It was from this coign of vantage that she saw approaching the worn and drooping figure of Mr. Allingford. She rushed to meet him, and demanded, without even giving him time to get his breath:
"Where is my husband?"
"I don't know," he gasped.
"Or your wife?"
"Or my wife."
"Aren't they in Basingstoke?"
"No, and haven't been there. I've turned that confounded town inside out, and catechised every one about the station, from the divisional superintendent to the charwoman. They did not come last night, nor arrive this morning. Since leaving Southampton, if they did leave it, they have entirely disappeared."
"Why do you say, 'if they did leave' Southampton?"
"Because no one saw them go. I have learned by endless telegraphing that they alighted at that point, told a porter they had been carried past their destination, and wished to return at once to Basingstoke. He indicated their train, they disappeared in the crowd—and that's all."
"Haven't they telegraphed again to Basingstoke?"