Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/144

 somewhat astonishing, but his character explained it.

"I'm goin' to marry her," he exclaimed excitedly, "and I'm doin' the right thing! I respect her more than all the women as never went wrong because they never had occasion to. I'm goin' to put her as a mother over my children, and I'm goin' to make a happier life for her. She's a good girl, I tell you. I've seen her nearly every day this fortnight; I know all about her. She wouldn't have me when I first asked her,—that was a week ago. She said no; she'd disgrace me. If you can't respect her as you would any other woman, never come into my lodging!"

Sidney was warm with generous glow. He wrung Hewett's hand and stammered incoherent words.

John took new lodgings in an obscure part of Clerkenwell, and seemed to have become a young man once more. His complaints ceased; the energy with which he went about his work was remarkable. He said his wife