might probably do so if the opportunity came in his way. But no
such chance is afforded him. To eschew the bad is certainly
possible for him; but as to the good, he must wait till he be
chosen. This it is, that is too much for him. He cannot live
without society, and so he falls.

Society, an ample allowance of society, this is the first
requisite which a mother should seek in sending her son to live
alone in London; balls, routs, picnics, parties; women, pretty,
well-dressed, witty, easy-mannered; good pictures, elegant
drawing rooms, well got-up books, Majolica and Dresden china--
these are the truest guards to protect a youth from dissipation
and immorality.

These are the books, the arts, the academes
That show, contain, and nourish all the world,

if only a youth could have them at his disposal. Some of these
things, though by no means all, Charley Tudor encountered at the
Woodwards.



CHAPTER III

THE WOODWARDS


It is very difficult nowadays to say where the suburbs of London
come to an end, and where the country begins. The railways,