"It is enough if I know the reason," she said in a low voice. "Please leave me alone."
And she turned round as though to return to the woods.
"Veronica, for heaven's sake don't torture me; what have I done?"
The girl looked at him coldly, her eyes were like two bits of ice.
"Leave me alone," she said, "what do you want with me?"
The young man caught hold of her hand, and Veronica did her best to free herself from his grasp, but he would not let go her hand till he had forced a ring on to her finger.
"That is what I want," he said.
"That is what you want, is it?" laughed the girl bitterly. "And this is what I want!" And she tore off the ring and threw it away, across the meadow, into the grass. Poor Gyuri fell back a few steps.
"Oh!" he exclaimed, "why did you do it? Why?"
"Do not try to deceive me any longer, Mr. Wibra. You should not put a ring on my finger, but on the umbrella, for that is what you really want to marry."