'Sitzen sie ruhig!' was the only response. 'Sit still! the train is in motion!'
And once more they were sweeping with increased speed, through the open country. The carriages for the branch line had been left behind, with the lady's husband, suite and baggage; and she borne helplessly off by the express for Lubeck.
She became very much discomposed on learning this, and that she would be carried on fifty-six English miles in a wrong direction before she could telegraph to or communicate with her friends in any way; but after a time she laughed at it as being quite a little adventure, and to amuse her, Chute, by the aid of his Continental guide, indicated the various places of interest through which they swept with a mighty rush; now it was Ahrensburg or Bargtehude, and after traversing a flat, stupid, and uninteresting district, Oldeslohe with its salt mines and lime pits, and then Reinfeldt.
Anon the scenery became more and more English in aspect, and enclosed with hedges in English fashion, and all so homelike, that one could not but remember that not far off lies the nook which still bears the name of England, which was transferred by the emigrant Saxons to South Britain. The rich meadows, the well-tilled corn-lands, the farmhouses and villages, all looking as clean and as pretty as red brick, white plaster, green paint and flowers could make them, all seem there to remind one of the most beautiful parts in England; while in the distance, more than once could be had glimpses of the Baltic, with its dark blue waters sparkling in the evening sun. Lakes and groves add then to the beauty of the scenery, and wood-covered hills that slope gently upward from the bordering sea, or smooth sheets of inland water.
Chute's companion seemed really to enjoy her journey; and her first annoyance over, she relapsed into her occasional air of nonchalance and languid carelessness, that seemed born of Tyburnia and the West-end of London; and soon the tall red spires of Lubeck, which had been long in sight above the greenness of the level land, were close by, as the train ran into the station, near the magnificent and picturesque double towers and deep dark archways of the Holstein Thor, which stands among the long and shady avenues of the Linden-platz.
Though small, beautiful indeed looked the ancient Hans city rising on its ridge, with its twelve great earthen bastions covered by luxuriant foliage, all steeped in the glorious crimson of the after-glow from the set sun that blended with amber and blue.
Trevor Chute handed out his fair companion. There was no train for Buchen that night, nor would there be one till nearly noon on the morrow. The lady knew that her husband would be taken on to Lauenberg, but as she did not know where to telegraph to him there, she could but do so to the station-master at Buchen, and on this being done, she turned to Chute, for, traveller though she was, she was perplexed to find herself in a strange place, without servants or escort, and surrounded by unceremonious German touts bawling out, 'Stadt Hamburg,' 'Hotel du Nord,' 'Funf Thurme,' and the names of other hotels.
'Permit me to be your guide,' said he, as Travers procured an open droski; 'the Stadt Hamburg is the chief hotel. I shall have the honour to escort you there.'
'Thanks, very much indeed,' said she, bowing, and for the first time colouring slightly; 'when' (he did not catch the name amid the hubbub around them) 'my husband arrives he will be most grateful to you for all this.'
And now, as they drove through the Holstein Thor towards the hotel, Chute was provoked to see in the face of his man, Travers, a comical and perplexed expression. He had never seen his master escorting an apparent stranger thus before, and hence knew not what to make of the situation.