The day was saved! The three Ranch girls burst into laughter instead of tears, in which Frank and his sisters, who were standing near, joined.
"And what about you, Frieda Ralston?" Jack demanded, pulling at one of Frieda's blond curls. "Could anybody ever know you and love you? Tell us, because a good many times we have felt the strain."
Frieda blushed slightly. "Oh, I suppose I have some faults," she conceded. "But though I suppose Ruth's wedding has made you forget it, I would like to mention that I have been cross fewer times than any one of us on our European trip. Ruth showed me the record and I am to have the prize when she gets back."
In the face of this evidence there was no chance for a dispute, so within a few minutes the girls disappeared to their rooms. They were tired, and each one of them wanted to be alone and to rest in her own particular way.
To Jacqueline resting meant being out of doors, now that she was strong again. So within an hour, after the bride and groom's departure, their maid of honor slipped down the big oak staircase, arrayed in a very different toilet. She wore a short brown corduroy skirt, leather boots and leggings, and a soft hat, much the same style of costume that she had been accustomed to wearing at the Rainbow Ranch.
Five minutes later she was off across the fields on the riding horse which her host had designated for her especial use during her visit. It was not a customary thing for an English girl to ride alone; nevertheless Jack refused the services of the groom. She knew the English roads and lanes in the neighborhood thoroughly well by this time. All afternoon she rode, sometimes galloping across an open stretch of meadow, often walking her horse along a narrow, wild rose-bordered lane.
The English country was fascinating to Jack, perhaps because of its utter unlikeness to her own broad, open country. She had been amused at first by its smallness, its trimness and look of dignified old age. Yet she had since learned to love the wonderful greenness of the English landscapes, the quantities of exquisite flowers and trees, such as she had never seen in her own land.
Certainly the scenery on this special afternoon must have been unusually fascinating, for suddenly Jack realized that the darkness was coming down and that she was some distance from the castle. She must not allow Lord and Lady Kent to become uneasy on account of her absence. Her horse was comparatively fresh; she would enjoy a hard gallop home.
So Jack paid little attention for the first half mile or so to the sound of another horse's hoofs pounding after hers. Finally, however, Frank got within calling distance. "Look here, Jack," he said, "this style of riding after you reminds me of our first meeting on the Norton ranch. Remember how you rushed off without allowing me to show you the trail. I was pretty well out of breath when I caught up with you then, and I am now."
Jack laughed and slowed her horse down a trifle. "No such thing, Frank; you look cool as a cucumber. You English people never seem to get upset and disheveled as Americans do. But it is awfully jolly, Frank, that you are perfectly strong these days. You used to look pretty sick sometimes when we first knew you."