568 ANGEL PAVEMENT

another, only brought her a pleasing sense of her o\vn
superiority. They were nothing to do with her; she was
not behaving like that; and so she looked on, amused,
contemptuous, failing to see in this spectacle of the
harassed and inexperienced travellers any symbol of
this life of ours.

There were two trains, and they had hoped to catch
the earlier one. It was now only a few minutes from the
time of starting. She returned to her former place,
nearer the clock, and looked about her anxiously. He
would get the tickets, of course, before he came on to the
main platform, so that there was still plenty of time
for them to catch the train if he appeared at all. There
seemed to be more and more people about, though
round her there was a small clear space. It was just
possible that he might have missed her. Only two
minutes now. She hurried over to the entrance to No. 17
platform and looked over the barrier down the waiting
train. Then she returned, even more hastily, to her
place near the clock. From there she heard the train
go out.

It was annoying. They would have more than three-
quarters of an hour to wait now. It was her turn to keep
him waiting. Very deliberately, she made her way to the
tea-room, which was not very full, though it looked
vaguely as if it had been xvrecked by a revolutionary
mob, and she spent ten minutes over a cup of tea and a
cigarette. She would have liked to have stayed longer,
but it is almost impossible to linger successfully with
only a sheet of glass between you and a host of trains
and passengers. She tried to loiter on her way back to
the four-faced clock and the bookstall, but an inner rest-
lessness prevented her, and she arrived there as if her