She had him even in bondage, poor man, had him in contempt, had him in remembrance so imperfect as barely to assert itself, but she had him, none the less, in existence unimpeached: the Miss Lutches had seen him in the flesh--as they had appeared eager to mention; though when they were separately questioned their descriptions failed to tally.

He would be at the worst, should it come to the worst, Mrs.Rance's difficulty, and he served therefore quite enough as the stout bulwark of anyone else.

This was in truth logic without a flaw, yet it gave Mr.Verver less comfort than it ought.

He feared not only danger--he feared the idea of danger, or in other words feared, hauntedly, himself.

It was above all as a symbol that Mrs.Rance actually rose before him--a symbol of the supreme effort that he should have sooner or later, as he felt, to make.