Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. III, 1889.djvu/154

144 THE NETHER WORLD. his own wife’s had been. Must he abandon that solace? In any case he could bestow his money for charitable purposes, but it would not be the same, it would not effect what he had aimed at.

Late in the afternoon he drew from the inner pocket of his coat a long envelope and took thence a folded paper. It was covered with clerkly writing, which he perused several times. At length he tore the paper slowly across the middle, again tore the fragments, and threw them on to the fire. . ..

Jane obeyed her grandfather’s word and went out for an hour. She wished for news of Pennyloaf, who had been ill, and was now very near the time of her confinement. At the door of the house in Merlin Place she was surprised to encounter Bob Hewett, who stood in a lounging attitude; he had never appeared to her so disreputable,—not that his clothes were worse than usual, but his face and hands were dirty, and the former was set in a hang-dog look.

“Is your wife upstairs, Mr. Hewett?” Jane asked, when he had nodded sullenly in reply to her greeting.