He became mute. Jasper, whose misrepresentation was wilful,
though not maliciously so, also fell into silence; he did not
believe that his conversations with Amy had seriously affected
the course of events, but he knew that he had often said things
to her in private which would scarcely have fallen from his lips
if her husband had been present--little depreciatory phrases,
wrong rather in tone than in terms, which came of his
irresistible desire to assume superiority whenever it was
possible. He, too, was weak, but with quite another kind of
weakness than Reardon's. His was the weakness of vanity, which
sometimes leads a man to commit treacheries of which he would
believe himself incapable. Self-accused, he took refuge in the
pretence of misconception, which again was a betrayal of
littleness.
They drew near to Westbourne Park station.
'You are living a long way from here,' Jasper said, coldly. 'Are
you going by train?'
'No. You said my wife was ill?'
'Oh, not ill. At least, I didn't understand that it was anything
serious. Why don't you walk back to the house?'
'I must judge of my own affairs.
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