'
'My poor fellow!' said the Minor Canon, in a tone so purely
sympathetic that the young man caught his hand, 'I never said it
was unreasonable; never thought so. But I should like you to do
it.'
'And that would give me the strongest motive to do it. But I
cannot yet. I cannot persuade myself that the eyes of even the
stream of strangers I pass in this vast city look at me without
suspicion. I feel marked and tainted, even when I go out--as I do
only--at night. But the darkness covers me then, and I take
courage from it.'
Mr. Crisparkle laid a hand upon his shoulder, and stood looking
down at him.
'If I could have changed my name,' said Neville, 'I would have done
so. But as you wisely pointed out to me, I can't do that, for it
would look like guilt. If I could have gone to some distant place,
I might have found relief in that, but the thing is not to be
thought of, for the same reason. Hiding and escaping would be the
construction in either case. It seems a little hard to be so tied
to a stake, and innocent; but I don't complain.'
'And you must expect no miracle to help you, Neville,' said Mr.
Crisparkle, compassionately.
'No, sir, I know that. The ordinary fulness of time and
circumstances is all I have to trust to.'
'It will right you at last, Neville.'
'So I believe, and I hope I may live to know it.'
But perceiving that the despondent mood into which he was falling
cast a shadow on the Minor Canon, and (it may be) feeling that the
broad hand upon his shoulder was not then quite as steady as its
own natural strength had rendered it when it first touched him just
now, he brightened and said:
'Excellent circumstances for study, anyhow! and you know, Mr.
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