He was interrupted by a guard--another guard, a sour-looking man with a grizzled beard, who was in charge of the front van. "Get in, sir, if you mean to travel by this "ere train," he said.

"I"m waiting for a young lady," said Mark, rather ingenuously, but it slipped out almost without his knowledge. "The other guard promised me----"

"I don"t know nothing about no young ladies," said the guard obdurately; "but if you mean my mate, he"s just give me the signal from his end, and if you don"t want to be left be"ind you"d better take your seat while you can, sir, and pretty sharp, too."

There was nothing else to do; he could not search for Mabel along the train; he must wait till they got to King"s Cross; but he took his seat reluctantly and with a heavy disappointment, thinking what a fool he had been to let himself be persuaded by the burly guard. "But for that, _she_ might have been sitting opposite to me now!" he thought bitterly. "What a fool I was to leave her. How pretty she looked when she wanted me to see a doctor; how charming she is altogether! Am I in love with her already? Of course I am; who wouldn"t be? I shall see her again. She will speak to me once more, and, after all, things might be worse. I couldn"t have counted on _that_ when we started."

And he tried to console himself with this, feeling an impatient anger at the slow pace of the train as it crept cautiously on towards the goal of his hopes. But the breakdown had not happened very far from town, and, tedious as the time seemed to Mark, it was not actually long before the colour of the atmosphere (there was no other indication) proved that they were nearing the terminus.

It changed by slow gradations from its original yellow-whiteness to mustard colour, from that to a smoky lurid red, and from red to stinging, choking iron-grey, and the iron-grey pall was in full possession of King"s Cross, where the sickly moonlight of the electric lamps could only clear small halos immediately around their globes.

Mark sprang out before the train had stopped; he strained his eyes in watching for the form he hoped to see there, but in vain; there were no signs in all that bustle of Mabel or Dolly, or the little dog to whom he owed so much.

He sought out the guard who had deluded him and found him superintending the clearing of the luggage van. He hardly knew whether it was merely a fancy that the official, after making a half-step forward to meet him, and fumbling in all his pockets, turned away again as if anxious to avoid meeting his eye.

Mark forced him to meet him, however, willing or not. "Where is the lady?" he said sharply. "You left her behind after all, it seems?"

"It wasn"t my fault, sir," said the guard wheezily, "nor it wasn"t the lady"s fault, leastways on"y the little lady"s, sir. Both on us tried all we could, but the little missy, her with the tarrier dawg, was nervous-like with it all, and wouldn"t hear of getting in the train again; so the young lady, she said, seeing as they was so near London, they could get a fly or a cab or summat, and go on in that."

"And--did she give you no message for me?" said Mark.

There was such evident expectation in his face that the guard seemed afraid to disappoint it. "I was to give you her respecks and compliments," he said slowly--"or was it her love, now?" he subst.i.tuted quickly, after a glance at Mark"s face, "and you was not to be in a way about her, and she"d be seein" of you again before very long, and----"

"That"s all a lie, you know," said Mark, calmly.

"Well, then, she didn"t say nothing, if that warn"t it," said the guard, doggedly.

"Did she--did she leave any directions about luggage or anything?"

said Mark.

"Brown portmanty to go in the left-luggage room till called for," said the guard. "Anything else I can do for you, sir; no? Good mornin", then, and thanky, sir!"

"Never did such a thing as that in my life afore," he muttered, as he went back to his van; "to go and lose a bit o" paper with writing on it, d"reckly I got it, too; I"m afraid my head"s a-leavin" me; they ain"t keepin" company, that"s plain. I made a mess o" that, or he wouldn"t have wanted her direction. _I_ saw what he was up to--well, they"d make a good-looking pair. I"m sorry I lost that there paper; but it warn"t no use a-tellin" of him."

As for Mark, this lame and impotent conclusion brought back all his depression again. "She never even asked my name!" he thought, bitterly. "I risked my life for her--it _was_ for her, and she knew it: but she has forgotten that already. I"ve lost her for ever this time; she may not even live in London, and if she did I"ve no clue to tell me where, and if I had I don"t exactly see what use it would be; I won"t think about her--yes, I will, she can"t prevent me from doing that, at any rate!"

By this time he had left the City station of the Metropolitan Railway, and was going back to his underground labours at St. Peter"s, where he was soon engaged in trying to establish something like discipline in his cla.s.s, which the dark brown fog seemed to have inspired with unaccountable liveliness. His short holiday had not served to rest and invigorate him as much as might have been expected; it had left him consumed with a hopeless longing for something unattainable. His thirst for distinction had returned in an aggravated form, and he had cut himself off now from the only means of slaking it. As that day wore on, and with each day that succeeded it, he felt a wearier disgust with himself and his surroundings.

CHAPTER VIII.

BAD NEWS.

It was Christmas week, and Mrs. Langton and her daughters were sitting, late one afternoon, in the drawing-room where we saw them first. Dolly was on a low stool at her mother"s feet, submitting, not too willingly, to have the bow in her hair smoothed and arranged for her. "It _must_ be all right now, mother!" she said, breaking away rebelliously at last.

"It"s worse than ever, Dolly," said Mrs. Langton plaintively; "it"s slipped over to the left now!"

"But it doesn"t matter, it never will keep straight long."

"Well, if you _like_ to run about like a little wild child," was the resigned answer.

