Disturbed and singularly annoyed, Hallam drew back and sat down in the corner seat. The people whose tardy arrival had delayed the start by a couple of minutes were the Garfields. He had recognised them instantly; he believed that they had seen and recognised him. He felt oddly irritated. Had his flight been a criminal proceeding and the secrecy of his movements imperative, he could not have been more discomposed by the knowledge that these people, who were friends of his wife and with whom he was acquainted, were in the next compartment to his. He would probably encounter them later, almost certainly they would meet in the restaurant-car. They would regard it in the light of a social obligation to inquire for his wife. Mrs Garfield had already called both at the house and at the nursing-home for news of Esme. He had not seen her; he shrank from the thought of seeing her; but he knew that he would be compelled to face her sooner or later. She was one of the few people whose persistent friendship for his wife refused to be dismayed by an absence of response. She understood Esme's difficulties, and sympathised with and admired her tremendously. The news of the accident, which no one associated with Hallam, had genuinely distressed her. If by her presence she could have been of service during Esme's illness she would have put off her journey to the Falls; but her visit to the nursing-home had convinced her that Esme was not in a condition to need any one; she might be of some use later during the period of convalescence. Her surprise at seeing Hallam on the train was great. That he should be leaving Cape Town then occurred to her as little short of amazing. While her husband was engaged in stowing their baggage away on the racks she asked him if he had noticed who was in the next compartment to theirs. Apparently he had. He looked down at her and nodded. "Odd chap?" he said. "Most men would prefer to remain on the spot, even if their presence wasn't actually needed." "The journey may be a matter of necessity," she said. "It may be, of course." He lifted the last bag up to the rack and sat down opposite to her and unrolled a bundle of papers. "We ran it rather fine, old girl. The next time I take you on a holiday I hope you'll get forrader with your preparations." "You old Adam, you!" she said, smiling, and leaned forward to pat his knee. And the man in the next compartment sat and smoked and meditated gloomily, while the train ran on through fertile grass-veld towards the mountains and the sterile plain which lay beyond them.