He had made new friends. Mrs. Peckover reported
that he was a constant visitor at the old man Snowdon's lodgings;
she expressed her belief that Snowdon had come back from Australia
with a little store of money, and if Kirkwood had knowledge of that,
would it not explain his interest in Jane Snowdon?
'For shame to listen to such things!' cried Mrs. Hewett angrily,
when her husband once repeated the landlady's words, 'I'd be ashamed
of myself, John! If you don't know him no better than that, you
ought to by this time.'
And John did, in fact, take to himself no little shame, but his
unsatisfied affection turned all the old feelings to bitterness. In
spite of himself, he blundered along the path of perversity. Sidney,
too, had his promptings of obstinate humour. When he distinctly
recognised Hewett's feeling it galled him; he was being treated with
gross injustice, and temper suggested reprisals which could answer
no purpose but to torment him with self-condemnation. However, he
must needs consult his own dignity; he could not keep defending
himself against ignoble charges. For the present, there was no
choice but to accept John's hints, and hold apart as much as was
possible without absolute breach of friendly relations.
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