Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/233

 an’ see her where she’s lodging,—see, I’ve got the address wrote down here,—but I should do more harm than good; she’d never pay any heed to me at the best of times, an’ it isn’t likely she would now.”

“Look here! If she’s made no attempt to hide away, you may be quite sure there’s no truth in what Mrs. Tubbs says. They’ve quarrelled, and of course the woman makes Clara as black as she can. Tell her father everything as soon as he comes home; you’ve no choice.”

Mrs. Hewett averted her face in profound dejection. Sidney learnt at length what her desire had been in coming to him; she hoped he would see Clara and persuade her to return home.

“I dursn’t tell her father,” she kept repeating. “But perhaps it isn’t true what Mrs. Tubbs says. Do go an’ speak to her before it’s too late. Say we won’t ask her to come ’ome, if only she’ll let us know what she’s goin’ to do.”

In the end he promised to perform this