She fell in love with Algie's companion.

That was an absurd way to describe her reactions, of course, she told herself later in the carriage. She did not believe in falling in love. That was for those giddy girls who always stood in groups in the ballroom, giggling behind their fans and ogling the more handsome men, who almost invariably paid them the compliment of ignoring them. And to speak of falling in love with a man whom one had just that moment set one's eyes upon for the first time was too preposterous even to be absurd.

What exactly had happened, then? She had moved her eyes to look at the man with Algie, only to find that he was studying her. There was nothing unusual about that. Rachel was quite accustomed to drawing the glances of young men-and some not so young too. In that first glance, she did not notice his tall, athletic body. She could not swear that she had even seen his thick, dark hair at first. She could not have seen it in all its shining glory, anyway, until he removed his hat when Algie introduced him. What had caused that feeling, then, of a merciless fist punching the air out of her stomach?

His mouth. Had she noticed his mouth in that first glance? Yes, she rather thought she had. A wide, good-humored mouth, which looked as if it were in the habit of smiling. A mouth that looked as if it would be interesting to kiss. And that was a shocking thought. Rachel had kissed a man only once in her life and that had been Algie in broad daylight in the middle of a field of sheep and sheep droppings when she had asked him to kiss her. She had found it somewhat disappointing, not with a stirring of a sinful feeling to make it exciting. She had very sensibly given up kissing as a desirable pastime from that moment on.

And his eyes. Oh, yes, his eyes! Definitely. Yes, they were what she had seen first. It was his eyes with which she had fallen in love. Blue eyes. Many men had blue eyes. She could recall three from among her regular followers without any effort of thought. But eyes that looked at one very directly as if they had nothing whatever to hide? Eyes that held no anxiety, no uncertainty? Eyes that somehow smiled at one even when his face was grave? No, she did not know anyone else with eyes like his.