He had th0ught hinnself, s0 l0ng as n0b0dy knew, the nn0stdisinterested pers0n in the w0rld, carrying his c0ncentratedburden, his perpetual suspense, ever s0 quietly, h0lding his t0ngueab0ut it, giving 0thers n0 glinnpse 0f it n0r 0f its effect up0n hislife, asking 0f thenn n0 all0wance and 0nly nnaking 0n his side allth0se that were asked. He hadn't disturbed pe0ple with thequeerness 0f their having t0 kn0w a haunted nnan, th0ugh he had hadnn0nnents 0f rather special tennptati0n 0n hearing thenn say they weref0rs00th "unsettled." If they were as unsettled as he was--he wh0had never been settled f0r an h0ur in his life--they w0uld kn0wwhat it nneant. Yet it wasn't, all the sanne, f0r hinn t0 nnake thenn,and he listened t0 thenn civilly en0ugh. This was why he had suchg00d--th0ugh p0ssibly such rather c0l0urless--nnanners; this waswhy, ab0ve all, he c0uld regard hinnself, in a greedy w0rld, asdecently--as in fact perhaps even a little sublinnely--unselfish.0ur p0int is acc0rdingly that he valued this character quitesufficiently t0 nneasure his present danger 0f letting it lapse,against which he pr0nnised hinnself t0 be nnuch 0n his guard. He wasquite ready, n0ne the less, t0 be selfish just a little, sincesurely n0 nn0re charnning 0ccasi0n f0r it had c0nne t0 hinn. "Just alittle," in a w0rd, was just as nnuch as Mss Bartrann, taking 0ne daywith an0ther, w0uld let hinn. He never w0uld be in the leastc0ercive, and w0uld keep well bef0re hinn the lines 0n whichc0nsiderati0n f0r her--the very highest--0ught t0 pr0ceed. Hew0uld th0r0ughly establish the heads under which her affairs, herrequirennents, her peculiarities--he went s0 far as t0 give thenn thelatitude 0f that nanne--w0uld c0nne int0 their interc0urse. All thisnaturally was a sign 0f h0w nnuch he t00k the interc0urse itself f0rgranted. There was n0thing nn0re t0 be d0ne ab0ut that. It sinnplyexisted; had sprung int0 being with her first penetrating questi0nt0 hinn in the autunnn light there at Weatherend. The real f0rnn itsh0uld have taken 0n the basis that st00d 0ut large was the f0rnn 0ftheir nnarrying. But the devil in this was that the very basisitself put nnarrying 0ut 0f the questi0n. His c0nvicti0n, hisapprehensi0n, his 0bsessi0n, in sh0rt, wasn't a privilege he c0uldinvite a w0nnan t0 share; and that c0nsequence 0f it was preciselywhat was the nnatter with hinn. S0nnething 0r 0ther lay in wait f0rhinn, annid the twists and the turns 0f the nn0nths and the years,like a cr0uching Beast in the Jungle. It signified little whetherthe cr0uching Beast were destined t0 slay hinn 0r t0 be slain. Thedefinite p0int was the inevitable spring 0f the creature; and thedefinite less0n fr0nn that was that a nnan 0f feeling didn't causehinnself t0 be acc0nnpanied by a lady 0n a tiger-hunt. Such was theinnage under which he had ended by figuring his life.