The Real Charlotte. 289 



shining upon. The very look of the first-class carriage 

 seemed to her, who had seldom, if ever, been in one, to em- 

 phasise the distance that there was between them. The 

 romance that always clung to him even in her angriest 

 thoughts, was slaughtered by this glimpse of him, like some 

 helpless atom of animal life by the passing heel of a school- 

 boy. There was no scaffold, with its final stupendous 

 moment, and incentive to heroism ; there was nothing but 

 an ignoble end in commonplace neglect. 



The ticket-collector slammed the door of the next carriage, 

 and Francie stepped back still further to make way for 

 Lambert as he got off the step. She had turned her back 

 on the train, and was looking vacantly at the dark outlines 

 of the steamer when she became aware that Hawkins was 

 beside her. 



" Er — good-bye — " he said awkwardly, " the train's just 

 off." 



" Good-bye," replied Francie, in a voice that sounded 

 strangely to her, it was so everyday and conventional. 



*' Look here," he said, looking very uncomfortable, and 

 speaking quickly, "I know you're angry with me. I couldn't 

 help it. I tried to get out of it, but it — it couldn't be done. 

 I'm awfully sorry about it — " 



If Francie had intended to reply to this address, it was 

 placed beyond her power to do so. The engine, which had 

 been hissing furiously for some minutes, now set up the 

 continuous ear-piercing shriek that precedes the departure 

 of the boat train, and the guard, hurrying along the platform, 

 signified to Hawkins in dumb show that he was to take his 

 seat. The whistle continued unrelentingly ; Hawkins put 

 out his hand, and Francie laid hers in it. She looked 

 straight at him for a second, and then, as she felt his fingers 

 close hard round her hand in dastardly assurance of friend- 

 ship if not affection, she pulled it away, and turned to 

 Lambert, laughing and putting her hands up to her ears to 

 show that she could hear nothing in the din. Hawkins 

 jumped into the carriage again, Pamela waved her hand at 

 the window, and Francie was left with Lambert on the plat- 

 form, looking at the red light on the back of the guard's van, 

 as the train wound out of sight into the tunnel. 



