1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:07,240 A Christmas fog by John's Strange Winter One, I may as well say at 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:12,599 once that I, Miranda Cheap, am not a young girl. I have 3 00:00:12,679 --> 00:00:16,160 heard it said that when one sits down to tell a story, one ought 4 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:21,000 to take the public completely into one's confidence, and put the reader in the 5 00:00:21,039 --> 00:00:26,519 same category as one's lawyer, one's doctor, and one's banker. Well, 6 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,480 I have no doubt that the advice is excellently good, and therefore I will 7 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:37,039 say at once that I am not a young girl. I belong as yet 8 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,920 to the noble army of spinsters. And when my last parent died, leaving 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:48,039 me a modest but sufficient competence upon which to support myself, I did not 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,679 do what so many unmarried women seem to think the right thing, and go 11 00:00:51,799 --> 00:00:56,439 to live with one of my married sisters. But after leaving the large house 12 00:00:56,479 --> 00:01:00,439 in which my mother had lived and died, I took my share of the 13 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:04,359 furniture and settled myself down in the smallest flat that I could find in all 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:11,879 London. My sister Rose said that I was funny and independent. I agreed 15 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,599 with her that I was independent, but I could not see anything particularly funny 16 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:22,159 in my arrangements. My sister Maude, who had seven children under fourteen, 17 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,799 said she thought I was horribly selfish because I did not happen to have got 18 00:01:26,879 --> 00:01:32,159 married as my sisters had done. I had collared, yes, that was 19 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:37,319 the word she used. I had collared an extra three hundred pounds a year, 20 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,920 and now I went and lived by myself and gave nobody else the benefit 21 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,840 of it. Then Susie had her say. Now, Susie is a rich 22 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,680 woman. Money is no object to her, but she is always in trouble 23 00:01:51,719 --> 00:01:56,840 with her servants. And Susie wanted my mother's useful maid to go into her 24 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,879 household and help to look after the next generation. Now Barbara had been my 25 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,640 nurse before she was my mother's maid, and it had always been an understood 26 00:02:07,719 --> 00:02:12,000 thing between my mother and Barbara and myself that I was never to turn my 27 00:02:12,159 --> 00:02:15,520 back upon her. And if I had told her that she would have to 28 00:02:15,599 --> 00:02:20,039 leave me and go to live with missus Sargeant, that was Susie's married name, 29 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,840 I think poor Barbara would have broken her heart. But to tell you 30 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:28,960 the truth, I never thought of such a thing. Susie had a husband 31 00:02:29,039 --> 00:02:32,800 who could protect her. I hadn't anybody I was not able to afford to 32 00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:38,400 keep more servants than Barbara and a young cook, and naturally Barbara was, 33 00:02:38,599 --> 00:02:46,199 under these circumstances, absolutely essential to my well being. My sister in law, 34 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:51,759 missus Horace Cheap, also cast her eye upon Barbara, and another sister 35 00:02:51,879 --> 00:02:54,680 of hers, who was no earthly relation to us, even went so far 36 00:02:54,719 --> 00:02:58,840 as to offer her double the wages that I was able to give her, 37 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,199 if only she would go in and take charge of her nursery. However, 38 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:07,080 the family discussion came to an end at last, and Barbara and I took 39 00:03:07,159 --> 00:03:13,400 up our abode in our new home on the second floor of Rosemary Mansions. 40 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,400 Well, dear reader, this has not very much to do with my story, 41 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,960 and yet it is necessary that I should slightly sketch out the main lines 42 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:28,719 of my previous life. Somehow, it had always been an uneventful existence. 43 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,199 I think it is often so with the only one of a large family who 44 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:38,439 remains to the end in the parent nest. My sisters had all pared off 45 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:43,479 and had made new nests for themselves. I stayed behind to make my mother's 46 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,240 last days happy, partly because I had no wish to desert her, and 47 00:03:47,479 --> 00:03:53,439 partly to be quite frank, because I had never had any temptation to do 48 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,759 so. And yet I was quite as good looking as any of my sisters, 49 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:01,080 and I was certainly quite as a grief in myself, if not more 50 00:04:01,159 --> 00:04:05,280 so. But from the days when I was just out of my teens, 51 00:04:05,639 --> 00:04:11,159 it always seemed to be an understood thing in the Cheap family that Miranda was 52 00:04:11,199 --> 00:04:15,959 an unromantic person who would never have a love story or get married as all 53 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:21,160 the others had done. And so when the incident happened of which I am 54 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:26,800 about to tell you, I had got to the mature age of thirty four, 55 00:04:27,079 --> 00:04:30,959 and I had never had a lover in my life. My eldest sister, 56 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:36,120 Susie, had married very young and had three daughters who seemed all likely 57 00:04:36,199 --> 00:04:41,920 to follow in her footsteps. The eldest of the three, Dorian, was 58 00:04:41,959 --> 00:04:46,399 a tall, pretty lively girl of nearly eighteen. She was my godchild and 59 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,319 my favorite among all my nieces, and right merrily did she