Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/159

 what it behoved him to tell, what to withhold. Daily experience guarded him against the habit of gossip, which is one of the innumerable curses of the uneducated (whether poor or wealthy), and, notwithstanding the sympathy with which his visitor inspired him, he quickly decided to maintain reserve until he understood more of the situation.

"Yes, yes, I'll go with you at once," he made haste to reply, when he perceived that his hesitancy was occasioning doubt and trouble. "In fact, I was just starting to go and see the Hewetts when you knocked at the door. They're friends of mine,—living in Mrs. Peckover's house. That's how I came to know Jane. I haven't been there for several days, and when I last saw her, as I was saying, she seemed as well as usual."

"I'm afraid that wasn't much to boast of," said Snowdon. "She's a poor, thin-looking child."

Sidney was conscious that the old man did not give expression to all he thought. This mutual exercise of tact seemed, however, to