il him.

He tried not to think of Ida in any way, but this was beyond his power.
Again and again she came before his mind. When he endeavoured to
supplant her by the image of Maud Enderby, the latter's face only
irritated him. Till now, it had been just the reverse; the thought of
Maud had always brought quietness; Ida he had recognised as the
disturbing element of his life, and had learned to associate her with
his least noble instincts. Thinking of this now, he began to marvel how
it could have been so. Was it true that Maud was his good angel, that
in her he had found his ideal? He had forced himself to believe this,
now that he was in honour bound to her; yet she had never made his
pulse quicken, as it had often done when he had approached Ida. True,
that warmth of feeling had come to represent merely a temptation to
him; but was not that the consequence of his own ambiguous attitude?
Suppose he had not known Maud Enderby, how would he then have regarded
Ida, and his relations to her? Were these in very deed founded on
nothing but selfish feeling? Then he reviewed all his acquaintanceship
with her from the first, and every detail of the story grew to a new
aspect.

Thinking of Ida, he found himself wondering how it was that Mr.
Woodstock appeared to take so much interest in her fate. Several times
during the past six months the old man had referred to her, generally
inquiring whether Waymark had written to or heard from her. And, only
two days ago, he had shown that he remembered the exact date of her
release, in asking whether Waymark meant to do anything. Waymark
replying that he intended to meet her, and give her what assistance he
could, the old gentleman had signified his strong approval, and had
even gone on to mention a house in the neighbourhood of the office,
where Ida could be lodged at first. A room had accordingly been secured
beforehand, and it was arranged that Waymark should take her directly
thither on the Tuesday morning. In reviewing all this, Waymark found it
more significant than he had imagined. Why, he wondered, had Mr.
Woodstock grown so philanthrophic all at once? Why had he been so
particular in making sure that Waymark would meet the girl? Indeed,
from the very beginning of this affair, he had behaved with regard to
it in a manner quite unlike himself. Waymark had leisure now to ponder
these things, but could only conjecture explanations.

The hours went by; a church clock kept him aware