take advantage of 60 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:58,199 her position as such. Aunt Miranda. She would say to me, I 61 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,120 want you to take me in for a few days. My people are going 62 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,399 off to Bournemouth or some other place, and I have several engagements in town 63 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:12,680 that I don't want to miss. She never said if you can do with 64 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,160 me, and I never told her to wait until I invited her. And 65 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:21,160 I generally found that the engagements consisted of some arrangement with a young man, 66 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:25,279 and that I had to take her to a concert, or a theater, 67 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,360 or a dance, as the case might be. When the third or fourth 68 00:05:30,399 --> 00:05:33,839 young man of the kind was introduced to me, I asked Dorian seriously when 69 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:39,480 she was going to be married. Oh, I don't think, aunt Miranda, 70 00:05:39,879 --> 00:05:45,240 she replied promptly that I feel like marrying any of them. But my 71 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,000 dear, you really ought not to encourage these young men unless you mean to 72 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,959 marry one of them. It's not the proper thing to do at all. 73 00:05:54,519 --> 00:06:00,000 Does your mother know? Oh? Yes, mother knows, said Dorian cheerfully. 74 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,680 Mother says, if I marry under two or three thousand a year, 75 00:06:02,759 --> 00:06:06,839 I shall be a fool, and so I should. But one can have 76 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,920 little fun without thinking of marrying. I read her a little lecturette upon the 77 00:06:13,959 --> 00:06:18,480 mistaken policy of frittering away one's life. Well, Auntie, she said, 78 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:23,879 quite cheerfully, by all accounts, you have not fritted your life away, 79 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,319 and yet here you are left high and dry and as much alone in the 80 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:32,680 world as if you had not a single relation on all the earth. For 81 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:38,680 the first time in my life, I felt a hideous sense of loneliness creeping 82 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,839 over me. And for an hour, after the child had gone gaily off 83 00:06:42,879 --> 00:06:46,439 to a tea party at some house near by, I sat wondering what I 84 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:51,279 should feel like when another thirty four years had gone by and I should still 85 00:06:51,319 --> 00:06:58,199 be living in this flat or some other, quite by myself. It was 86 00:06:58,399 --> 00:07:02,199 just a week before Christmas. By some freaks, the Sergeant family had all 87 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,879 gone out of town, excepting Dore, who had flatly refused to be taken 88 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:13,000 away from several dances for which she had engaged herself from the first waltz to 89 00:07:13,079 --> 00:07:16,720 the very last. It is all the same to you, mother, was 90 00:07:16,759 --> 00:07:20,639 her argument, whether I go down to that dull old house in the country, 91 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:26,040 or whether I stay up in town with Aunt Miranda. I hate the 92 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:30,879 country, particularly in winter, and more particularly in a hired house in a 93 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:35,439 neighborhood where you hardly know a soul. It's a ghastly i dear mother, 94 00:07:35,879 --> 00:07:40,360 of which I am sure you will all bitterly repent ere. The time is 95 00:07:40,399 --> 00:07:45,959 at an end, So dear darling mother, do leave me with Aunt Miranda, 96 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,800 and we shall be two happy old maids eating our Christmas dinner together. 97 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:58,199 My sister Susy was always inclined to shift her burdens on to other people's shoulders, 98 00:07:58,839 --> 00:08:01,759 and although I don't mean to imply that Doreen was a burden, still 99 00:08:01,839 --> 00:08:07,560 she was one of SUSY's responsibilities. So when the family took their departure for 100 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:13,240 a rambling country house in one of the wildest parts of Yorkshire, Doreen, 101 00:08:13,439 --> 00:08:20,120 accompanied by several large dress baskets, came to me. I think it was 102 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,360 the fact of its being Christmas, as well as Dorian's remark, that first 103 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:31,480 made me realize how lonely, how very lonely, I had been. She 104 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,240 was such a good child, She was so sweet tempered and cheerful, and 105 00:08:35,279 --> 00:08:41,200 so popular with other young people, that she soon turned my quiet flat into 106 00:08:41,279 --> 00:08:45,039 as bright a corner of the world as you could well find in any part 107 00:08:45,159 --> 00:08:50,240 of London. Miss Dorrean makes a good deal of traffic, said Barbara to 108 00:08:50,279 --> 00:08:54,639 me, when Dorian had been with us about three days. Yes, Barbara, 109 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,679 I replied, but it is good for us. You and I are 110 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:05,399 too old things who want stirring up and rousing out of our selfish old maidism. 