Chapter 2 - Page 2

but this was not the country, the silent green woods and fields she had
come so far to seek, and in spite of weariness she trudged determinedly
on.

At first the day had promised to be fine; now a change came over it, the
sky was overcast with grey clouds, and a keen wind from the north-west
blew in her face and made her shiver with cold. Many times during that
long walk she drew up beside some gate or wooden fence, and leaned
against it, feeling almost too tired and dispirited to proceed further;
but she could not sit down there to rest, for people were constantly
passing in traps, carts and carriages, and on foot, and not one passed
without looking hard at her; and by-and-by, overcoming her weakness, she
would trudge on again, all the time wishing herself back in the miserable
room in Moon Street once more.

At last she got beyond the builders' zone, into the country; from an
elevated piece of ground over which the road passed she was able to see
the prospect for miles ahead, and the sight made her heart sink within
her. The few trees visible were bare of foliage, and the fields, shut
within their brown ragged hedges, were mostly ploughed and black, and the
green fields were as level as the ploughed, and there was no shelter from
the cold wind, no sunshine on the pale damp sward. It was in the middle
of October; the foliage and beauty of summer had long vanished; she had
seen the shed autumn leaves in Hyde Park many days ago, yet she had
walked all the weary distance from Moon Street, cheered with the thought
that in the country it would be different, that there would still be
sunshine and shadow there, and green trees and flowers. It was useless to
go on, and impossible in her weak exhausted condition to attempt to
return at once. The only thing left for her to do was to creep aside and
lie down under the shelter of some hedge, and get through the time in the
best way she could. Near the road, some distance ahead, there was a
narrow lane with a rough thorny hedge on either side, and thither she now
went in quest of a shelter of some kind from the rain which was beginning
to fall. The lane was on the east side of the road, and under the hedge
on one hand there was an old ditch overgrown with grass and weeds; here
Fan crouched down under a bush until the shower was over, then got out
and walked on again. Presently she discovered a gap in the hedge large
enough to admit her body, and after peering cautiously through and seeing
no person about, she got into the field. It was small, and the hedge all
round shut out the view on every side; nevertheless it was a relief to be
there, safe out of sight of all men for a little while. She walked on,
still keeping close to the hedge, until she came to a dwarf oak