“This one,” I said, running my finger around in a circle to include them all and yet stopping at none.
“We’re not won yet, though,” said the girl smirkily.
“Couldn’t you be?” I asked smartly.
“Not all at once, anyhow. Could we?” she asked, speaking for the crowd.
I found myself poor at repartee. “It will seem all at once, though, when it happens, won’t it?” I finally managed to return. “Isn’t it always ‘so sudden’?” I was surprising myself.
“Aren’t you smart!” said the blue-eyed girl beside me.
“Oh, that’s clever, isn’t it?” said the girl with the corn-colored hair.
I gazed in her direction. Beside her sat a maiden whom I had but dimly noticed. She was in white, with a mass of sunny red hair. Her eyes were almond-shaped, liquid and blue-gray. Her nose was straight and fine, her lips sweetly curved. She seemed bashful and retiring. At her bosom was a bouquet of pink roses, but one had come loose.
“Oh, your flowers!” I exclaimed.
“Let me give you one,” she replied, laughing. I had not heard her voice before and I liked it.