And for the rest of their walk they trudged on in silence or with but few words passed between them. It was sunset when they reached North End.
That evening when Sylvan and Cora found themselves together for a moment at Rockhold House, the youth said:
"Corona Rothsay, the sooner I get my orders and you and I depart for Scalping Creek or Perdition Peak, or wherever I am to be shoveled off to, the better, my dear," said the young soldier.
"What do you think of it all now, Sylvan?" she inquired.
"I think, Cora, that while we do stay here it would be Christian charity to be very good to 'the Rose that all admire.' Nobody will admire her any more, I think."
"Oh, you didn't see her face. She had her mask veil, do you call it?--down, so you couldn't see. But, oh, my conscience! how she is changed in these last six weeks! She is not a blooming rose any more. She is a snubbed, trampled on, crushed, and wilted rose. Her face looks pale; her hair dull; her eyes weak; her beauty nowhere; her cheerfulness nowhere else."
Early the next morning, after a hasty breakfast, Mr. Rockharrt entered his carriage to drive to the works. Young Mrs. Rockharrt, under the plea of fatigue from her long journey, retired to her own room.
"Sylvan, I wish you would order the little carriage and take me to the Banks to see Violet. I should have paid her this attention sooner but for the pressure of work that has been upon me. I must defer it no longer, but go this morning."
"All right, Cora!" answered the young man, and he left the room to do his errand.
Cora went up stairs to get ready for her drive.
In about fifteen minutes the two were seated in the little open landau, that had been the gift of the late Mrs. Rockharrt to her beloved granddaughter, and that the latter always used when driving out in the country around Rockhold during the summer.
They did not have to cross the ferry, as the new house of Fabian Rockharrt was on the same side of the river as was Rockhold.
The road on this west side was, however, much rougher, though the scenery was much finer.
They drove on through the woods, which here clothed the foot of the mountain and grew quite down to the water's edge, meeting over their heads and casting the road into deep shadow.