111 00:09:05,159 --> 00:09:09,639 Now, miss Miranda, said Barbara, there is not much of the 112 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:16,000 old maid about you. I sighed, I don't know, Barbara, I 113 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,879 said, I begin to feel very old and very much of a maiden lady. 114 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:28,039 It is not a pleasant feeling. I had then been living for several 115 00:09:28,159 --> 00:09:33,080 years at Rosemary Mansions. You know the particular block of flats, of course 116 00:09:33,159 --> 00:09:35,639 that I mean, But perhaps you don't know that they are built in a 117 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:41,320 very unusual form. There are four separate sets of flats in the one great 118 00:09:41,399 --> 00:09:48,000 square building. Each of the four sides has its entrance, its large hall, 119 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:52,360 its great door mats with salvae written upon them, its liveried porter, 120 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:58,840 and its convenient lift. And each hall goes right through to the courtyard at 121 00:09:58,879 --> 00:10:03,320 the back, so that from each one could communicate with any one of the 122 00:10:03,399 --> 00:10:07,879 other three sets of flats. Well, it happened one day just before Christmas, 123 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,879 the day before Christmas Eve, to be exact, that Dorian went to 124 00:10:11,919 --> 00:10:16,720 help some friends to deck a Christmas tree, which was to form one of 125 00:10:16,759 --> 00:10:20,639 the attractions at a party at which we were bidden for the following evening, 126 00:10:20,639 --> 00:10:24,639 the tree was to be followed by a dance with a cotillion, and I 127 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:30,480 understood from Dorian that the favors for the cotillion were to be something very unusual 128 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:35,360 and out of the common. As Dorian was fully occupied that afternoon, I 129 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:39,639 took the opportunity of going out to buy a present for her. She had 130 00:10:39,639 --> 00:10:43,279 been with me to buy the various presents that were necessary for me to send 131 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,000 to the other members of the family, but until that moment I had not 132 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:52,919 had an opportunity of buying for Dorian a certain article of jewelry which I knew 133 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:58,840 she was most anxious to possess. It was a horrid afternoon, stingingly cold, 134 00:11:00,039 --> 00:11:03,919 an inclination to fog. I took a cab as far as Oxford Street 135 00:11:05,039 --> 00:11:09,879 and there made my purchase. Then I passed Bouchards, and it occurred to 136 00:11:09,919 --> 00:11:13,279 me that I should be wise if I took home with me an extra cake 137 00:11:13,399 --> 00:11:20,159 or so, because although I had weeks before ordered my usual supply of Christmas 138 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:24,240 dainties, the advent of Dorian had made it more than likely that we should 139 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:30,399 find ourselves very badly off for nice things for afternoon tea. Not that Dorian 140 00:11:30,639 --> 00:11:33,320 ate so much. You know, I don't mean that. But Dorian had 141 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,799 such a train of young men, and Dorian had so many girlfriends, and 142 00:11:37,919 --> 00:11:41,879 young men and young girls do get through a good deal of plum cake and 143 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,080 such things when they congregate together, and so I thought it would be a 144 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:50,679 good thing if I stepped into Bouchards and bought some extra things which I could 145 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:56,279 carry home with me. I bought a three pound plum cake and a two 146 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:01,080 pound cherry cake and put them into the first hansom that I saw. Rosemary 147 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:07,919 Mansion's Westminster was the direction I gave the g Hu. I saw with dismay 148 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:11,639 that the fog was thickening visibly, and as we descended towards the Houses of 149 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:16,600 Parliament it had become almost impossible to distinguish the houses. As we passed, 150 00:12:18,799 --> 00:12:22,879 more than once we were blocked by the traffic, and my gi Hu made 151 00:12:22,879 --> 00:12:26,799 one or two horse remarks to me through the trap door that he was afraid 152 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,720 he would find Rosemary Mansions very difficult to get at. I told him cheerfully 153 00:12:31,799 --> 00:12:35,799 to do his best, that I would give him something extra. But I 154 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:41,039 cannot say that I felt very cheerful. Here was I a lone woman sitting 155 00:12:41,039 --> 00:12:45,879 in a cab in a neighborhood which I did not recognize, with a handsome 156 00:12:45,919 --> 00:12:48,759 piece of jewelry in my hand, a well filled purse in my pocket, 157 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:54,000 and two heavy cakes on the seat beside me. My driver made one or 158 00:12:54,000 --> 00:13:00,519 two inquiries and took some obviously wrong turnings. But at last he drew up 159 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,919 at the door of Rosemary Mansions, and I got out of the cab with 160 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:07,600 a sigh of relief. I gave him double fare, and he told me 161 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,759 that he would walk his horse right home and not attempt to earn another penny 162 00:13:11,799 --> 00:13:16,600 that night. You say, lardie, he said, it goes down your 163 00:13:16,639 --> 00:13:22,279 throat and down your horse's throat, so oh, my ghost straight. I 164 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:28,440 bade him good night and a merry Christmas. As I went up the steps, 165 00:13:28,639 --> 00:13:31,519 I looked up in order to make sure that I had arrived at my 166 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,679 own entrance. For as I said before, there were four entrances to Rosemary 167 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:41,639 Mansions, each one with the name plainly written above the portals and below the 168 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:46,480 name one of the first four letters of the alphabet. I lived in Rosemary 169 00:13:46,519 --> 00:13:52,000 Mansions A. The fog was, however, too thick for me to distinguish 170 00:13:52,039 --> 00:13:56,480 the letters. So I passed within, knowing that it would be perfectly easy 171 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,879 to find my own staircase from the porter's. Oh yes, this was my 172 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,679 own hall. I recognized the crimson carpets, the great door mats, the 173 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:11,240 porter's bench, and the dog lying before the fire, which blazed in a 174 00:14:11,279 --> 00:14:16,639 semi open grate. But there was no porter about, which was very unusual 175 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:20,039 at that hour. I supposed that dogg It, as our porter was called, 176 00:14:20,399 --> 00:14:24,159 had either gone upstairs with a message, or else down below to his 177 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:30,120 own apartment to get his tea. I looked into the porter's lodge to see 178 00:14:30,159 --> 00:14:33,320 if there were any letters for me, but a glance told me that there 179 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,240 was not a single letter in the rack. As I did not choose to 180 00:14:37,279 --> 00:14:41,519 disturb dogged at his tea, I quietly walked up the staircase without troubling to 181 00:14:41,559 --> 00:14:46,639 wait for the lift. Oh how horrid the fog was. It made one 182 00:14:46,679 --> 00:14:50,919 think kindly even of the rambling country house in the wilds of distant Yorkshire. 