Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/236

 Their eyes met, and Sidney felt how little fitted he was to reason with the girl, even would she consent to hear him. His mood was the wrong one; the torrid sunshine seemed to kindle an evil fire in him, and with difficulty he kept back words of angry unreason; he even—strangest of inconsistencies—experienced a kind of brutal pleasure in her obvious misery. Already she was reaping the fruit of obstinate folly, Clara read what his eyes expressed; she trembled with responsive hostility.

“No, it doesn’t concern me,” Sidney replied, half turning away. “But it’s perhaps as well you should know that Mrs. Tubbs is doing her best to take away your good name. However little we are to each other, it’s my duty to tell you that, and put you on your guard. I hope your father mayn’t hear these stories before you have spoken to him yourself.”

Clara listened with a contemptuous smile.

“What has she been saying?”

“I shan’t repeat it.”