Impatient of the set in the field, she turned to the quiet lawn, surrounded by sheaves of shut-up crocuses.

A feeling of stillness, almost of ecstasy, came over her.

It felt almost as if she were alone with him in this garden.
Then he left her again and joined the others.

Soon they started home.
Miriam loitered behind, alone.

She did not fit in with the others; she could very rarely get into human relations with anyone: so her friend, her companion, her lover, was Nature.