183 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,600 Indeed, it was so heavy and so thick that it had worked its way 184 00:14:56,679 --> 00:15:01,080 within doors, and the electric lights at various points of the stairs shone with 185 00:15:01,159 --> 00:15:05,000 a curious yellow radiance, and each had a sort of halo surrounding it. 186 00:15:07,039 --> 00:15:11,279 I reached my own door and rang the bell. Nobody came. I rang 187 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:16,679 again and again, but there was no response. How was it that everybody 188 00:15:16,759 --> 00:15:22,360 was out of the way this afternoon? I supposed Barbara had gone off buying 189 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:26,960 Christmas things. Then where was Jane? I felt impatiently in my pocket to 190 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:31,879 see if I had my key? I had. I opened the door with 191 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:39,679 a sigh of relief. How very extraordinary all was in darkness. I drew 192 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:41,799 the key out of the lock, shut the door behind me, and, 193 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,360 passing on through the inner door, which was of heavy ground glass, closed 194 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:52,039 it behind me. It shut with a little click. How odd I had 195 00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:56,919 never heard the door click like that before. I groped my hand along the 196 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:03,320 wall, feeling for the switches of the electric light. Why what had happened? 197 00:16:03,879 --> 00:16:07,200 There was no switch. I went back to the door, which now 198 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,120 was closed quite tightly. I could find no handle. So I went back 199 00:16:12,159 --> 00:16:17,919 again to feel for the switches of the electric light, but could not discover 200 00:16:18,039 --> 00:16:23,559 them. How extraordinary and how curious the effect of this yellow fog was. 201 00:16:25,279 --> 00:16:30,720 It made not only the streets, but my own house feels strange. Never 202 00:16:30,799 --> 00:16:33,639 mind, I should find a light in the dining room, probably a fire. 203 00:16:34,159 --> 00:16:38,480 Certainly there would be one in the kitchen. I turned towards the door 204 00:16:38,519 --> 00:16:41,960 of the dining room, which was the first on the left after the second 205 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:47,600 door of entrance, but I could not find any sign of an electric switch. 206 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:55,120 Then it dawned upon me that I had mistaken my block and my flat, 207 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,399 and here was I shut up in the dark in a flat belonging to 208 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:04,000 some known person. I groped my way back to the inner door of the 209 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:10,319 entrance. No, I could find no chase of a handle upon it. 210 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:15,839 I shook it, I knocked upon it, but with no result excepting that 211 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:22,079 I hurt my knuckles even through my thick winter gloves. At this point I 212 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,160 put my two heavy cakes, which I had still been carrying, down upon 213 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,119 the floor, and set myself to make a tour of the apartments. The 214 00:17:30,319 --> 00:17:36,599 entrance was evidently precisely of the same proportions as my own, and it was 215 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:41,519 furnished. I came in turn to an umbrella stand, one of those tall 216 00:17:41,599 --> 00:17:47,359 porcelain pipes which held several sticks and umbrellas, and to a carved hall bench, 217 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,440 then to a table. I dropped over a door mat and felt the 218 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:57,160 outlines of one or two pictures. Then I touched a brush and something that 219 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,319 felt in the dark like a fox head. It was certainly the staffed head 220 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:07,400 of some small animal. At last I reached the kitchen door, hoping to 221 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:12,440 find a fire there. No, all was dark. If only I had 222 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:18,000 had a light, the situation would not have been so bad. But although 223 00:18:18,039 --> 00:18:22,079 I groped about for at least ten minutes, I could not find a single 224 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,359 box of matches. At last I came to what was evidently the kitchen easy 225 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:32,319 chair, and in that I sat myself down, wondering what on earth I 226 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:37,640 should do next. I might try ringing the bells. So I started on 227 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:42,240 a tour round the kitchen, shinning myself violently several times. Ere I remembered 228 00:18:42,279 --> 00:18:47,759 that I should not find any bell pool there. Then I groped my way 229 00:18:47,799 --> 00:18:51,279 once more to the door which led to the corridor, and felt with my 230 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,640 hand along the wall for the door of the dining room. I knocked down 231 00:18:55,680 --> 00:19:00,359 a chair and I think a small table. Then I ran against the sideboard. 