Caroline said this as Miss Keeldar seized her arm and hurried her down the fields. It was vain to contend. Nothing was so wilful as Shirley when she took a whim into her head. Caroline found herself out of sight of the crowd almost before she was aware, and ushered into a narrow shady spot, embowered above with hawthorns, and enamelled under foot with daisies. She took no notice of the evening sun chequering the turf, nor was she sensible of the pure incense exhaling at this hour from tree and plant; she only heard the wicket opening at one end, and knew Robert was approaching. The long sprays of the hawthorns, shooting out before them, served as a screen. They saw him before he observed them. At a glance Caroline perceived that his social hilarity was gone; he had left it behind him in the joy-echoing fields round the school. What remained now was his dark, quiet, business countenance. As Shirley had said, a certain hardness characterized his air, while his eye was excited, but austere. 
Miss Keeldar seized her arm and hurried her down the fields. It was vain to argue. Nothing was so wilful as Shirley when she took a whim into her head. Caroline found herself ushered into a narrow shady spot, embowered above with hawthorns, and enamelled underfoot with daisies. She heard the wicket-gate opening, and knew Robert was approaching. The long sprays of the hawthorns screened them. They saw him before he observed them.
At a glance Caroline perceived that his social gaiety was gone; he wore his dark, quiet, business face. As Shirley had said, there was a certain hardness in his air. 