“Oh, do you want to go in when I go?” she asked.
“Why, I thought I could see about connections. Do you know what train Mrs. Corday is coming on?” Mary asked directly. And then Gloria guessed. Mary wanted to avoid being at the station when Mrs. Corday came!
“No, I don’t exactly,” replied Gloria truthfully.
“I thought perhaps Miss Alton told you.”
What had seemed like confusion in Mary’s expression was fast gathering into misery. She was plainly intent upon keeping out of the way of Jack’s unpopular stepmother.
“There are two trains in,” began Gloria. “And I suppose if she doesn’t come in on one, Jane will, and ten chances to one I’ll have to meet both. Mary, I’m sure as shooting, that my poor little essay is going to be stalled ‘on the high rocks of a crowded day.’”
“Oh, Gloria! You don’t mean you can’t finish it?”
“No, I don’t quite mean it, but I fear it. There have simply been endless interruptions——”
“And now I’ve detained you, and on such a silly pretext. Of course, I might have phoned about the trains.”
“I was glad to call,” smiled Gloria sweetly, for she guessed what ever Mary’s anxiety might have been caused by, it must be something more serious than finishing a prize essay.