As they stepped off the path, the gaslights went out.
They pressed forward in the dark. Now there was a continuous clamor of men shouting and women screaming, punctuated by police whistles. It suddenly occurred to Hugh that he might be arrested. Then everyone would find out what he had been up to. Augusta would say he was too dissolute to be given a responsible post at the bank. He groaned. Then he recalled how it had felt to touch Maisie's breasts, and he decided he did not care what Augusta said.
They kept away from paths and open spaces, and picked their way through trees and shrubbery. The ground rose slightly from the riverbank, so Hugh knew they were headed the right way as long as they were going uphill.
In the distance he saw lanterns twinkling, and steered toward the lights. They began to meet up with other couples going the same way. Hugh hoped there would be less chance of trouble with the police if they were in a group of obviously respectable and sober people.
As they approached the gate a troop of thirty or forty policemen entered. Fighting to get into the park against the flow of the crowd, the police started indiscriminately clubbing men and women. The crowd turned and began to run in the opposite direction.
Hugh thought fast. "Let me carry you," he said to Maisie.
She looked puzzled but said: "All right."
He stooped and picked her up, with one arm under her knees and the other around her shoulders. "Pretend you've fainted," he said, and she closed her eyes and went limp. He walked forward, against the press of the crowd, shouting: "Make way, there! Make way!" in his most authoritative voice. Seeing an apparently sick woman, even the fleeing people tried to get out of the way. He came up against the advancing policemen, who were as panicky as the public. "Stand aside, constable! Let the lady through!" he shouted at one of them. The man looked hostile and for a moment he thought his bluff would be called. Then a sergeant shouted: "Let the gentleman pass!" He advanced through the line of police and suddenly found himself in the clear.
Maisie opened her eyes and he smiled at her. He liked holding her this way and he was in no hurry to lay down his burden. "Are you all right?"
She nodded. She seemed tearful. "Put me down."
He put her down gently and hugged her. "I say, don't cry," he said. "It's all over now."