232 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,000 Crash. There was a sound of falling glass. Oh, dear, 233 00:19:06,599 --> 00:19:10,880 I had smashed something belonging to someone I did not know, and I had 234 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:15,599 cut myself. At last, however, I did find the little knob of 235 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,279 the electric bell, and had the satisfaction of hearing it tinkling away in the 236 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:25,000 kitchen, which I had just left. Ringing the bell was no good. 237 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:30,119 I went back to the door which led into the corridor. But mind you, 238 00:19:30,319 --> 00:19:33,039 when I say I went, I mean that I arrived there after a 239 00:19:33,079 --> 00:19:40,680 progress involving much need of patience and the receipt of many hard knocks. Then 240 00:19:40,839 --> 00:19:47,559 I nerved myself to speak, Is there anybody there? I said. I 241 00:19:47,599 --> 00:19:52,000 have a refined and ladylike voice, which my dear mother always used to say 242 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:56,799 was one of my greatest charms. It sounded so soft and inefficient as I 243 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:02,039 sat there in the darkness, and I to speak in a much louder and 244 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:08,000 more determined tone. Is anybody there? My voice echoed down the corridor, 245 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:15,440 but no answering voice came out of the darkness in reply. I then determined 246 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:19,240 to make a complete tour of the apartments. I explored the drawing room, 247 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:25,400 the dining room, the little study, the large bedroom, the spare bedroom, 248 00:20:25,599 --> 00:20:29,680 the kitchen, the bathroom, and the servant's bedroom all in turn, 249 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:34,000 and after the manner of the blind, I examined with my hands each chimney 250 00:20:34,039 --> 00:20:40,559 shelf in case I might come across one precious box of matches. But although 251 00:20:40,599 --> 00:20:45,680 I resolutely carried this idea into effect, I did not light upon a single 252 00:20:45,799 --> 00:20:52,000 one. And at this point I sat down and wept. It was the 253 00:20:52,079 --> 00:20:56,480 day before Christmas Eve. Perhaps the owner of the flat had gone away for 254 00:20:56,559 --> 00:21:00,880 the holidays. I could not get out of that front door. I had 255 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,079 nothing to eat, and there was nothing but water to drink. I had 256 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:07,440 already touched the tap in the kitchen, so that I knew I should not 257 00:21:07,519 --> 00:21:11,480 die of thirst. But I might be locked up in that flat for ten 258 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:17,039 days or more, and the only sustenance I knew of was tap water and 259 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:23,599 two bushard cakes. So I sat down and wept, wept piteously, until 260 00:21:23,599 --> 00:21:29,160 I suddenly became aware that I was chilled to the very marrow of my bones. 261 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:33,559 I wondered what they would do at home, What would Doren think? 262 00:21:33,799 --> 00:21:38,000 What would Barbara say? Would they go to the police, would they go 263 00:21:38,079 --> 00:21:42,319 the round of the hospitals. Would the cabman to whom I had given double 264 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,720 fare come and give evidence that he had driven such a lady as Dorean would 265 00:21:47,759 --> 00:21:53,799 describe to one of the entrances to Rosemary Mansions. I tried to console myself 266 00:21:53,839 --> 00:21:59,880 with the assurance that, after all, Rosemary Mansions was a highly respectable bill 267 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:06,519 where tenants were not accepted unless they gave the very highest of references, that 268 00:22:06,559 --> 00:22:10,839 nobody who came and found me there eventually would believe that a woman of my 269 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:15,880 position and means had come with any felonious intent. In the meantime, I 270 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,960 must make the best of a bad situation. I must resign myself to sitting 271 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,599 there in the dark and in the cold, and be thankful that I had 272 00:22:25,599 --> 00:22:30,559 bought those two cakes with a view of helping out Christmas. Little did I 273 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:36,200 think when I entered Bouchard's busy, attractive shop that they would probably prove themselves 274 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:42,079 a barrier between me and starvation. By this time, I was yearning for 275 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:48,079 my tea. If only I had been able to find a match, if 276 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,720 I had been able to find a gas ring or even some coals, I 277 00:22:51,799 --> 00:22:56,079 might have made myself a cup of tea French leave tea in this house in 278 00:22:56,119 --> 00:23:02,839 which I had unwittingly invited myself. However, that was evidently out of the 279 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:07,319 question, so I at last groped my way back to where I had left 280 00:23:07,319 --> 00:23:11,640 my Bouchard cakes. And then I groped my way back to the kitchen again, 281 00:23:11,319 --> 00:23:15,400 and there I groped about until I found a knife, for they always 282 00:23:15,519 --> 00:23:21,880 keep such things in the kitchen drawer. Having smelt it to make sure that 283 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:26,160 it had not been used for onions or soap, I wiped it carefully on 284 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,519 the inside of my skirt, and then ventured to cut myself a large piece 285 00:23:30,559 --> 00:23:34,720 of cake. I had not much difficulty in finding a cup, and after 286 00:23:34,759 --> 00:23:38,680 making sure that it was clean, I filled it from the tap. And 287 00:23:38,759 --> 00:23:44,880 there I sat in the dark, eating my rich cake and drinking my ice 288 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:51,039 cold water, which seemed to go down my pour inside like a frozen waterfall. 