morrow." Then Mr. Wharton
left the room, and Lopez was there alone amidst the gloom of the
heavy curtains and the dark paper. A London dining-room at night is
always dark, cavernous, and unlovely. The very pictures on the walls
lack brightness, and the furniture is black and heavy. This room was
large, but old-fashioned and very dark. Here Lopez walked up and down
after Mr. Wharton had left him, trying to think how far Fate and how
far he himself were responsible for his present misfortunes. No doubt
he had begun the world well. His father had been little better than a
travelling pedlar, but had made some money by selling jewellery, and
had educated his son. Lopez could on no score impute blame to his
father for what had happened to him. And, when he thought of the
means at his disposal in his early youth, he felt that he had a right
to boast of some success. He had worked hard, and had won his way
upwards, and had almost lodged himself securely among those people
with whom it had been his ambition to live. Early in life he had
found himself among those who were called gentlemen and ladies. He
had been able to assume their manners, and had lived with them on
equal terms. When thinking of his past life he never forgot to remind
himself that he had been a guest at the house of the Duke of Omnium!
And yet how was it with him now? He was penniless. He was rejected by
his father-in-law. He was feared, and, as he thought, detested by his
wife. He was expelled from his club. He was cut by his old friends.
And he had been told very plainly by the Secretary in Coleman Street
that his presence there was no longer desired. What should he do
with himself if Mr. Wharton's money were now refused, and if the
appointment in Guatemala were denied to him? And then he thought of
poor Sexty Parker and his family. He was not naturally an ill-natured
man. Though he could upbraid his wife for alluding to Mrs. Parker's
misery, declaring that Mrs. Parker must take the rubs of the world
just as others took them, still the misfortunes which he had brought
on her and on her children did add something to the weight of his own
misfortunes. If he could not go to Guatemala, what should he do with
himself;--where should he go? Thus he walked up and down the room for
an hour. Would not a pistol or a razor give him the best solution for
all his difficulties?

On the following morning he kept his appointment at the office in
Coleman Street, as did Mr. Wh