His mother was not so weak-minded a woman as to be stricken down by loss of money; and as for Sherwood, his folly merited more than the unpleasantness that might have resulted to him from disclosure.

Grocerdom with a clear conscience would have been a totally different thing from grocerdom surreptitiously embraced.
Instead of slinking into a corner for the performance of an honourable act, he should have declared it, frankly, unaffectedly, to all who had any claim upon him.

At once, the enterprise became amusing, interesting.

If it disgraced him with any of his acquaintances, so much the worse for them; all whose friendship was worth having would have shown only the more his friends; as things stood, he was ashamed, degraded, not by circumstances, but by himself.
To undo it all--?
To proclaim the truth--?
Was it not easy enough?
He had proved now that his business would yield income sufficient for his mother and sister, as well as for his own needs; the crisis was surmounted; why not cast off this load of mean falsehood, which was crushing him to the ground?
By Heaven! he would do so.
Not immediately.

Better wait till he had heard from Jane that their mother was a little stronger, which would probably be the case in a week or two.