Page 549 - of-human-bondage-

LXX

hilip expected to find a letter from Norah when he got
Pback to his rooms, but there was nothing; nor did he re-
ceive one the following morning. The silence irritated and
at the same time alarmed him. They had seen one another
every day he had been in London since the previous June;
and it must seem odd to her that he should let two days go
by without visiting her or offering a reason for his absence;
he wondered whether by an unlucky chance she had seen
him with Mildred. He could not bear to think that she was
hurt or unhappy, and he made up his mind to call on her
that afternoon. He was almost inclined to reproach her be-
cause he had allowed himself to get on such intimate terms
with her. The thought of continuing them filled him with
disgust.
He found two rooms for Mildred on the second floor of a
house in the Vauxhall Bridge Road. They were noisy, but he
knew that she liked the rattle of traffic under her windows.
‘I don’t like a dead and alive street where you don’t see a
soul pass all day,’ she said. ‘Give me a bit of life.’
Then he forced himself to go to Vincent Square. He was
sick with apprehension when he rang the bell. He had an
uneasy sense that he was treating Norah badly; he dreaded
reproaches; he knew she had a quick temper, and he hated
scenes: perhaps the best way would be to tell her frankly

Of Human Bondage