birthright of her sex. In this first stage, she hardly cared whether
Trennahan were in love with her or not, having none of the instinct of
the huntress and her imagination being a slow one. It was enough that
she should see him for many hours alone during this dreamy exquisite
summer, that she should look constantly into the cold eyes that had
their own power to thrill. That he was not the orthodox lover in
appearance, manner, nor age pleased her the better. She was not like
other girls, therefore it was fitting that she should find her mate
among the odd ones of earth. That there might be others like him in the
great world whence he came, that he might have loved and been loved by
women of the world, never occurred to her. She was content, having found
her other part, and wove no histories of the past nor future. But as the
weeks went on and their intimacy grew, she accepted the fact that he
loved her before the disposition to speculate had arrived in the wake of
love. During the hours that they spent rambling through the woods, or in
whatever fashion pleased their mood, although he did not startle her by
definite word or act, he managed to convey that their future was
assured, that she was his, and that in his own time he should claim her.
By the time this dawn broke, her imagination was beating at its
flood-gates, and shortly broke loose. Thereafter when she was not with
Trennahan in the present, she was his in a future built on the
foundations of all she had read and all that instinct taught her. She
had no wish that the present should change; it was enough that it
suggested the inevitable future. She was happy, and she knew that
Trennahan was happy. Meanwhile they escaped the others and rode together
before breakfast, read together after, explored every corner of the
woods, and talked of
