midday
` Congestion of the lungs is serious . I do n't think Mrs. Frothingham will face it . There 'll probably be a telegram from her . ' But by midday the fierce wind and driving sleet had abated , though the outlook remained cheerless enough . After an early lunch , Alma set forth . Dora Leach joined her in the train , and thus they travelled , through sooty gloom , under or above ground , from the extreme north to the farthest south of London ; alighting at length with such a ringing of the ears , such an impression of roar and crash and shriek , as made the strangest prelude to a feast of music ever devised in the world 's history . Their seats having been taken in advance , they entered a few moments before the concert began , and found themselves amid a scanty audience ; on either side of them were vacant places .