"'Tain't so. That ain't my line of work."
"Didn't the passenger pay his fare?"
"Not there. He went straight into the depot."
"Why did you ask Billings that question?"
"'Cause I didn't know he'd got into the cab business. He used to be a porter."
Clara thanked O'Brien, said she might call again if any other questions occurred to her, and the young ladies went on to Ashburton Place. Billings had lied, but it might have been Ivan, nevertheless, who went into the station from the closed carriage.
Mrs. White's greeting was marked by constraint, and she sat in distressed silence for a moment after Clara and Louise entered. At length she said:
"People will talk so! I'm sure you've been very good and brave, Miss Hilman, but what is one to think?"
"I don't know what you mean, Mrs. White."
"Well, don't you see, lots of my friends have called, seeing Lizzie's name in the papers, and Mr. Strobel's, and they will have it that they eloped."