W. Pett Ridge

“ He had some idea of getting money from Finnis—if Finnis were still prosperous—of taking her and the boy abroad at once. He would break his ticket in doing this, but that would not matter so long as they remained abroad. William Finnis had been to see him once at Portland and once at Dover, and had brought good news of her health; from the cage across the space where an official stood to the half-shuttered box to which Alfred was led, William Finnis had told him that Caroline was well and happy down in Devonshire, and that Trafalgar was growing to be a brown-faced schoolboy. ”

“ From the shop, voices of the assistants came in growling bass as they discussed and disputed records.
'What I thought,' went on William Finnis, balancing a penholder on his outstretched forefinger, 'was that I should give you a job as a traveller—two pounds a week and your ex's. You won't feel settled down for a bit, and you can knock about round the country, running errands, so to speak, for me, and saving me from being away from here so often. ”

“ Towards the later months he had found himself returned to Wormwood Scrubbs, where presently his beard was allowed to grow. This signalled the approach of freedom. He had become a machine in all these long six years, a machine that did its work slowly, and was fed and oiled with precise regularity; the later months reminded him that he was soon again to become a human being, with all a human being's responsibilities.
It was in these days and nights that he began to think again of Caroline and the boy; for years he had not dared to allow himself to do this. ”

“ The room was well set out with office furniture; an air of prosperity and assured income pervaded the entire building. Out at the back a long shed had been built: workmen were going and coming.
'Thought it was someone particular, did you?' asked Alfred, turning his bowler hat round and round awkwardly. 'Well, it ain't'
'You've changed in your appearance,' remarked William Finnis. ”

“ I've got to see her first.'
'She mustn't come back here,' said William, flushing. 'Somebody would tell the truth about you.'
'Somebody's going to do that as it is,' he said doggedly, intent again on his bowler hat and still speaking in a subdued manner. 'Somebody is me.'
'You're going down to Devonshire, and you're going to break in upon her and burst out with the facts about your——'
'I'm going to tell her everything,' he said with determination. 'I can't tell her a lie. ”

“ Alfred Bateson, his breath coming quickly, stayed until the last had been pulled down, then turned and ran with great swiftness to Barnstaple. Arrived at Barnstaple, he had to rest, coughing exhaustedly; when he recovered at the inn he wrote a letter to William Finnis. This he read through carefully before leaving for Cardiff the following morning. He registered it at the post-office.
'Dear William,
'I am sending back all the money except two pound. I cannot spoil her life by letting her know I am still alive. She must never know it, and you and the others must never tell her. ”