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for a moment, from the time they were born to the time
they died, and loneliness oppressed them; they enjoyed the
promiscuity in which they dwelt, and the constant noise of
their surroundings pressed upon their ears unnoticed. They
did not feel the need of taking a bath constantly, and Philip
often heard them speak with indignation of the necessity
to do so with which they were faced on entering the hos-
pital: it was both an affront and a discomfort. They wanted
chiefly to be left alone; then if the man was in regular work
life went easily and was not without its pleasures: there was
plenty of time for gossip, after the day’s work a glass of beer
was very good to drink, the streets were a constant source
of entertainment, if you wanted to read there was Reynolds’
or The News of the World; ‘but there, you couldn’t make out
‘ow the time did fly, the truth was and that’s a fact, you was
a rare one for reading when you was a girl, but what with
one thing and another you didn’t get no time now not even
to read the paper.’
The usual practice was to pay three visits after a confine-
ment, and one Sunday Philip went to see a patient at the
dinner hour. She was up for the first time.
‘I couldn’t stay in bed no longer, I really couldn’t. I’m not
one for idling, and it gives me the fidgets to be there and do
nothing all day long, so I said to ‘Erb, I’m just going to get
up and cook your dinner for you.’
‘Erb was sitting at table with his knife and fork already
in his hands. He was a young man, with an open face and
blue eyes. He was earning good money, and as things went
the couple were in easy circumstances. They had only been

Of Human Bondage