The train stopped at Preston, and then rushed north again as I sat alone
in the corner of the carriage thinking deeply, and wondering who was
this man Rumbold.
At Carlisle another surprise was in store for me, for I found a hurried
note from Sybil saying that she had unfortunately been recognised by a
friend and compelled to leave. She had gone on to Glasgow, and would
await me there at the Central Station Hotel. Therefore, by the Scotch
express at two o'clock that morning I travelled up to Glasgow, and on
arrival found to my chagrin that she had stayed there one night, and
again left. There was a note for me, saying that she had gone to
Dumfries, but that it would be best for me not to follow.
"Return to Newcastle and await me," she wrote. "My quick movements are
imperative for my own safety. I cannot tell you in a letter what has
happened, but will explain all when we meet."
"By what train did the lady leave?" I inquired of the hall-porter who
had handed me the letter.
"The six-twenty last night, sir," was the man's answer. "I got her
ticket--a first-class one to Fort William."
"Then she went north--not south," I exclaimed, surprised.
"Of course."
Sybil had misled me in her letter by saying that she had gone to
Dumfries, when really she had travelled in the opposite direction. She
had purposely misled me.
"The lady left hurriedly, it would appear."
"Yes, sir. About five o'clock a gentleman called to see her, and she
met him in the hall. She was very pale, I noticed, as though she was
surprised at his visit, or rather upset. But they went out together.
She returned an hour later, wrote this letter, which she told me to give
to you if you called, and then left for Fort William."
"And did the man call again?"
"Yes. She said he would, and she told me to tell him that she had gone
to Edinburgh. I told him that, and he seemed very surprised, but went
away. He was in evening dress, and it seemed as though they had
intended dining together. She seemed," added the man rather sneeringly,
"to be more like a lady's-maid than a lady."
"But the gentleman, describe him to me."
"Oh! he was a rather short, podgy man, fair, with a baldish head."
Was it Parham? the description suited him.
"He gave no card?"
"No. He met the young lady here in the hall. My idea was that his
presence was very unwelcome, as she seemed in great fear lest he should
return before she could get away."
"Has the man left Glasgow?"
"I think so. I saw him on the platform about nine, just before the
Edinburgh express left. He's probably gone on there. He seemed quite a
gentleman."
"They appeared to be friendly?"
"Perfectly. Only she evidently did not expect to meet him. She asked
the name of a hotel at Fort William, and I told her to go to the
Station."
"Then she's there!" I exclaimed quickly.
"Probably. She arrived there this morning."
I tipped the man, and after idling in Glasgow some hours, left for Fort
William, determined to disobey Sybil's order to go back to Newcastle.
It was a long but picturesque journey. When I arrived I went at once to
the hotel to inquire if Mrs Morton were there.