noon
Those agitating thoughts had affected her too deeply . She walked away from the church up towards the park , hoping to find some quiet place where she might walk down the disturbance in her mind , so as to return with a calm smiling face to her darling . It was not a tempting day for any purposeless pedestrian . The sky had darkened at noon , and there was a drizzling rain coming down from the dull gray heavens . The streets cleared quickly now the services were over ; but Clarissa went on , scarcely conscious of the rain , and utterly indifferent to any inconvenience it might cause her . She was in the wide open place near the park , when she heard footsteps following her , rapidly , and with a purpose , as it seemed . Some women have a kind of instinct about these things .