Vincent took no time to inquire further. In the impatience of his utter
weariness and wretchedness, he seized on this slight clue, and went off
at once to follow it out. London Bridge station!--what a world swarmed
in those streets through which the anxious minister took his way, far
too deeply absorbed in himself to think of the flood of souls that
poured past him. The station was in wild bustle and commotion; a train
just on the eve of starting, and late passengers dashing towards it with
nervous speed. Vincent followed the tide instinctively, and stood aside
to watch the long line of carriages set in motion. He was not thinking
of what he saw; his whole mind was set upon the inquiry, which, as soon
as that object of universal interest was gone, he could set on foot
among the officials who were clanging the doors, and uttering all the
final shrieks of departure. Now the tedious line glides into gradual
motion. Good Heaven! what was that? the flash of a match, a sudden gleam
upon vacant cushions, the profile of a face, high-featured, with the
thin light locks and shadowy mustache he knew so well, standing out for
a moment in aquiline distinctness against the moving space. Vincent
rushed forward with a hoarse shout, which scared the crowd around him.
He threw himself upon the moving train with a desperate attempt to seize
and stop it; but only to be himself seized by the frantic attendants,
who caught him with a dozen hands. The travellers in the later carriages
were startled by the commotion. Some of them rose and looked out with
surprised looks; he saw them all as they glided past, though the passage
was instantaneous. Saw them all! Yes; who was that, last of all, at the
narrow window of a second-class carriage, who looked out with no
surprise, but with a horrible composure in her white face, and
recognised him with a look which chilled him to stone. He stood passive
in the hands of the men, who had been struggling to hold him, after he
encountered those eyes; he shuddered with a sudden horror, which made
the crowd gather closer, believing him a maniac. Now it was gone into
the black night, into the chill space, carrying a hundred innocent souls
and light hearts, and among them deadly crime and vengeance--the doomed
man and his executioner. His very heart shuddered in his breast as he
made a faltering effort to explain himself, and get free from the crowd
which thought him mad. That sight quenched the curses on his own lips,
paled the fire in his heart. To see her dogging his steps, with her
dreadful relentless promise in her eyes, overwhelmed Vincent, who a
moment before had thrilled with all the rage of a man upon whom this
villain had brought the direst shame and calamity. He could have dashed
him under those wheels, plunged him into any mad destruction, in the
first passionate whirl of his thoughts on seeing him again; but to see
Her behind following after--pale with her horrible composure, a
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