Well, when the code was written it was const (i.e. no change was being made).  After the change to getPath() signature it is no longer a const,  If everyone thinks that we should simply allow the mPaths member to be exposed for manipulation, then I'll modify this method to make a deep copy instead.  For the record I'm not a fan of making everything available to every class, it doesn't feel very C++ or OO to me personally.