"Confound it, yes!" cried Scarsdale. "Where does this train go?"
"There is sure to be a train this evening, sir."
"It has been a chapter of accidents," he said, explaining it to Mrs. Allingford, "but we had better go to Winchester, I think; it is on the way anyhow."
"Yes," she assented, "and then get on to Basingstoke as fast as we can, and not be discouraged."
"Quite right," he replied, and entered into a description of Southampton docks and the varied cargoes that were received there, in the hope of distracting her mind.
"Oh, look!" she cried, as, once more started on their travels, they came in sight of the shipping, "see what they are loading on that truck! I do believe it is an elephant!"
After what seemed an interminable journey, they at length arrived at Winchester, and as soon as Scarsdale had seen Mrs. Allingford established in the ladies' waiting-room, he hastened to ascertain their chances of getting to Basingstoke that night. On his return he wore a very long face, which his companion was not slow to interpret.
"Are there no trains?" she exclaimed, in evident dismay.
"There is one," he replied, "but we should not reach our destination till very late, almost midnight in fact, and we cannot tell that we should find your husband even then. I think our best course would be to remain here."
"I didn't mean that. But can't you see the position in which I am placed?"
He did see, and he knew that what he proposed seemed to her almost an impossibility; but as they were now situated he considered that circumstances altered cases.
"I am sure, Mrs. Allingford," he said, "that your good sense, which has carried you through so much this afternoon, will show you the necessity of acting as I have suggested. You must not forget that you are now a married woman, and can do things which before were not permissible."
"Still," she contended, "to go to a public hotel with a gentleman who is a comparative stranger, and pass the night there, seems to me not the thing at all; and if we were recognised by anybody----" She paused, hardly knowing how to complete her sentence.
"Then go alone. There are other hotels; I will put up somewhere else," he replied.
"No, no, I couldn't be left alone; I've never been alone before in my life. That would be worse than all else. You see, if you were only related to me it would be so different."