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dred was subdued and exhausted. When they had finished
she got up to put the baby to bed.
‘I think you’ll do well to turn in early yourself,’ said Phil-
ip. ‘You look absolute done up.’
‘I think I will after I’ve washed up.’
Philip lit his pipe and began to read. It was pleasant to
hear somebody moving about in the next room. Sometimes
his loneliness had oppressed him. Mildred came in to clear
the table, and he heard the clatter of plates as she washed
up. Philip smiled as he thought how characteristic it was
of her that she should do all that in a black silk dress. But
he had work to do, and he brought his book up to the table.
He was reading Osler’s Medicine, which had recently taken
the place in the students’ favour of Taylor’s work, for many
years the text-book most in use. Presently Mildred came
in, rolling down her sleeves. Philip gave her a casual glance,
but did not move; the occasion was curious, and he felt a lit-
tle nervous. He feared that Mildred might imagine he was
going to make a nuisance of himself, and he did not quite
know how without brutality to reassure her.
‘By the way, I’ve got a lecture at nine, so I should want
breakfast at a quarter past eight. Can you manage that?’
‘Oh, yes. Why, when I was in Parliament Street I used to
catch the eight-twelve from Herne Hill every morning.’
‘I hope you’ll find your room comfortable. You’ll be a dif-
ferent woman tomorrow after a long night in bed.’
‘I suppose you work till late?’
‘I generally work till about eleven or half-past.’
‘I’ll say good-night then.’

Of Human Bondage