"Am I very clumsy?" he asked, swinging up on Selim.
She waited until they had left the clearing and the grooms behind them
and were among the great tall trees:
"Surely not . . . only very careful," she said teasingly.
He was puzzled at this new mood that had come with the archery and
still tarried--this careless gayety under circumstances which,
hitherto, would have made her severe and distant. He was so used to
being frowned upon, reproved, and held at the point that he was quite
blind to the change it signaled. He bent his eyes on his horse's mane.
He thought of the King's words as to the kerchief and longed for a bit
of his astute penetration and wonderful tact, that he might solve this
provoking riddle beside him and lead up to what was beating so fiercely
in his breast. In his perplexity he looked appealingly toward her.
She was watching him with the same amused smile she had worn since the
fixing of the skirt; and was guessing, with womanly intuition, what was
passing in his mind.
"And forsooth, Sir King of the Bow," she said--and the smile rippled
into a laugh--"are you so puffed up by your victory that you will not
deign to address me, but must needs hold yourself aloof, even when
there is none to see your condescension! .
Pages:
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191