Pierce was a bachelor and a blood, and he might travel openly with a mistress for a holiday by the sea, but such a girl would certainly be dressed with gentility, which this girl was not. And contrariwise, were this creature a servant in his household, he would hardly have her out and about in so public a place as a train station unless there was some particular reason for it, but Fowler could not imagine a reason.
Then, too, he perceived that the girl had been weeping; her eyes were red and there were streaks upon her cheeks, and so it was all most perplexing and unusual, and—
Pierce put Fowler out of his misery. “Forgive me,” he said, turning to the girl. “I should introduce you, but I do not know your name. This is Mr. Henry Fowler.”
The girl, giving him a demure smile, said, “I am Brigid Lawson. How’d you do, sir.”
Fowler nodded a vaguely polite greeting, struggling to assume the correct stance toward an obvious servant girl (and therefore not an equal) and a female in distress (and therefore deserving of gentlemanly conduct, so long as her distress sprang from some morally acceptable exigency). Pierce made the situation clearer.
“Miss, ah, Lawson, has just had a most trying encounter,” Pierce said. “She is traveling to accompany her deceased brother, who is now situated in the van. But a few moments past, the bell rang, and there was hope of revival and the casket was opened—”
“I see, I see,” Fowler said, “most distressing—”
“—but it was a false alarm,” Pierce said.
“And thus doubly painful, I am certain,” Fowler said.
“I offered to accompany her on the journey,” Pierce laid.
“And indeed I should do the same,” Fowler said, “were I in your place. In fact…” He hesitated. “Would it seem an imposition if I joined you both?”
Pierce did not hesitate. “By all means,” he said cheerfully. “That is, unless Miss Lawson…”
“You are ever so kind, you two are,” the girl said, ;with a brave but grateful smile.
“Well, it’s settled, then,” Fowler said, also smiling. Pierce saw that he was looking at the girl with interest. “But would you like to come with me? My compartment is just a short way forward.” He pointed up the line of first-class coaches.
Pierce, of course, intended to sit in the last compartment of the final first-class coach. From there, he would have the shortest distance to travel, over the tops of the cars, to reach the luggage van at the rear.
“Actually,” Pierce said, “I’ve my own compartment down there.” He pointed toward the back of the train. “My bags are already there, and I’ve paid the porter, and so on.”
“My dear Edward,” Fowler said, “How did you get yourself way back there? The choice compartments are all toward the front, where the noise is minified. Come along: I assure you, you’ll find a forward compartment more to your liking, and particularly if Miss Lawson feels poorly….” He shrugged as if to suggest the conclusion was obvious.
“Nothing would delight me more,” Pierce said, “but in truth I have selected my compartment on the advice of my physician, after experiencing certain distress on railway journeys. This he has attributed to the effects of vibrations originating in the engine, and therefore he’s warned me to sit as far back from the source as possible.” Pierce gave a short laugh. “He said, in fact, that I should sit second class, but I cannot bring myself to it.”
“And little wonder,” Fowler said. “There is a limit to healthy living, though you cannot expect a physician to know it. My own once advised me to quit wine— can you imagine the temerity ? Very well, then, we shall all ride in your compartment.
Pierce said, “Perhaps Miss Lawson feels, as you do, that a forward carriage would be preferable.”
Before the girl could speak, Fowler said, “What? And steal her away from you, leaving you solitary upon the journey? I would not think of it. Come, come, the train will soon leave. Where is your compartment?”
They walked the length of the train to Pierces compartment. Fowler was in unshakable good spirits, and chattered at length about physicians and their foibles. They stepped into Pierce’s compartment and closed the door. Pierce glanced at his watch: it was six minutes to eight. The train did not always leave precisely on schedule, but even so, time was short.