He often thought of abandoning his home, but neither for that step had he the necessary spirit of independence.

Miss Sparkes no longer seemed to him of virtues compact; he sadly admitted in his wakeful hours that she had a temper; he often doubted whether she ever gave him a serious thought.

But the fact remained that Polly did not send him about his business, and at times even seemed glad to see him, until that awful night when, by deplorable accident, he encountered her near Lincoln's Inn.

That surely was the end of everything.

Christopher, after tottering home he knew not how, wept upon his pillow.