The men departed accordingly with much clatter of footsteps and jingling of spurs; and only Mrs Olliver remained behind.
Evelyn Desmond had succeeded in slipping away unnoticed a few minutes earlier. She alone, among them all, had spoken no word of gratitude to her friend.
CHAPTER IX.
WE'LL JUST FORGET.
"Les petites choses ont leur importance; c'est par elles toujours qu'on se perde."—Dostoievsky.
"So the picnic was a success?"
"Yes, quite. Mrs Rivers was so clever. She paired us off beautifully. My pair was Captain Winthrop of the Ghurkas; an awfully nice man. He talked to me the whole time. He knows Theo. Says he's the finest fellow in Asia! Rather nice to be married to the 'finest fellow in Asia,' isn't it?"
"Decidedly. But I don't think we needed him to tell us that sort of thing." A touch of the girl's incurable pride flashed in her eyes.