briars at your command; and haven't I more than once tasted of the things that you were not perfectly sure of, because the book didn't exactly cover the specimen? Now, here I'm told that I'm hopeless, which means that I'm a failure, when even at this moment I bear the marks of my devotion." He pointed at the knees of his trousers, damp from his recent experience. "I've done battle with nature," he went on, "and entered the lists with your detractors. You said once there are knights we do not recognize and armor we do not see. Now, don't you think you may be overlooking one of those knights, with a suit of armor a little damp at the knees, perhaps, but still stout and serviceable?"
The girl did not, as usual, respond to his gayety and banter.
"You may joke about it, if you like," she said, "but true knights, even in the garb of peasants, have been known to scale dizzy heights for a single flower. I have never known of one who refused to accompany a lady on such an errand, especially when it was up an easy mountain trail which even children have climbed."
"Then this is a notable day, for you have met two."
She nodded.
"But one was without blame, and but for the first there could not have occurred the humiliation of the second, and that, too"—she smiled in spite of herself—"in the presence of my detractors. It will be hard for you to rectify that, Sir Knight!"
There was an altered tone in the girl's voice. The humorous phase was coming nearer the surface. Frank brightened.
"Really, though," he persisted, "I was right about it's being foggy up there. Farnham would have said so, himself."
"No doubt," she agreed, "but we could have reached that conclusion later. An expressed willingness to go would have spared me and all of us what followed. As it is, Edith Morrison thinks I wanted to deprive her of Robin on his one day at home, while he was obliged to make himself appear foolish before every one."
"I wish you had as much consideration for me as you always show for Robin," said Frank, becoming suddenly aggrieved.