As he leaned back in the sledge, with the same girl for his companion, he recalled his feelings.

He had been astonished and amused, and perhaps a little shy, and a great deal relieved that she had been sensible enough to be amused too.
And now?
They had been constantly together for many months: he who had never cared before for companionship, had found himself turning more and more to her.
_And now he was going to lose her_.
He looked up once or twice to make sure that she was still by his side: she sat there so quietly.

At last he spoke in his usual gruff way.
"Have you exhausted all your eloquence in your oration about learned women ?" he asked.
"No, I am reserving it for a better audience," she answered, trying to be bright.

But she was not bright.
"I believe you came out to the country to day to seek for cheerfulness," he said after a pause.

"Have you found it ?" "I do not know," she said.