She knew by some deep-hidden instinct
that he would be there, and she was not disappointed. He came in late,
and stood quite still just inside the little building, searching it up
and down with keen, quiet eyes that never faltered in their progress
till they lighted upon her. She fancied there was a faintly humorous
expression about his mouth. His look did not dwell upon her. He stepped
aside to a vacant chair close to the door, and Priscilla, in her great,
square pew near the pulpit, saw him no more. When she left the church at
the end of the service he had already disappeared.
Froggy went out to tea that afternoon with much solicitous regret, which
Priscilla treated in a spirit of levity. She packed her tea-basket again
as soon as she was alone, selecting her provisions with care. And soon
after three, accompanied by Romeo, she started for the glen, not
sauntering idly, but stepping briskly through the golden sunshine, as
one with a purpose. She felt as if she were going to a trysting-place,
though no word of a tryst had passed between them.
He was there before her, bareheaded and alert, quite obviously awaiting
her. He did not express his pleasure in words as he took her hand in
his. Only there was an indescribable look in his brown eyes that made
her very glad that she had come. He had brought an enormous basket of
strawberries, which he presented with that drawling ease of manner which
she had come to regard as peculiarly his own, and they settled down to
the afternoon's enjoyment in a harmony as complete as the summer peace
about them.
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