"I don't know," he said moodily. "There was precious little of Eternity in the drops that were doled out to me."
"Not then," said Mona; "but when you were old enough to turn them to the light, you could see the eternal even there."
His face relaxed into a smile. This girl was like an outlying part of his own mind.
They strolled slowly back to Rachel.
"Do you enjoy sight-seeing?" he asked.
"The question is too big. Cut it down."
"Nay, I will judge for myself,—if you are not too tired to turn back to the town."
"Not a bit."
When Rachel heard of the proposal, she rose to her feet, with considerable help from Mona and from a stout umbrella. She would fain have "rested her legs" a little longer, and the necessity of acting the part of chaperon never so much as crossed her mind; but the honour of Dr Dudley's escort through the streets of St Rules was not to be lightly foregone.
The first half-hour brought considerably more pain than pleasure to Mona. She was straining every nerve to draw out the best side of Rachel; and this, under the circumstances, was no easy task.