No sooner said than done.
"Oh! Mr. Gerard, I am so sorry, I have dropped my whip!"
Mr. Gerard, of course, dismounts and picks it up; Sir Thomas and his ward pass on.
"What a happy thought that was of yours!" says St. John, wiping the little delicate switch before giving it back to her.
"Happy thought! What do you mean?" (reddening).
"Oh! it was accident, was it? I quite thought you had dropped it on purpose, and was lost in admiration of your ingenuity."
He looks at her searchingly as he speaks.
"I did drop it on purpose," she answers, blushing painfully. "Why do you make me tell the truth, when I did not mean to do so?"
"Don't you always tell truth?" (a little anxiously).
"Does anybody?"