289 00:23:52,519 --> 00:23:55,519 All the same, I felt better when I had disposed of my wedge 290 00:23:55,519 --> 00:23:59,960 of cake, and I felt very grateful to Bouchard for occupying the precise city 291 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:06,880 in Oxford Street which had attracted my attention. Ours went by, at all 292 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,880 events, they seemed like ours to me, for I had sat myself down 293 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,400 to wait patiently till morning light should shed some ray of hope upon my desperate 294 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:21,319 situation. When morning came, I would write a note and throw it down 295 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:26,160 in the courtyard, or I would pick up a few inexpensive articles of crockery 296 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,839 and send them down smash, and so attract attention that way. I felt 297 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,960 that it would be useless to shout into this fog. It would be like 298 00:24:36,079 --> 00:24:38,839 calling down a coal mine. And to tell you the truth, I did 299 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:45,640 not like, in the darkness to open any of the windows. At last, 300 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:49,160 I began to get desperately sleepy, is he. I was not accustomed 301 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,240 to sitting in out of darkness, and as there is nothing so fatiguing to 302 00:24:53,319 --> 00:24:57,960 the eyes as staring into the night, I closed them in order to prevent 303 00:24:59,079 --> 00:25:03,960 myself from getting a bad attack of neuralgia. It was very uncomfortable in that 304 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:10,160 hard, straight up chair, which was evidently one of the windsor persuasion with 305 00:25:10,279 --> 00:25:15,920 a not very soft cushion tied onto the seat. Then an idea occurred to 306 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:21,680 me. The flat was empty, I mean that its occupants were evidently away. 307 00:25:22,599 --> 00:25:25,640 So I came to the conclusion that I might as well go and lie 308 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:29,799 down upon one of the beds I knew, which was the best bedroom. 309 00:25:30,079 --> 00:25:33,680 It was the same as my own, and I had good occasion to know 310 00:25:33,799 --> 00:25:36,960 that there was a big bed in it, for I had run against it 311 00:25:37,039 --> 00:25:42,319 with such force that I bruised myself severely. I therefore, after a last 312 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:47,960 drink of cold water, got up and with care, found my way to 313 00:25:48,039 --> 00:25:52,559 the best bedroom. The bed was a large and luxurious one, spread with 314 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:57,799 a satin covered Ida dwann. I happened to be wearing a sealskin coat which 315 00:25:57,839 --> 00:26:02,480 came down to my knee. It was a coat with a storm collar. 316 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:07,759 On my head. I had a toque of mink fur garnished with pink roses 317 00:26:07,799 --> 00:26:11,519 and some violets. I threw back the idodan quilt and got on to the 318 00:26:11,559 --> 00:26:18,119 bed, tucking myself well round with the soft satin cover. It was a 319 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,440 glorious bed, a delicious bed, a bed that must have been made purposely 320 00:26:22,519 --> 00:26:29,599 for some poor wanderer like myself. The pillows were soft, but not too 321 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,599 soft, not pappy, you know. And they were nice pillows, as 322 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:38,400 I could tell by the linen slips which covered them. There was embroidery at 323 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,839 the corners and a small frill with a lace edge or round. There were 324 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:48,440 much nicer pillows than my own, so I drew up my storm collar yet 325 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:53,960 a little higher, snuggled down under the coverlet, and in five minutes I 326 00:26:55,119 --> 00:27:03,000 was sound asleep. Two I do not know how long I had slept. 327 00:27:03,759 --> 00:27:07,079 You see, I had no means of knowing how the time had passed since 328 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,599 I was entrapped, I might almost say entombed in the strange dwelling of some 329 00:27:11,799 --> 00:27:17,920 person unknown to me. I seemed to have been asleep for many hours when 330 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:22,960 I suddenly awoke. I came to myself with a start, on realizing that 331 00:27:22,039 --> 00:27:26,359 I was not in my own bed. Just at first I thought I had 332 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:30,599 been awakened from my ordinary sleep, and that my bed was on fire. 333 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:37,519 But no, it was an electric light just over my head. I was 334 00:27:37,559 --> 00:27:41,480 not dreaming. Another light was shedding its brilliant rays over the dressing table, 335 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:47,839 just where my own light hung, and an asbestos fire was burning cheerily in 336 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:52,519 the grate. I had barely time to take all these things in and to 337 00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:57,559 locate the circumstances of my incarceration when I heard a voice which said, good 338 00:27:57,759 --> 00:28:03,279 Heavens. It was a man's voice, and my first instinct was to hold 339 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:07,960 the satin covered idodown still more closely round me. Oh, the dickens. 340 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:14,799 Are you, went on the voice, Sir, said I in quavering accents. 341 00:28:15,519 --> 00:28:18,759 Madam, what are you doing in my bed? Said the voice indignantly. 342 00:28:19,279 --> 00:28:25,799 I don't understand this. You must go away, please. I could 343 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:30,480 not get out, I cried piteously. No poor woman on earth could be 344 00:28:30,559 --> 00:28:33,759 less anxious to inflict herself upon you than I am. But I'm afraid I 345 00:28:33,839 --> 00:28:38,720 mistook your flat for my own. I dare say I look very funny, 346 00:28:40,039 --> 00:28:42,920 for I still had my satin toke with the pink roses and violets on my 347 00:28:44,039 --> 00:28:48,920 head, and my storm collar was pulled well up above my ears. I 348 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:52,039 live in one of these flats, I went on. I took a cab 349 00:28:52,079 --> 00:28:56,759 home from Bouchard's. Oh that's where the Bouchard cakes came from, is it? 350 00:28:57,079 --> 00:29:00,480 He said? I went into the kin to make myself a cup of 351 00:29:00,519 --> 00:29:04,319 coffee, as I always do, and found cakes there which I knew I 352 00:29:04,319 --> 00:29:10,519 had never supplied. Sir, what is the time, I asked? It 353 00:29:10,599 --> 00:29:14,720 is about three o'clock in the morning, Rather more, he replied, at 354 00:29:14,799 --> 00:29:18,279 least it was three when I left the offices of the Daily Trumpeter. Is 355 00:29:18,319 --> 00:29:22,160 there a fog? I demanded, Oh, nothing to speak of? Now, 356 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,039 did you say you lived in these flats? I do, Indeed I 357 00:29:26,119 --> 00:29:30,160 do. I live on the second floor of Block AD. When I came 358 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,200 home, the fog was so bad that I could not see the letter. 