Rivière felt uneasy over the matter. He did not wish to urge an undesired escort upon her, but he did not like to think of her working alone by the solitude of the Druids' Tower at night-time.
"If I can be of any service to you while you are here at Nîmes," he said, "you have only to send a note to the Villa Clémentine."
With that he said good-bye and left her. It seemed evident that he had offended her in some way. Possibly, he thought, it was by asking her to write that letter to Olive. Though she had agreed willingly enough at the time, it was possible that afterwards she had regretted it. It had offended against her sense of right. Rivière felt distressed.
Then the remembrance came to him that this was the merest tourist acquaintanceship. To-morrow she would be leaving Nîmes, and the episode would pass out of her thoughts. Probably they would never meet again. It was not worth further thought on either side.
Resolutely he banished all thoughts of Elaine from his mind, and concentrated on his own work-problems.
From the corner of a lane near the Maison Carrée, Crau, the young Provençal, had been watching them keenly as they talked together.
CHAPTER XIV
BY THE DRUIDS' TOWER
Mme Giras, the proprietress of the Villa Clémentine, was a rosy, smiling body, plumped and rounded in almost every aspect, and with a heart of gold. Yesterday it had been plain to her shrewd, twinkling eyes that monsieur and mademoiselle were soon to make a match of it. Of course it was very shocking that mademoiselle should be travelling about alone at her age, but much could be forgiven in so charming a young lady.
When Rivière returned to the villa for lunch, he found the table in the arbour laid for two, and by one plate a rose had been placed.