He had gone down to Apsley before this, many a
time. She knew that he had a lingering fondness for the place which
no amount of gluttony of Bohemianism could ever wipe out. But he had
never taken these precautions before. He had chanced his luck; if
he had found people there, then he had forced a retreat as soon as
possible. But now he was going out of his way--writing a letter, an
action foreign to the whole of his nature--to ensure that he should
be alone.
The circumstance--for circumstance there must be, just as there is
the puff of wind that drifts the wandering insect to the spider's
web--that brought the impression to her mind, was the brief report
of a cross-examination in the divorce courts, conducted by J.H.
Traill. She knew that in the last two years he had, in a desultory
way, been gleaning briefs from the great field where others reaped.
That had stood for little in her mind; for though she had always
realized that in temperament and intellect he would make an excellent
barrister, she had never believed that he would throw aside the
Bohemian side of his nature sufficiently to gain ambition. Now, in
this stray report, she beheld between the lines the successful man.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290