Chapter 20
The journey down to Ashwood the next day proved a long and wearisome one, necessitating as it did several changes—they had to first go into London, and then come back out again, there being no more direct route available. They’d said their good-byes to Matthew’s family the previous evening, and set off by the first train in the morning, taking most of their gear with them. Dinner jackets and the like had been left at the rectory for collection at a later date.
Matthew, at first his usual, cheerful self albeit with dark circles under his eyes, talked of everything under the sun—Christmas, his family, plans for the New Year. But as their train approached London, he became more subdued, and by the time they’d caught the Ashwood train by the skin of their teeth, he wasn’t talking
