When the afternoon light began to grow mellow, the party got into train again for the descent. It was a two hours’ ride up, but the descent was generally rather quicker.
Again they started sociably in a cavalcade, but again by degrees the horses distanced the bullocks and bearers, and once more as they reached the region of the narrow roads Ronald and Sheila found themselves some distance in advance of the rest of the party.
It seemed too natural for her to oppose the arrangement. It did not occur to her that anybody would make any serious to-do because they happened to have faster horses than Lady Dumaresq and her little son. It had been such a perfectly happy day that Sheila was in no mood to think of anything unpleasant, and she had not even noted the cold regards and marked silence of her aunt.
Down and down they rode, the soft sunlight making everything look even more beautiful than its wont. The curtains of flowers hanging over the walls seemed to blaze with a kind of glory, and the rainbows shining over the sea were more than ordinarily beautiful.
“I never saw such a place for rainbows!” cried Sheila. “Miss Adene told me about them, but I never could have believed without seeing. Why, first thing in the morning as I lie in bed I can see them hanging over the hills. Oh, you don’t know what the sunrises are like—I mean the reflected light upon the hills, all red and lovely every morning, and to be able to watch it as you lie in bed! I shall never forget it as long as I live! I wonder if I shall ever see Madeira again?”
“You shall if you want to,” said Ronald so softly that he did not think she heard.
“Let us come down the steps and watch the sea,” said Ronald when they reached the hotel, “the rest won’t be back just yet. I love to go down the steps and get right to its level.”
Sheila loved it too, and wished that she could bathe there in the mornings, as the young men did. It was something of a scramble, but she delighted in making it. The surf always broke grandly at the base of the rocks, however calm the sea looked from above. They stood watching it a long time, and they talked of many things, till suddenly the quickly coming darkness warned them that it was time to go back and dress for dinner.
“I shall never forget our day at Camacha all my life,” said Ronald, holding her hands to help her up the rough boulders.
She looked back at him, and her face flushed softly.