 really feel
afraid; they give me such an account of the place. And everyone agrees that he
has such a very wild look, and speaks so strangely.«
    »Between ourselves,« said John, »there's no use in exaggerating. He's living
in a vile hole, that's true, and Carter says he looks miserably ill, but of
course he may be as sane as we are.«
    Jasper listened to all this with no small astonishment.
    »And Mrs Reardon?« he asked.
    »I'm sorry to say she is far from well,« replied Mrs Yule. »To-day she has
been obliged to keep her room. You can imagine what a shock it has been to her.
It came with such extraordinary suddenness. Without a word of warning, her
husband announced that he had taken a clerkship and was going to remove
immediately to the East-end. Fancy! And this when he had already arranged, as
you know, to go to the south coast and write his next book under the influences
of the sea air. He was anything but well; we all knew that, and we had all
joined in advising him to spend the summer at the seaside. It seemed better that
he should go alone; Mrs Reardon would, of course, have gone down for a few days
now and then. And at a moment's notice everything is changed, and in such a
dreadful way! I cannot believe that this is the behaviour of a sane man!«
    Jasper understood that an explanation of the matter might have been given in
much more homely terms; it was natural that Mrs Yule should leave out of sight
the sufficient, but ignoble, cause of her son-in-law's behaviour.
    »You see in what a painful position we are placed,« continued the
euphemistic lady. »It is so terrible even to hint that Mr Reardon is not
responsible for his actions, yet how are we to explain to our friends this
extraordinary state of things?«
    »My husband is afraid Mr Reardon may fall seriously ill,« said Mrs Carter.
»And how dreadful! In such a place as that!«
    »It would be so kind of you to go and see him, Mr Milvain,« urged Mrs Yule.
»We should be so glad to hear what you think.«
    »Certainly, I will go,« replied Jasper. »Will you give me his address?«
    He remained for an hour, and before his departure the subject was discussed
with rather more
