Her mother was on the lawn when she got back, and Pauline blinked her eyes a good deal to throw the blame of tears upon the sun.
"Ah, you're back. Let's take a little walk round the garden," said Mrs. Grey in the nervous manner that told of something on her mind.
They went into the larger wall-garden and walked along the wide herbaceous borders through a blaze of snapdragons that here all day had been swallowing the sunshine.
"Where did you go with Guy?" her mother asked.
"We went down the river, and they're cutting the grass in the big meadow, and then afterwards...."
"Oh, Pauline, afterwards you went into Guy's house with him?"
Pauline nodded. "I know. I was just going to tell you."
"Pauline, how could you do such a thing?"
"I only went to say good night. I wasn't there five minutes."
Why should an action so simple be vexing her mother?