Micky frowned.

“No––merely a sort of frigid silence this time,” he said savagely, then he laughed. “It’s no use, June, I may as well throw up the sponge. I seem to put my foot in it whatever I do.”

June drew a pattern in the mud at her feet.

“Well, what have you done?” she asked. “Esther was all right this morning, and quite pleased to be going with you. I certainly never expected to see either of you till this afternoon. Where did you go?”

Micky shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh, some little one-eyed place. We stopped at an inn and had some coffee, and that seemed to finish it.”

“What, the coffee?” asked June with a twinkle.

Micky turned away.

“If you’re going to make a joke of everything–––” he said with dignity.

She laid her hand on his arm.