"Why—why—I was thinking—" he stammered, as if unwilling to say, yet unready with an evasion.
"Oh, you needn't tell me, if it is so embarrassing as all that!" said Barbara, tossing her head. "I was going to say, that after all the talk and the excitement, I think the loveliest thing would be some fresh, sweet air, and the smell of the woods!"
"It would be, indeed—with you!" said Robert.
"Then we will ride till supper-time. No,—there is a moon. We will ride after supper. You may escort me if you want to! Do you?"
Robert drew a long breath before he answered—and to Barbara the answer was sufficient.
"Yes, I want to!" he said, simply. "I was afraid I was to go away without really seeing you at all!"
"Go away!" exclaimed Barbara, lifting her brows in sharp displeasure. "What do you mean, Robert?"
"I must go back to Gault House to-morrow morning, without fail, for I start for New York the day following, to be gone all winter."
"Oh!" said Barbara; and turned and led the way back into the drawing-room, leaving Robert completely mystified as to the meaning of that noncommittal interjection.