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and he tried to make them look like his old rooms at the Hall.
He had ambitions that were vaguely political, he described
himself as a Whig, and he was put up for a club which was
of Liberal but gentlemanly flavour. His idea was to prac-
tise at the Bar (he chose the Chancery side as less brutal),
and get a seat for some pleasant constituency as soon as the
various promises made him were carried out; meanwhile
he went a great deal to the opera, and made acquaintance
with a small number of charming people who admired the
things that he admired. He joined a dining-club of which
the motto was, The Whole, The Good, and The Beautiful.
He formed a platonic friendship with a lady some years old-
er than himself, who lived in Kensington Square; and nearly
every afternoon he drank tea with her by the light of shaded
candles, and talked of George Meredith and Walter Pater.
It was notorious that any fool could pass the examinations
of the Bar Council, and he pursued his studies in a dila-
tory fashion. When he was ploughed for his final he looked
upon it as a personal affront. At the same time the lady in
Kensington Square told him that her husband was coming
home from India on leave, and was a man, though worthy
in every way, of a commonplace mind, who would not un-
derstand a young man’s frequent visits. Hayward felt that
life was full of ugliness, his soul revolted from the thought
of affronting again the cynicism of examiners, and he saw
something rather splendid in kicking away the ball which
lay at his feet. He was also a good deal in debt: it was dif-
ficult to live in London like a gentleman on three hundred
a year; and his heart yearned for the Venice and Florence

1 0 Of Human Bondage