Elfride thought otherwise, so far as she thought at
all. But her own great To-Morrow was now imminent; all thoughts
inspired by casual sights of the eye were only allowed to exercise
themselves in inferior corners of her brain, previously to being
banished altogether.
Elfride was at length compelled to reason practically upon her
undertaking. All her definite perceptions thereon, when the
emotion accompanying them was abstracted, amounted to no more than
these:
'Say an hour and three-quarters to ride to St. Launce's.
'Say half an hour at the Falcon to change my dress.
'Say two hours waiting for some train and getting to Plymouth.
'Say an hour to spare before twelve o'clock.
'Total time from leaving Endelstow till twelve o'clock, five
hours.
'Therefore I shall have to start at seven.'
No surprise or sense of unwontedness entered the minds of the
servants at her early ride. The monotony of life we associate
with people of small incomes in districts out of the sound of the
railway whistle, has one exception, which puts into shade the
experience of dwellers about the great centres of population--that
is, in travelling. Every journey there is more or less an
adventure; adventurous hours are necessarily chosen for the most
commonplace outing. Miss Elfride had to leave early--that was
all.
Elfride never went out on horseback but she brought home
something--something found, or something bought.
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