Roused partly by curiosity, partly by
the impulse of the moment, which urged her impetuous nature into action
after the passive endurance of many hours past, Magdalen snatched up
her bonnet, and determined to follow the servant to her destination,
wherever it might be.
The woman led her to the great thoroughfare of shops close at hand,
called Lambeth Walk. After proceeding some little distance, and looking
about her with the hesitation of a person not well acquainted with the
neighborhood, the servant crossed the road and entered a stationer's
shop. Magdalen crossed the road after her and followed her in.
The inevitable delay in entering the shop under these circumstances
made Magdalen too late to hear what the woman asked for. The first words
spoken, however, by the man behind the counter reached her ears, and
informed her that the servant's object was to buy a railway guide.
"Do you mean a Guide for this month or a Guide for July?" asked the
shopman, addressing his customer.
"Master didn't tell me which," answered the woman. "All I know is, he's
going into the country the day after to-morrow."
"The day after to-morrow is the first of July," said the shopman.
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