answered with affected carelessness:

'I am to hear in a day or two.'

'Did she seem to take it--in the right way?'

'She evidently thinks of me too much as a schoolboy.'

And he began to pace the room. Mrs. Peak sat still, with an air of
anxious brooding.

'You don't think she will refuse, Godwin?' fell from her presently.

His hand closed on the letter.

'Why? Well, in that case I should go to London and find some
occupation as soon as possible. You could still let me have the same
money as before?'

'Yes.'

It was said absently, and did not satisfy Godwin. In the course of
the conversation it appeared that Mrs. Peak had that morning been to
see the legal friend who looked after her small concerns, and though
she would not admit that she had any special cause for uneasiness,
her son recalled similar occasions when an interview with Mr. Dutch
had been followed by several days' gloom. The truth was that Mrs
Peak could not live strictly within the income at her disposal, and
on being from time to time reminded of this, she was oppressed by
passing worry. If Godwin and Oliver 'got on well,' things would come