some reason he was fighting it and managing it. It embarrassed her and made her feel crude and undignified. And that made her angry at him. He walked ahead of her to the tent and threw in the rug. Then he helped her off with his coat and after pulling off his own sweater looked at his watch.
“Good Lord! It’s two o’clock! How will you get into the hotel? I’ll go there with you and ———”
“You don’t have to, my dear man. What kind of babe do you think I am? I’ll knock on Michael’s window. Mac told me to.”
He peered curiously at her in the starlight.
“Of course,” she said. “I asked him what I would do if I was out after midnight.”
Then she saw his face light up against the dull white tent wall.
“You are very nice and unafraid, Miss Freedom, aren’t you?” he said softly, and turned along the path to Roger’s stable.
They rode in silence through the ravine and for some way along the flat above. They were more uncomfortable with each other than they had ever been. Valerie knew that she had intended Dane to kiss her down there, and the fact that he had not done so made her look foolish in her own eyes. But the thing that disturbed her much more was the fear that he had sensed her intention. This fear froze her into a complete detachment from him as she rode beside him.
At the borders of Dargaville he stopped.
“You have been very kind to me to-night, Miss Carr, very kind. Now are you sure you’re all right?”
She was absurdly hurt again all at once. “Oh, I haven’t been kind,” she said impatiently, “and I’m quite all right, thank you.” She held out her hand.
