"Mr. Durrell may have reason for not wishing me to come to Stonehanger."
"You suspect that?"
"You drive me to it."
Her face flushed under her dark hair.
"You are bold to press so far. Are you so sure of yourself? My father has reasons. You might not thank me for telling you them."
"I should thank you—from my heart."
"Not if you have any sense of—pride. Miss Benham must think this conduct of yours as curious as it appears to me."
She turned her back on him, and walked away into the thick of the wood. Jasper could not follow her there without leaving his horse, and Nance knew it. He did not attempt to follow her, but sat staring half vacantly into the green depths, a man staggered in the full stride of his impetuous sincerity.
It cost Jasper something of an effort to ride on and overtake the green curricle. Rose Benham's sharp profile had a very exasperating effect on him. There was something dangerously watchful about her eyes.
They made an elaborate show of ignoring the events of the last five minutes. Jasper might have hung behind to talk to a farm bailiff, to judge by the way they treated the matter.