His parcel under his arm, he entered the ground-floor office, and
desired to see that member of the firm with whom he had
previously had personal relations. This gentleman was not in
town; he would be away for a few days. Reardon left the
manuscript, and came out into the street again.
He crossed, and looked up at the publishers' windows from the
opposite pavement. 'Do they suspect in what wretched
circumstances I am? Would it surprise them to know all that
depends upon that budget of paltry scribbling? I suppose not; it
must be a daily experience with them. Well, I must write a
begging letter.'
It was raining and windy. He went slowly homewards, and was on
the point of entering the public door of the flats when his
uneasiness became so great that he turned and walked past. If he
went in, he must at once write his appeal for money, and he felt
that he could not. The degradation seemed too great.
Was there no way of getting over the next few weeks? Rent, of
course, would be due at Christmas, but that payment might be
postponed; it was only a question of buying food and fuel.
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