at, instead of joining with the newcomers, the first man,
who would have kept the place to himself before their entrance, seemed
willing to aid me against the others. They being once foisted upon him,
he appeared to wish for my presence too, or else he merely desired to
prevent me from being dashed onto the platform and perhaps killed, for
he thrust out a hand and tried to pull me in.

At the same time a guard came along, protesting against the unseemly
struggle, and the carriage door was slammed shut upon us all four.

When I got my balance, and was able to look out, the train had gone so
far that Diana and Lisa had been swept away from my sight. It was like a
bad omen; and the fear was cold upon me that I had lost my love for
ever.

At that moment I suffered so atrociously that if it had not been too
late, I fear I should have sacrificed Maxine and the Foreign Secretary
and even the _Entente Cordiale_ (provided he had not been exaggerating)
for Di's sake, and love's sake. But there was no going back now, even if
I would. The train was already travelling almost at full speed, and
there was nothing to do but resign myself to the inevitable, and hope
for the best. Someone, it was clear, had tried to work mischief between
Diana and me, and there were only too many chances that he had
succeeded. Could it be Bob West, I asked myself, as I half-dazedly
looked for a place to sit down among the litter of small luggage with
which the first occupant of the carriage had strewn every seat. I knew
that Bob was as much in love with Di as a man of his rather
unintellectual, unimaginative type could be, and he hadn't shown himself
as friendly lately to me as he once had: still, I didn't think he was
the sort of fellow to trip up a rival in the race by a trick, even if he
could possibly have found out that I was going to Paris this morning.

"Won't you sit here, sir?" a voice broke into my thoughts, and I saw
that the little man had cleared a place for me next his own, which was
in a corner facing the engine. Thanking him absent-mindedly, I sat down,
and began to observe my travelling companions for the first time.

So far, their faces had been mere blurs for me: but now it struck me
that all three were rather peculiar; that is, peculiar when seen in a
first-class carriage.

The man who had reserved the compartment for himself, and who had
removed a bundle of golf sticks from the seat to make room for me, did
not look like a typi