"Sha'n't budge now till I've finished this pile," he retorts coolly; and the girls laugh.
The sun slants fiery red between the boles of the old fruit-trees, burns little crimson patches on Belle's fair skin, and turns Honor's cheeks to the hue of wild poppies. The air is heavy with a dozen different odors—of ripening fruit, mignonette, wild roses, and—sweetest of all perhaps—clover from the great sloping fields outside the orchard wall.
Launce has thrown himself upon the grass almost at Belle's feet, and is talking in his low musical voice.
"Tantalizing the poor little thing!" Honor says to herself, as she peeps across at them from her nest among the branches.
She is very fond of Belle Delorme, and she knows that not in all Ireland could her brother find a sweeter, truer little wife. Perhaps he is of the same opinion—perhaps not. It is not easy to read the thoughts behind that square, masterful brow of his.
Presently they stroll away together, leaving Honor alone.
As she lies there in her low hammock, the shadows of leaf and bough flickering on her face, a hand parts the branches, and a man looks in at her.
She flushes deeply in her surprise at the sight of him, and then sits up with a jerk that nearly brings her out of her nest with more speed than grace.
"I'm sorry to have disturbed you," he says, smiling; "but I thought you were asleep, and I could not help envying the good fortune of the fairy prince who might be lucky enough to awaken you after the fashion of fairy princes."
Something in his voice or in his eyes as he looks down at her makes the light words seem almost tender.