"Little wild children don"t wear bows in their hair; they wear--well, they don"t wear anything they"ve got to be careful and tidy about. I think that must be rather nice," said Dolly, turning round from where she knelt on the hearthrug. "Wake up, Frisk, and be good-tempered directly. Mother, on Christmas Day I"m going to tie a Christmas card round Frisk"s neck, and send him into papa"s dressing-room to wish him a Merry Christmas, the first thing in the morning--you won"t tell him before the time, will you?"

"Not if you don"t wish it, darling," said Mrs. Langton, placidly.

"I mightn"t have had him to tie a card to," said Dolly, taking the dog up and hugging him fondly, "if that gentleman had not fetched him out of the train for me; and I never said "thank you" to him either. I forgot somehow, and when I remembered he was gone. Should you think he will come to see me, Mabel; you told him that mother would be glad to thank him some time, didn"t you, on the paper you gave the guard for him?"

"Yes, Dolly," said Mabel, turning her head a little away; "but you see he hasn"t come yet."

"My dear," said her mother, "really I think he shows better taste in keeping away; there was no necessity to send him a message at all, and I hope he won"t take any advantage of it. Thanking people is so tiresome and, after all, they never think you have said enough about it. It was very kind of the young man, of course, very--though I can"t say I ever quite understood what it was he did--it was something in a fog, I know," she concluded vaguely.

"We told you all about it, mother," explained Dolly; "I"ll tell you all over again. There was a fog and our train stopped, and we all got out, and I left Frisk behind, and there he was in the carriage all alone, and then the gentleman ran back and got him out and brought him to me. And another train came up behind and stopped too."

"Dolly tells it rather tamely," said Mabel, her cheeks flushing again.

"At the time he ran back for the dog, we could all hear the other train rushing up in the fog, mamma, and n.o.body knew whether there might not be a frightful collision in another minute."

"Then I think it was an extremely rash thing for him to do, my dear; and if I were his mother I should be very angry with him."

"He was very good-looking, wasn"t he, Mabel?" said Dolly, irrelevantly.

"Was he, Dolly? Well, yes, I suppose he was, rather," said Mabel, with much outward indifference, and an inward and very vivid picture of Mark"s face as he leaned by the stile, his fine eyes imploring her not to leave him.

"Well, perhaps, he doesn"t care about being thanked, or doesn"t want to see us again," said Dolly; "if he did, he"d call, you know; you wrote the address on the paper."

Mabel had already arrived at the same conclusion, and was secretly a little piqued and hurt by it; she had gone slightly out of her way to give him an opportunity of seeing her again if he wished, and he had not chosen to take advantage of it; it had not seriously disturbed her peace of mind, but her pride was wounded notwithstanding. At times she was ready to believe that there had been some mistake or miscarriage with her message, otherwise it was strange that the admiration which it had not been difficult to read in his eyes should have evaporated in this way.

"Why, here"s papa--home already!" cried Dolly, as the door opened and a tall man entered. "How do you do, papa? you"ve rumpled my bow--you didn"t think I _meant_ it, did you? you can do it again if you like--_I_ don"t mind a bit; mother does."

He had duly returned the affectionate hug with which Dolly had greeted him, but now he put her aside with a rather preoccupied air, and went to his wife"s chair, kissing the smooth forehead she presented, still absently.

"You are early, Gerald," she said; "did the courts rise sooner to-day?"

"No," he said conscientiously, "it"s the Vacation now--I left chambers as soon as I could get away," and he was folding and unfolding the evening paper he had brought in with him, as he stood silent before the fire.

Mr. Langton was not much over fifty, and a handsome man still, with full clear eyes, a well-cut chin and mouth, iron-grey whiskers, and a florid complexion which years spent in stifling law-courts and dust and black laden chambers had not done much to tone down. Young barristers and solicitors" clerks were apt to consider him rather a formidable personage in Lincoln"s Inn; and he was certainly imposing as he rustled along New Square or Chancery Lane, his brows knitted, a look of solemn importance about his tightly-closed lips, and his silk gown curving out behind him like a great black sail. He had little imperious ways in court, too, of beckoning a client to come to him from the well, or of waving back a timid junior who had plucked his gown to draw his attention to some suggestion with a brusque "Not now--I can"t hear that now!" which suggested immeasurable gulfs between himself and them. But at home he unbent, a little consciously, perhaps, but he did unbend--being proud and fond of his children, who at least stood in no fear of him. Long years of successful practice had had a certain narrowing effect upon him; the things of his profession were almost foremost in his mind now, and when he travelled away from them he was duller than he once promised to be--his humour had slowly dwindled down until he had just sufficient for ordinary professional purposes, and none at all for private consumption.

In his favour it may be added that he was genial to all whom he did not consider his inferiors, a good though not a demonstrative husband; that as a lawyer he was learned without the least pedantry; and that he was a Bencher of his Inn, where he frequently dined, and a Member of Parliament, where he never spoke, even on legal matters.

Mabel"s quick eyes were the first to notice a shade on his face and a constraint in his manner; she went to his side and said in an undertone, "You are not feeling ill, papa, are you, or has anything worried you to-day?"

"I am quite well. I have news to tell you presently," he said in the same tone.

"Come and see my Christmas cards before I do them up," said Dolly from a side-table; "I"m going to send one to each of my friends, except Clara Haycraft, or if I _do_ send her one," she added thoughtfully, "it will be only a penny one, and I shall write her name on the back so that she can"t use it again. Clara has not behaved at all well to me lately. If I sent one to Vincent now, papa, would he get it in time?"

"No--no," said her father, a little sharply, "and look here, p.u.s.s.y, run away now and see how Colin is getting on."