Platform's closed; you won't be able to catch her."
The lady's face was alive with smiles.
"There! After all our hurry! Isn't that annoying?"
She didn't look as if she thought it was annoying in the least. Boys were shouting out the editions of the evening papers. Placards were displayed on the bookstall close at hand. I saw her glance at one, which had already caught my own attention.
"'Imperial Mansions Murder. Extraordinary Scene at the Coroner's Inquest.' Has the inquest been held? And what has happened there? What does it mean by 'extraordinary scene'?"
I felt as if every one was on the point of calling out, "Here's the man who locked up the coroner's court! Here's the woman he's spiriting away!" The sudden sight of that placard had got on my nerves. I was brusque, brutal.
"Bother the inquest! What we've got to think about's that train."
"Indeed? So you can be bad-tempered if you like, and civil too. I was wondering if you were always a model of lamblike decorum."
"I beg your pardon, but—the fact is, I'd made up my mind to catch that train."
"Had you? And you'd also made up your
