Evilena was also watching for their return and gave Delaven a cool little nod in contrast to the warm greeting given her brother and Madame Caron. But instead of being chilled he only watched his opportunity to whisper:
“I wore the uniform!”
She tossed her head and found something interesting in the view on the opposite side of the lawn. He waited meekly, plucked some roses, which he presented in silence and she regarded with scorn. But as she did not move away more than two feet he took heart of grace and repeated:
“I wore the uniform!”
“Yes,” she said, with fine scorn, “wore it in our garden, where you were safe!”
“Arrah! Was I now?” he asked in his best brogue. “Well, it’s myself thought I was anything but safe for a few minutes. But I saved the papers, and your brother was good enough to say I’d saved his honor.”
“You!”
“Just me, and no other,” he affirmed. “Didn’t I hold on to those instructions while that Yankee spy was trying to send me to––heaven? And if that was not helping the cause and risking my life, well now, what would you call it?”
“Oh!” gasped Evilena, delightedly, “I never thought of 352 that. Why, you were a real hero after all. I’m so glad, I––”
Then realizing that her exuberance was little short of caressing, and that she actually had both hands on his arm, she drew back and added demurely that she would always keep those roses, and she would like to keep the guitar, too, just as it was, for her mama agreed that it was a real romance of a serenade––the serenade that was not sung.