"Miss Neville!" he exclaimed, in surprise, "surely after your illness it is hardly prudent for you to be out on so damp a day."
"It will not harm me," replied Amy.
"Are you going much further? You will find it very dirty walking. Would it not be wiser to return home?"
"No, I think not, as least not just yet; I am too anxious to remain at home. The walk will do me good."
"I doubt that last assertion very much. It can do no one good being out in such weather," and dismounting, he walked by her side.
"Why did you venture?" she asked.
"I? Oh, nothing brings me to grief. I am a soldier, and ought to rough it."
"Are ladies in your opinion so fragile that a slight shower will wash them away?"
"This is not a slight shower, Miss Neville, but a nasty, misty rain, that does a deal more damage than a heavy down-pour."