‘I went to see him because I thought he ought to know about you, having already been imposed upon by our friend Gosse. They must see the prisoner at the hatch. His invalid wife and her money had been only the thin thread that held his life together; beaded on that permanent relation had been an inter-weaving series of other feminine experiences, disturbing, absorbing, interesting, memorable affairs. He installed Anna in a comfortable easy chair, and placed his own between her and the door. These persons were Mr. He was a little impressed by Ann Veronica’s metaphor of the string, which, indeed, she owed to Hetty Widgett. There was, it might be said, a double illumination. ’ She paused, holding her nurse’s eyes.