She went to her room, put a few things together, then drank a cup of tea, went to her father to get the check, and was ready by the time the carriage came to the door with a pair of horses. In but a few minutes more she was on her way through the gathering dusk to the railway station.

While the lodge-gate was being opened, she thought she saw someone get up on the box beside the coachman, and fancied it must be a groom going with them. The drive was a rather long and anxious one for Hester. When at last the carriage stopped and the door opened, there was the major in a huge fur coat, holding out his hand to help her down. It was as great a pleasure as a surprise, and she showed both.

“You didn’t think I was going to let you travel alone?” he said. “Who knows what wolf might be after my Red Riding Hood!”

Hester told him she was only too glad of his escort. Careful not to seem the least bent on the discovery of the cause of her journey, he seated himself in the farthest corner of the train car, for there was no one else in it, and pretended to go to sleep.

And now Hester began, as a result of the general misery of the family, to contemplate her own situation with a little more honest introspection than before. A mist had slowly been gathering about her, though she had put off looking into it at the undefined forms in the distance. Now these forms slowly began to reveal themselves in shifting yet recognizable reality. The doubts she had tried to ignore when reading Vavasor’s letters now at last demanded recognition. Even if this miserable affair with Cornelius should be successfully hushed up, there was yet one who must know of it—she would have to acquaint lord Gartley with what had taken place.

With the realization, one of the shapes in the mist settled into solidity: if the love between them had been an ideal love, she would not have had a moment’s anxiety as to how her fiancé would receive the painful news. But she realized she shrank from telling him, for fear of how he might respond. Yet with the insight into her own anxiety came a decision—if he hesitated, that would be enough. His response would involuntarily reveal whether their love was a true one or not. Nothing could make her marry a man who hesitated whether to draw back from her or not. It was impossible.

25. In London

—Twenty-Five —

In London

Arriving in the city, they went directly to Addison Square. When they had roused Sarah, the major took his leave of Hester, promising to be with her in a few hours, and went to his hotel.