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first visit, and she had then less than seven pounds. Suspi-
cion seized him. He remembered some of the things she had
said. He put two and two together. He wondered whether
she had made any attempt to find work. Perhaps she had
been lying to him all the time. It was very strange that her
money should have lasted so long.
‘What is your rent here?’
‘Oh, the landlady’s very nice, different from what some
of them are; she’s quite willing to wait till it’s convenient
for me to pay.’
He was silent. What he suspected was so horrible that he
hesitated. It was no use to ask her, she would deny every-
thing; if he wanted to know he must find out for himself.
He was in the habit of leaving her every evening at eight,
and when the clock struck he got up; but instead of going
back to Harrington Street he stationed himself at the cor-
ner of Fitzroy Square so that he could see anyone who came
along William Street. It seemed to him that he waited an
interminable time, and he was on the point of going away,
thinking his surmise had been mistaken, when the door of
No. 7 opened and Mildred came out. He fell back into the
darkness and watched her walk towards him. She had on
the hat with a quantity of feathers on it which he had seen
in her room, and she wore a dress he recognized, too showy
for the street and unsuitable to the time of year. He followed
her slowly till she came into the Tottenham Court Road,
where she slackened her pace; at the corner of Oxford Street
she stopped, looked round, and crossed over to a music-hall.
He went up to her and touched her on the arm. He saw that

Of Human Bondage