Inquiries, however, were at once commenced, and during the day a cabman
came forward and stated he had seen the lady leave the Grosvenor Hotel,
and had followed her, hoping for a fare. That she had stopped and
beckoned to him, and that when he had asked her where she had wished to
go, that she had answered: "To one of the bridges." That he had then
said, "To which bridge?" and she had replied, "Westminster."
When this was repeated to John Temple he grew ghastly pale, and
staggered back, but the police inspector tried to reassure him.
"No suicide had been known to have occurred from Westminster bridge
last night," he said, "and at the time the lady had been driven there
the bridge would be crowded, and, besides, the cabman had called the
attention of a policeman to her. This policeman had also been found,
and had made a statement. He said the cabman called his attention to a
lady who had just left his cab, and he therefore at once walked along
the bridge. He came on a gentleman speaking to a lady, who looked very
ill, and he asked the gentleman about her, but he made a satisfactory
answer, and they went away together, and he lost sight of them. The
policeman, however, had kept looking out during the time of his beat,
and as far as was known no tragedy had happened on the bridge."
With this cold comfort to his heart, John Temple was forced to be
content. He saw the cabman who had driven the lady to Westminster, and
from this man's description John believed it had been May.
"She had a lot of bright, light hair, all ruffled-like," the cabman
said, "and a pretty, pale face, and looked in great trouble, and had no
gloves on, but he noticed some rings."
The policeman on the bridge also gave rather a similar description
of the lady he had seen talking to the gentleman, whose arm she took
before they went away. But John Temple told himself, as he listened,
that it had not been the same. He went back to the hotel with a bowed
head and a remorseful, miserable heart. Went back to wait in vain for
news that never came.
And during the same day an incident occurred at Pembridge Terrace which
greatly upset both the kind ladies there. They had been struck with
John Temple's manner when he parted with them the night before, and
naturally thought it strange that May should leave home even for a few
days without bidding them good-by. And they were actually talking of
this; speculating in their mild, kindly way on the cause, and hoping
nothing had gone wrong with their young friends, when the servant came
upstairs, and having rapped at their bedroom door told them that a
gentleman was waiting in the dining-room to see them.
"A gentleman?" said Miss Webster, surprised. "Did you ask his name,
Jane?"
"Yes, ma'am, I did," replied Jane, "and I think he said Mr. Churchill,
but I'm not quite sure."
"Churchill?" repeated Miss Webster, and the two sisters looked at each
other in some consternation.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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