To talk to
the girl or learn her wishes was not possible, among the moans and
cries caused by the motion; and it was no small relief to be safely
at the Infirmary door, though there was no release till after a
fierce altercation with the driver, who first denied, and then
laughed to scorn the ample fare he had received, so that had any
policeman been at hand, the porter and house surgeon would have
given him in charge, but they could only take his number and let him
drive off in a fury.
Poor Fanny was carried away fainting to the accident ward, and
Rosamond found it would be so long before she would be visible
again, that it would be wiser to go home and send in her relations,
but there was not a fly or cab left in Wil'sbro', and there was
nothing for it but to walk.
She found herself a good deal shaken, and walked fast because thus
her limbs did not tremble so much, while the glaring September
afternoon made her miss the parasol she had left in the carriage,
and find little comfort in the shadeless erection on her head. It
was much further than she had walked for a long time past, and she
had begun to think she had parted with a good deal of her strength
before the Compton woods grew more defined, or the church tower came
any nearer.
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