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With its black nose and white flanks, and its black hood and the black wings of its splash-boards, it was some terrible and sinister and malignant monster of prey hunting down Viola. Its body had been built, its engines had been forged, to hunt down Viola. The infernal thing had been invented to hunt down Viola. Somewhere between Petworth and Fittleworth Kendal stopped to water his engine.
We now approach Fittleworth, another favourite place for anglers, whose rendezvous must be looked for nearly a mile away near the bridge and station. The Early English church, unrestored and interesting, has in the vestry a curious stone coffin lid with a Greek cross upon it.
He'd crawl home on his 'ands and knees first." He slipped into his seat and we dashed on. At Fittleworth, within a stone's-throw of the railway and the road, there is a patch of moor where the ground rises in a hillock. In July and August when the heather's out this hillock is a crimson landmark above the water meadows.
She is, however, seen entering his compartment at Selham. At Fittleworth she is seized with prudence and with panic. She is seen getting out on to the platform. And she is seen two hours later following the Captain up to London by the next train." She seemed to be considering it. "How many people," she said, "know that Charlie was in that train? People that matter I don't mean you and Norah."
The more she thought of it, Viola said, the more she liked it. And she rubbed it into me that it was Norah's solution, and not mine. Her last words to me as I saw them off at Fittleworth Station were that I needn't worry. It was going to rain. And when poor Jimmy saw his car come in all splashed with rain and covered with mud "It won't be me," she said, "you'll have to explain about."
It was getting a bit stuffy for her down here. Then he fixed me with "Did Thesiger go up with her?" There was no good trying to lie to Jevons, so I said that had been Thesiger's idea, but Viola hadn't cared much about having him, for she had got out at Fittleworth and taken Norah on with her. "I suppose the young ass tried to make love to her. He's fool enough for anything," said Jimmy.
Then Norah said, "What happened?" It had dawned on us both how odd it was that Viola should be here, apparently alone, at Fittleworth. It was also odd how we were all ignoring Charlie. I believe I had a sort of idea that she had got him hidden somewhere in the landscape. Viola smiled a reminiscent smile.
He was a friend of mine, and he used to tell me how thankful he was to get through his solo without breaking down, or, as he preferred to put it, "without making an utter ass of myself." I think that this special verse is no longer sung, as being too painful for all concerned. Whilst on the subject of bells, I may say that the late Canon Simpson of Fittleworth was a great friend of mine.
"Well, as you are here," she said, "I'd let you run me down to Horsham, if you want a run, only I can't very well use Jimmy's car." I think it was Norah who asked her what on earth she was doing at Fittleworth. "Can't you see," she said, "that I'm waiting for the next train?" "Did you walk here from Amershott, or what?" I said. She said, "Rather not. I was in the train."
And it wasn't. The storm came down just as we were leaving Fittleworth, and we brought that car back in an awful state. You wouldn't have known it had ever been a black-and-white car. He had caught the early train, but he had seen the storm coming and had walked up from Midhurst, and, as I say, he was waiting for us.
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