359 00:29:34,119 --> 00:29:40,559 Oh, three o'clock in the morning. What shall I do? What can 360 00:29:40,599 --> 00:29:45,200 I do? Well? The best thing you can do is to go home, 361 00:29:45,559 --> 00:29:48,400 he said. Sensibly, you must really forgive me, madam, for 362 00:29:48,519 --> 00:29:52,759 speaking as I did, But you must recognize that it was rather a standing 363 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:57,079 for a hard work journalist to come home and find pink roses and violets rolled 364 00:29:57,119 --> 00:30:02,319 up in his idol down. I am sure. I offer you ten thousand 365 00:30:02,359 --> 00:30:07,799 apologies for making so free with your belongings, I said, apologetically. But 366 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,519 it was so dark. Why didn't you turn up the lights? I would 367 00:30:11,559 --> 00:30:15,240 have done so, but I could not find the switches. I could not 368 00:30:15,359 --> 00:30:19,680 find any matches, and as I am not a new woman and do not 369 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:25,440 smoke, I hadn't any with me. And I was so cold and so 370 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:30,119 miserable, sitting in the darkness, wondering if my people had given orders to 371 00:30:30,200 --> 00:30:33,200 drag the river for me. Oh, yes, of course, there are 372 00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:38,079 your people to consider, he remarked. Will you excuse my asking you a 373 00:30:38,119 --> 00:30:42,720 plain question. Are you a married lady? No, I am not, 374 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,200 I replied. I live in these mansions, as I told you, in 375 00:30:48,359 --> 00:30:53,119 number eight block, on the second floor. My name is Cheap. Oh 376 00:30:53,279 --> 00:30:59,000 didn't Herbert Sergeant marry a miss Cheap. Yes, yes, she's my sister, 377 00:30:59,279 --> 00:31:03,279 I said eager and Dorian, her eldest child is staying with me. 378 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:08,400 Now she must be frightened out of her wits. Well between you and me, 379 00:31:08,559 --> 00:31:12,079 mischief, I think it would take a good deal to frighten miss Dorean. 380 00:31:12,839 --> 00:31:17,200 But that is neither here nor there. You must be got home, 381 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,559 and you must be got out of this little affair with as little noise as 382 00:31:19,599 --> 00:31:23,519 possible. Look here, I'll leave you for a few minutes to put your 383 00:31:23,559 --> 00:31:27,960 hat straight and so on, while I go down and reconnoiter. Why didn't 384 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:33,640 you think of the tradesman's entrance? I did. It was locked. Everything's 385 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:38,920 locked, I said, in a tragic voice. That's because the old woman 386 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,799 who looks after me and gets my breakfast takes the keita let herself in with, 387 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,920 and the handle is off the inner door. That's why you could not 388 00:31:48,079 --> 00:31:52,359 get out there. I expect it rolled down when you let it slip too 389 00:31:52,119 --> 00:31:56,400 you had better leave your cakes behind you. You'll have to tell your people 390 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:00,000 that you got lost in the fog, and nobody will believe that you hung 391 00:32:00,039 --> 00:32:05,680 on to those two heavy cakes all the time. Now look here, mischief, 392 00:32:06,119 --> 00:32:10,400 I'm Barkley of the Daily Trumpeter, Raymond Barkley. We've got to tell 393 00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:15,839 the same story. You got lost in the fog, and I picked you 394 00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:21,359 up and convoyed you home safe. Now I sat clear. Oh, yes, 395 00:32:21,519 --> 00:32:24,920 thank you, quite quite clear. I won't be two minutes. Putting 396 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:30,200 my hair straight, all right, he said, and picking up his fur 397 00:32:30,279 --> 00:32:35,240 lined coat, he went out, shutting the door noiselessly after him. I 398 00:32:35,319 --> 00:32:39,559 put my hair straight with trembling fingers and pinned on my smart flower decked toke. 399 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:45,559 I made myself look as decent as I could. My handkerchief I had 400 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,440 left on the bed. But what did I do with my gloves? I 401 00:32:49,519 --> 00:32:52,640 went to the door and opened it. Mister Barkley, I must have my 402 00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:57,039 gloves. What did I do with them? Can I have left them in 403 00:32:57,079 --> 00:33:00,519 the kitchen? Yes? I did see a pair of ladies gloves in there, 404 00:33:00,759 --> 00:33:05,119 he said, with a laugh. I thought my old woman had bloomed 405 00:33:05,119 --> 00:33:08,400 out that way. Now keep close behind me. When you go downstairs, 406 00:33:08,759 --> 00:33:13,519 I have been down once. All is as quiet as the grave. And 407 00:33:13,599 --> 00:33:16,519 if we can get out of this building and round your own entrance without anyone 408 00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:20,279 seeing us, no one will know that you have been here at all. 409 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,799 If we should chance to meet anyone, shrink back, get out of sight. 410 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:30,640 Don't let them see you. We must dissemble. There was no more 411 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:36,240 light on the staircase than the gleam from the electric lamp which burned all night 412 00:33:36,279 --> 00:33:40,359 in the central hall. We descended the stairs like a couple of thieves, 413 00:33:40,799 --> 00:33:47,279 he going first and I following at a respectful distance. My heart beat furiously 414 00:33:47,319 --> 00:33:52,559 as I reached the lower flight. A few more steps and I should be 415 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:57,519 safe. I should be out in the protective night, and nobody but Raymond 416 00:33:57,559 --> 00:34:01,079 Berkeley would be any the wiser as to the exact locality in which I had 417 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:07,960 lost myself. Fortune favored me. Not a soul came on the scene, 418 00:34:07,159 --> 00:34:13,800 and we gained the outer door in safety. It's all right, he said, 419 00:34:14,119 --> 00:34:17,079 why you are trembling like a leaf? Here, take my arm. 420 00:34:17,599 --> 00:34:23,440 Remember your story, and I'll see you through it. I was hideously frightened. 