"It's curious," she said, "how a girl can make a muddle of life without even trying."
"But just think what you might have done if you'd tried! You've much to be thankful for," he said gravely.
She raised her eyes, considering him:
"I wonder," she said, under her breath.
"Sure thing, Stephanie. You might have done worse; you might have married me. Throw away those flowers—there's a good girl—and forget what they meant."
Slowly, deliberately, blossom by blossom she drew them from her girdle and laid them on the moss beside her.
"There's one left," he said cheerfully. "Raus mit it!"
But she made no motion to detach it; appeared to be unconscious of it and of him as she turned her face and looked silently toward the place where Neville had disappeared.
An hour or two later, when Gordon was ready to return to the house, he shouted for Neville. Cameron also lifted up his voice in a series of prolonged howls.
But Neville was far beyond earshot, and still walking through woods and valleys and pleasant meadows in the general direction of the Estwich hills.