"I could take you, certainly," he said. "Perhaps—I wonder if—However, we can talk of that presently." And he went off to despatch the telegram.
"Oh, Nan, don't leave me!" Agneta said when he had gone. "Father is awful when he is angry! He won't be quite so bad if you are with me."
"And yet you were ready to dare his utmost anger," I said.
"Oh, I should not have minded so much if Ralph were with me!" she said. "And he always said that father would be sure to forgive us when he found it impossible to part us, but I was afraid."
"It seems that Mr. Marshman is afraid too, now," I could not help saying. "At any rate, he has found it convenient to slip away and leave you to bear the brunt of your father's displeasure."
When Uncle Redmayne came back to us, his bearing was somewhat less severe. He said he had been thinking things over, and had come to the conclusion that it would be well to take me home at once and explain to my parents what had happened. Perhaps my mother would be willing to take Agneta in for the night. He had business that would occupy him for some hours on the following day, but he could take her back to Manchester with him in the evening. He would write and explain to Mrs. Lucas his reasons for not allowing her to return.
Agneta looked miserable enough when she heard this, but she said not a word. Her father's manner towards her had lost none of its harshness. I could not but feel sorry for her as I heard the cutting words he addressed to her every now and then.
Before we started for Clapham, he took us to the refreshment room to have some tea. He pressed me to try various sweet cakes, but neither I nor Agneta could eat anything. The tea refreshed us, however, and still more sustaining to me was the thought that I was going home. I had no fear of meeting my parents. I knew that they would not condemn me unheard.
It hardly seemed real to me when presently I found myself driving in a cab along the side of Clapham Common. How little I had thought when I rose that morning that the evening would find me here!
Mother's astonishment when she saw us drive up to the door was beyond words to express. She looked absolutely frightened, till I assured her that we were both well, and that no fresh outbreak of illness had occurred. She told me afterwards that I could have no idea how we had alarmed her, for both Agneta and I looked as if something terrible had happened.