Thus armed and equipped, Neil waited until a whiz and a shriek outside
told him the train from Chester was in, and, going out, he stood at the
gate when Bessie came through, accompanied by Mrs. Goodnough, who
carried her bag and waterproof, and who courtesied very low to Neil.
Never had the latter seen Bessie look as lovely, as she did to him then
in her simple traveling-dress of black, which brought out so clearly the
dazzling purity of her complexion, and seemed to intensify the deep blue
of her large, sad eyes.
"Oh, Bessie!" he exclaimed, taking her hand and putting it under his
arm, "how can I let you go? Where is Mrs. Goodnough? and who is this
woman bobbing up and down and staring so at me?"
Neil had a great contempt for people like Mrs. Goodnough, and when
Bessie said to him, in a low tone, "It is my _compagnon du voyage_. She
is rough-looking, but kind and good. I wish you would speak to her," he
answered, quickly:
"That woman! You going out with her! Why, she looks like a fish-woman!
She is only fit to be a steerage passenger!"
"She is a steerage passenger, and I am steerage, too," Bessie said, very
quietly, while Neil dropped her hand as if it had burned him.
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