421 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:28,440 So frightened was I that I quite forgot to thank him, but clung 422 00:34:28,519 --> 00:34:31,480 to his arm like grim death, and he piloted me, without further loss 423 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:37,039 of time, to my own entrance. Have you got your key, he 424 00:34:37,119 --> 00:34:40,559 asked? Oh, I have left it in your flat, I replied, 425 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:45,480 where, said he? Oh, how stupid of me. I don't know. 426 00:34:46,119 --> 00:34:50,079 I let myself in with it. I don't know what I did with 427 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:54,039 it after that. It doesn't matter. I'll go back for it. Even 428 00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:59,079 then, that angelic man didn't call me a fool, and I think he 429 00:34:59,159 --> 00:35:04,599 really would have been perfectly justified if he had. You had better stand here 430 00:35:04,639 --> 00:35:07,599 in the shade, he said, and wait for me. I won't be 431 00:35:07,679 --> 00:35:12,079 two minutes, all right, I returned. You are sure you'll not be 432 00:35:12,199 --> 00:35:15,880 frightened? No, no, I'm not a bit frightened. As a matter 433 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:20,800 of fact, my teeth were chattering, but not with that kind of fear, 434 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:24,679 as you can very well understand. In less than two minutes he returned. 435 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,960 Found it the very first thing, he said, triumphantly. I trod 436 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:36,000 on it just inside the front door. The rule of our flats was that 437 00:35:36,039 --> 00:35:39,239 each occupant had a ring given to him on taking possession of his apartment. 438 00:35:40,039 --> 00:35:45,559 Upon this ring were two keys. The past key of the outer entrance and 439 00:35:45,599 --> 00:35:50,639 the latch key of the flat. I don't know, said mister Berklay in 440 00:35:50,679 --> 00:35:54,000 an undertone, as we stole towards the stairs. How it comes that your 441 00:35:54,079 --> 00:36:00,159 key unlocks my door? There is something wrong about that. I shall make 442 00:36:00,159 --> 00:36:04,320 a fuss about it to morrow. Oh don't, it'll give me away if 443 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,559 you do, I cried, Oh sir, it would. Then I must 444 00:36:07,599 --> 00:36:13,880 be mum. Remember your story. I picked you up on my way home 445 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:17,239 from the Daily Trumpeter. Yes, yes, I replied, I will not 446 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:22,679 forget. I knocked lightly at my own door. There was a sound of 447 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:30,079 voices within, and Dorring came rushing out. Oh, Auntie, she cried. 448 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:34,800 We've been nearly frantic about you, and you're with mister Berkley. How 449 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:39,079 funny. I don't know about its being funny, said mister Berkeley. It 450 00:36:39,159 --> 00:36:43,480 might have been funny if she had not been with me. Owing to the 451 00:36:43,639 --> 00:36:47,079 terrible fog, I found your aunt hopelessly lost. She put herself in my 452 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:52,000 care, and I have convoyed her safely here. She is very cold and 453 00:36:52,199 --> 00:36:57,559 very tired, so don't ask her any questions, but give her something hot 454 00:36:57,599 --> 00:37:01,320 to drink and put her to bed. But you will come in, won't 455 00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:07,000 you, I said faintly. I wanted to have a good cry, a 456 00:37:07,119 --> 00:37:12,159 real good cry. Not to night, Not to night, he said cheerily. 457 00:37:12,559 --> 00:37:16,239 Bed is the best place for wandering ladies and tired out journalists. I 458 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:21,760 will come in to morrow, fancy, if you're any the worse. He 459 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:25,760 did call the next day, and on Christmas Day he sent me the loveliest 460 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:31,280 poesy that I ever saw in my life, France roses and double violets, 461 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:37,239 done up in a basket, lined with pink satin, edged with a border 462 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:43,480 of mink fur. Why, Auntie, said Doren, It's just like your 463 00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:50,360 toke. It's the quaintest fancy I've ever seen. I felt myself blushing and 464 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,400 found it very convenient to hide my face in the flowers. But I didn't 465 00:37:54,440 --> 00:38:00,920 tell Dorin the meaning of that quaint conceit. It was a little secret which 466 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:07,159 I kept to myself. I cannot think, said Dorry that afternoon, when 467 00:38:07,199 --> 00:38:09,239 mister Berkeley had come in again, just to see if I was any the 468 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:15,280 worse. You know, I cannot think how Auntie managed to lose herself for 469 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:21,280 so long, because there was not much fog after about eight o'clock. Mister 470 00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:27,159 Berkeley avoided the question. I suppose you were dreadfully frightened and upset and thought 471 00:38:27,159 --> 00:38:30,599 there had been an accident, said he. Oh, yes, we thought 472 00:38:30,599 --> 00:38:36,239 of all sorts of things. We thought of an accident first, so we 473 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,039 took a cab and went to ether so many hospitals, Barbara and I. 474 00:38:39,920 --> 00:38:44,199 Then the fog began to lift, and we wonted if we ought to go 475 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:47,639 to the police, And yet seemed so funny to mix Aunty up with the 476 00:38:47,639 --> 00:38:53,119 police station. I put up my hand and laid it on hers. I 477 00:38:53,159 --> 00:38:57,960 am so glad you did not go to the police, dear child, I 478 00:38:58,039 --> 00:39:01,119 said, because although I got lost, I got home safe after all, 479 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:06,599 thanks to mister Berkeley. And I would rather you did not tell any one 480 00:39:06,599 --> 00:39:09,360 about it, Dorin, because it sounds so odd for a woman of my 481 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:15,360 age to own that she got lost in London, poor Auntie, said Dorin. 482 00:39:16,079 --> 00:39:22,159 Well, it might have been worse, said mister Berkeley. And as 483 00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:25,639 I am going to be married to Raymond Berkeley in about six weeks time, 484 00:39:27,519 --> 00:39:35,719 I quite agree with him. End of a Christmas Fog by John's Strange Winter