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"I should come," he said deliberately, "whether you wanted me to come or not." Followed a brief pause, charged with a curious emotional tensity. Then Mallory remarked lightly: "I enjoyed the Charity Concert at Exeter." "Were you there?" exclaimed Nan in surprise. "Certainly I was there. When I was as near as Abbencombe, you don't suppose I was going to miss the chance of hearing you play, do you?"
There was no later train to Abbencombe that day! Rather shaken by the misadventures of the journey, she felt as though she could have screamed at the placidly good-natured porter: "But there must be! There must be another train!" Instead, she turned hopelessly away from him, and found herself face to face with Peter Mallory. "In trouble again?" he asked, catching sight of her face.
In due course they arrived at Abbencombe, and the car purred up to the station, where the Chattertons' limousine, sent to meet Nan, still waited for her. The transit from one car to the other was quickly effected, and Peter Mallory stood bareheaded at the door of the limousine. "Good-bye," he said. "And thank you, little pal. I hope you'll never find your moon out of reach."
She had learned not to cry for the moon any longer. She wanted nothing now either in this world or the next except the love that was denied her. Her thoughts went back to the day when she and Peter had first met and driven together through the twilit countryside to Abbencombe.
To make sure, we could telephone from here to the Abbencombe station-master, asking him to tell your man to wait for you as you're coming on by motor." "Oh " Nan almost gasped at his quick masculine grip of the situation. Before she had time to make any answer he had gone off to see about telephoning.
I'm stranded." He pondered a moment. "So am I. I must get on to Abbencombe, though, and I propose to hire a car and drive there. Will you let me give you a lift? Probably your chauffeur will still be at the Station. The side-line train is a very slow one and stops at every little wayside place on the way.
The guard shook his head discouragingly. "Well, it'll take a bit of time, miss. Whoever did, the job did it thoroughly, and even when we get clear we'll have to go slow and keep a sharp look-out." "Then I shall miss my connection at Exeter on to Abbencombe by the South-Western?" "I'm afraid you will, miss." Her face fell.
It was some little time before he returned, but when he finally reappeared, his face wore an expression of humorous satisfaction. "I've fixed it all," he said. "Your car has just arrived at Abbencombe and the chauffeur told to wait there. I've got hold of another one here for our journey. Now let me put you into it and then I'll see about your luggage."
It was over half-an-hour before the obstruction on the line was removed and the train enabled to steam ahead once more. Nan, strung up by the realisation of how close she had been to probable death, found herself unable to continue reading and gazed out of the window, wondering in a desultory fashion how long she would have to wait at St. David's before the next train ran to Abbencombe.
But she was pleased, nevertheless, that neither their unconventional introduction, nor the fact that he had rendered her a service, had tempted him into assuming he might travel with her. It showed a rarely sensitive perception. "I suppose you've missed your connection?" he pursued. "Yes. That's just it. The last train to Abbencombe has gone, and my friends' car was to meet me there.
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