"What accident?"
"It was said you had a fall from your horse."
"What exaggeration! The girth broke, but I knew it in time to spring from the stirrup, while the horse stood perfectly still--that was the accident."
"God be praised! I heard something of a fall--an injury--and as you did not reappear at the chase I feared----"
He paused, for Adelaide's glance showed him plainly that she did not believe this pretense; probably he knew the whole occurrence and had learned why and where Frau von Wallmoden had been left behind. She now regained her composure.
"I thank you, Herr Rojanow, but your being at all concerned was not necessary," she said coldly. "You could have told yourself that had there been a real accident the Duchess and the other ladies would not have left me helpless in the forest. I am on my way to Bucheneck."
She attempted to pass him. He bowed and stepped aside as if to let her pass, but said in a low voice:
"Gracious lady, I have yet to ask your pardon."
"My pardon! For what?"
"For a request which I uttered thoughtlessly and for which I have had to suffer seriously. I only asked for a flower. Is that, then, so severe a transgression that one should be angry over it for weeks?"