at once in the opposite direction, turning the corner. Then he
wished to go back and notice which house she entered, but would not
do so lest she should observe him. He walked straight forwards.

How the aspect of the world had changed for him in these few
minutes; what an incredible revolution had come to pass in his own
desires and purposes t The intellectual atmosphere he breathed was
of his own creation; the society of cultured people he had never had
an opportunity of enjoying. A refined and virtuous woman had
hitherto existed for him merely in the sanctuary of his imagination;
he had known not one such. If he passed one in the street, the
effect of the momentary proximity was only to embitter his thoughts,
by reminding him of the hopeless gulf fixed between his world and
that in which such creatures had their being. In revenge, he tried
to soil the purity of his ideals; would have persuaded himself that
the difference between the two spheres was merely in externals, that
he was imposed upon by wealth, education, and superficial refinement
of manners. Happily he had never really succeeded in thus deceiving
himself, and the effort had only served to aggravate his miseries.
The habit of mind, however, had shown itself in the earlier stages
of his acquaintance with Miss Enderby. The first sight of her had
moved him somewhat, but scarcely with any foreshadowing of serious
emotion. He felt that she was different from any woman with whom he
had ever stood on an equal footing; but, at the same time, the very
possibility of establishing more or less intimate relations with her
made him distrustful of his judgment. In spite of himself, he tried
to disparage her qualities. She was pretty, he admitted, but then of
such a feeble, characterless type; doubtless her understanding
corresponded with the weakness of her outward appearance. None the
less, he had continued to observe her keenly, and had noted with