Old age and infirmity on the one hand; mean hardness and cruelty on the other.

Was Elizabeth already contemplating the picture?
And yet--No! unless perhaps under the shelter of darkness, it could never have been possible for this figure before him to play the part of innocent misfortune, at all events.

Could debauch, could ruin of body and soul be put more plainly?
Could they express themselves more clearly than through this face and form?
A shudder ran through Anderson, a cry against fate, a sick wondering as to his own past responsibility, a horror of the future.

Then his will strengthened, and he set himself quietly to see what could be done.
"We can't talk here," he said to his father.

"Come back into the house.
There are some rooms vacant.