He decided to call in the afternoon and see whether Mary had recovered.
Again a disappointment.

Miss Barfoot was better, and had been away since breakfast; Miss Nunn was also absent.
Everard sauntered about the neighbourhood, and presently found himself in the gardens of Chelsea Hospital.

It was a warm afternoon, and so still that he heard the fall of yellow leaves as he walked hither and thither along the alleys.

His failure to obtain an interview with Miss Nunn annoyed him; but for her presence in the house he would not have got into this habit of going there.

As far as ever from harbouring any serious thoughts concerning Rhoda, he felt himself impelled along the way which he had jokingly indicated in talk with Micklethwaite; he was tempted to make love to her as an interesting pastime, to observe how so strong-minded a woman would conduct herself under such circumstances.