Page:A Virgin Heart.pdf/54

50 ting my daughter grow up in the same way...."

There was, in these words, a hint of marriage plans. Rose perceived it at once.

"I'm quite all right as I am," she said, "and so is Robinvast."

"Vain little creature!"

"Don't you agree with me?" said Rose, turning to M. Hervart with a laugh that palliated the boldness of her question.

"About yourself, most certainly."

"Oh, there's nothing more to be done with me. The harm's done already; I'm a savage. I'm thinking of the wildness of Robinvast; I like it and it suits my wildness."

"All the same," said M. Hervart, whose hands were covered with scratches, "there are a lot of brambles in the wood. I've never seen such ﬁne ones, shoots like tropical creepers, like huge snakes...."

"I never scratch myself," said Rose.

But it was not without a feeling of satisfaction that she looked at M. Hervart's hands, which were scarred with picking blackberries for her. She whispered to him:

"I'm as cruel as the brambles."