g in the words. I gave up the attempt and set myself to
smoking and gazing into the fire. What was I to do about Alice?

Midnight came and my mind was still seething. I knew sleep was out of
the question and the desire to walk assailed me. I put on a coat and
hat and left the house. It was a cold night, clear with stars. Harley
Street was silent. My footsteps led me south towards the river. I walked
rapidly, oblivious of others. The problem of Alice was beyond solution,
for the simple reason that I found it impossible to think of her
clearly. She was overshadowed by the wonder of the bacillus. But the
picture of her father haunted me. It filled me with strange emotions,
and at moments with stranger misgivings.

There are meanings, dimly caught at the time, which remain in the mind
like blind creatures, mewing and half alive. They pluck at the brain
ceaselessly, seeking birth in thought. Old Annot's face peering into the
hall mirror--what was it that photographed the scene so pitilessly in my
memory? I hurried along, scarcely noticing where I went, and as I went I
argued with myself aloud.

On the Embankment I returned to a full sense of my position in space.
The river ran beneath me, cold and dark. I leaned over the stone
balustrade and stared at the dark forms of barges. Yes, it was true
enough that I had not realized that the germ would keep Mr. Annot alive
indefinitely. Sarakoff's significant whistle that morning came to my
mind, and I saw that I had been guilty of singular denseness in not
understanding its meaning.

And now old Annot would live on and on, year after year. Was I glad? It
is impossible to say. It was that expression in the old man's face that
dominated me. I tried to think it out. It had been a triumphant look;
and more than that ... a triumphant _toothless_ look. Was that the
solution? I reflected that triumph is an expression that belongs to
youth, to young things, to all that is striving upwards in growth.
Surely old people should look only patient and resigned--never
triumphant--in this world? Some strong action with regard to Alice's
position would be necessary. It was absurd to think that her father
should eternally come between her and me. It would be necessary to go
down to Cambridge and make a clean confession to Alice. And then, when
forgiven, I would insist on an immediate arrangement concerning our
marriage. Marriage! The word vibrated in my soul. The solemnity of that
ceremony was gr