One Friday afternoon she was sitting alone, waiting.The door opened and the maid announced Mrs.Purdie.Maggie remembered that she had been told that Mr.Alfred Purdie was the richest man in Skeaton, that he had recently married, and was but now returned from his honeymoon.
Mrs.Purdie entered and revealed herself as Caroline Smith.For a moment, as Maggie looked upon that magnificent figure, the room turned about her and her eyes were dim.She remembered, as though some one were reminding her from a long way off, that Caroline had once told her that she was considering the acceptance of a rich young man in Skeaton.
She remembered that at the time she had thought the coincidence of Caroline and Paul Trenchard strange.But far stronger than any such memory was the renewed conviction that she had that fate did not intend to leave her alone.She was not to keep the two worlds apart, she was not to be allowed to forget.
The sight of Caroline brought Martin before her so vividly that she could have cried out.Instead she stood there, quietly waiting, and showed no sign of any embarrassment.
Caroline was dressed in peach-coloured silk and a little black hat.
She was not confused in the least.She seized Maggie's hand and shook it, talking all the time.