62/84 Rowland had placed himself near Miss Garland, while the feasting went forward on the grass. She wore a so-called gypsy hat--a little straw hat, tied down over her ears, so as to cast her eyes into shadow, by a ribbon passing outside of it. When the company dispersed, after lunch, he proposed to her to take a stroll in the wood. She hesitated a moment and looked toward Mrs.Hudson, as if for permission to leave her. But Mrs.Hudson was listening to Mr.Striker, who sat gossiping to her with relaxed magniloquence, his waistcoat unbuttoned and his hat on his nose. |