She flung out of the room and flew upstairs.  Emmeline, angered by this unwarrantable treatment, determined to hold aloof, and let the girl do as she would.  Miss Derrick was of full age, and quite capable of taking care of herself, or at all events ought to be.  Perhaps this was the only possible issue of the difficulties in which they had all become involved; neither Louise nor her parents could be dealt with in the rational, peaceful way preferred by well-conditioned people.  To get her out of the house was the main point; if she chose to depart in a whirlwind, that was her own affair.  All but certainly she would go home, to-morrow if not to-day.

In less than a quarter of an hour her step sounded on the stairs—­would she turn into the dining-room, where Emmeline now sat at table?  No; straight through the hall, and out at the front door, which closed, however, quite softly behind her.  That she did not slam it seemed wonderful to Emmeline.  The girl was not wholly a savage.

Presently Mrs. Mumford went up to inspect the forsaken chamber.  Louise had packed all her things:  of course she must have tumbled them recklessly into the trunks.  Drawers were left open, as if to exhibit their emptiness, but in other respects the room looked tidy enough.  Neatness and order came by no means naturally to Miss Derrick, and Emmeline did not know what pains the girl had taken, ever since her arrival, to live in conformity with the habits of a ‘nice’ household.

Louise, meanwhile, had gone to the railway station, intending to take a ticket for Victoria.  But half an hour must elapse before the arrival of a train, and she walked about in an irresolute mood.  For one thing, she felt hungry; at Sutton her appetite had been keen, and meal-times were always welcome.  She entered the refreshment room, and with inward murmurs made a repast which reminded her of the excellent luncheon she might now have been enjoying.  All the time, she pondered her situation.  Ultimately, instead of booking for Victoria, she procured a ticket for Epsom Downs, and had not long to wait for the train.

It was a hot day at the end of June.  Wafts of breezy coolness passed now and then over the high open country, but did not suffice to combat the sun’s steady glare.  After walking half a mile or so, absorbed in thought, Louise suffered so much that she looked about for shadow.  Before her was the towering ugliness of the Grand Stand; this she had seen and admired when driving past it with her friends; it did not now attract her.  In another direction the Downs were edged with trees, and that way she turned.  All but overcome with heat and weariness, she at length found a shaded spot where her solitude seemed secure.  And, after seating herself, the first thing she did was to have a good cry.