"Tiresome little beast!" she said, "he would turn round! I did whip him, indeed, I did! But he was so obstinate, and so—and so—I thought I would let him go!"
Mr. Leicester smiled incredulously, and Violet, understanding the smile, laughed again.
"Well, I really do believe I could have pulled him in if I had tried a little harder!"
"Then you will not forgive me for interfering," he said.
Violet's smile changed immediately, and her beautiful eyes grew grave.
"I am only jesting," she said, in a low voice. "I know how kind you have been, and what you saved me from," and she glanced at the low wall, significantly.
"You must not try tandem alone just yet," he said.
At that moment, which was rather an awkward one, Bertie Fairfax came up, and Leicester hastened to introduce him.
Violet bowed to the fair-haired Bertie and, after a glance of examination, felt that she liked him.