Annixter even heard Hilma laughing very gayly at something Delaney was saying.

She patted his horse's neck affectionately, and Delaney, drawing the nippers from his belt, made as if to pinch her arm with them.

She caught at his wrist and pushed him away, laughing again.

To Annixter's mind the pair seemed astonishingly intimate.

Brusquely his anger flamed up.
Ah, that was it, was it?
Delaney and Hilma had an understanding between themselves.