"In two years time, I hope," he replied. "But that depends upon you."
"Upon me?" rejoined the girl, a faint colour stealing across her half-averted face, as she suddenly realized the point of her companion's remarks.
"Well, you see," explained Mostyn, "I've been offered a Government post out here—a jolly good one. I couldn't accept it because I hadn't spoken to you about it. We agreed, I think, that I should be your guardian—'guardian' is a rotten term, isn't it?—until I saw you safely home."
"Don't, please, let that stand in your way," said Olive.
"It will," declared Peter, "unless——"
*****
Five minutes or so later Davis exclaimed to his wife: "Hello! Where are the others?"
"I don't know," was the reply. "I quite thought they were following. Trot back and see; I'll wait here."
Another five minutes and Davis rejoined his wife. Deliberately he dismounted, charged a pipe, and lit it.
"There's no hurry," he reported. "They're quite all right. I saw from a distance that I was de trop, so I beat a strategic retreat."