“Cathie!” cried Helen, but Catherine was too far down the steps to be recalled. Helen followed her on to the platform and overtook her near to the further end.
“You’re coming back, Cathie. Don’t be silly.... You must ...”
Catherine held herself passionately erect. The signal lights winked from red to green.
“It’s no good your trying to persuade me, Helen.... I’m not coming. I wouldn’t enter the same house with that man.... No, no, no, no, I’m not coming.”
The train came in to the platform.
“Cathie!”
“No, no! ... I’m not coming, I tell you....” She opened the door of a third-class compartment and entered.
“You’ll wish you hadn’t done this, Cathie.”
“Never.”
The train slid away into the night and Helen was left standing on the platform. She had a swift impulse to jump into the tail-end of the now quickly-moving train and go with Cathie to the next station. But the train was moving too rapidly for her to attempt this manœuvre in safety. And behind her stood George a little bewildered (he had followed her slowly down the steps).