She was in the way.
He went on determinedly.

He realised more or less what his mother felt.
It only hardened his soul.

He made himself callous towards her; but it was like being callous to his own health.

It undermined him quickly; yet he persisted.
He lay back in the rocking-chair at Willey Farm one evening.

He had been talking to Miriam for some weeks, but had not come to the point.