It is London in OctoberвБ†вАФtwo months further on in the story. + 

BedeвАЩs Inn has this peculiarity, that it faces, receives from, and discharges into a bustling thoroughfare speaking only of wealth and respectability, whilst its postern abuts on as crowded and poverty-stricken a network of alleys as are to be found anywhere in the metropolis. The moral consequences are, first, that those who occupy chambers in the Inn may see a great deal of shirtless humanityвАЩs habits and enjoyments without doing more than look down from a back window; and second they may hear wholesome though unpleasant social reminders through the medium of a harsh voice, an unequal footstep, the echo of a blow or a fall, which originates in the person of some drunkard or wife-beater, as he crosses and interferes with the quiet of the square. Characters of this kind frequently pass through the Inn from a little foxhole of an alley at the back, but they never loiter there. + 

It is hardly necessary to state that all the sights and movements proper to the Inn are most orderly. On the fine October evening on which we follow Stephen Smith to this place, a placid porter is sitting on a stool under a sycamore-tree in the midst, with a little cane in his hand. We notice the thick coat of soot upon the branches, hanging underneath them in flakes, as in a chimney. The blackness of these boughs does not at present improve the treeвБ†вАФnearly forsaken by its leaves as it isвБ†вАФbut in the spring their green fresh beauty is made doubly beautiful by the contrast. Within the railings is a flower-garden of respectable dahlias and chrysanthemums, where a man is sweeping the leaves from the grass. + 

Stephen selects a doorway, and ascends an old though wide wooden staircase, with moulded balusters and handrail, which in a country manor-house would be considered a noteworthy specimen of Renaissance workmanship. He reaches a door on the first floor, over which is painted, in black letters, вАЬMr.¬†Henry KnightвАЭвБ†вАФвАЬBarrister-at-lawвАЭ being understood but not expressed. The wall is thick, and there is a door at its outer and inner face. The outer one happens to be ajar: Stephen goes to the other, and taps. + 

вАЬCome in!вАЭ from distant penetralia. + 

First was a small anteroom, divided from the inner apartment by a wainscoted archway two or three yards wide. Across this archway hung a pair of dark-green curtains, making a mystery of all within the arch except the spasmodic scratching of a quill pen. Here was grouped a chaotic assemblage of articlesвБ†вАФmainly old framed prints and paintingsвБ†вАФleaning edgewise against the wall, like roofing slates in a builderвАЩs yard. All the books visible here were folios too big to be stolenвБ†вАФsome lying on a heavy oak table in one corner, some on the floor among the pictures, the whole intermingled with old coats, hats, umbrellas, and walking-sticks. + 

Stephen pushed aside the curtain, and before him sat a man writing away as if his life depended upon itвБ†вАФwhich it did. + 

A man of thirty in a speckled coat, with dark brown hair, curly beard, and crisp moustache: the latter running into the beard on each side of the mouth, and, as usual, hiding the real expression of that organ under a chronic aspect of impassivity. + 

вАЬAh, my dear fellow, I knew вАЩtwas you,вАЭ said Knight, looking up with a smile, and holding out his hand. + 

KnightвАЩs mouth and eyes came to view now. Both features were good, and had the peculiarity of appearing younger and fresher than the brow and face they belonged to, which were getting sicklied oвАЩer by the unmistakable pale cast. The mouth had not quite relinquished rotundity of curve for the firm angularities of middle life; and the eyes, though keen, permeated rather than penetrated: what they had lost of their boy-time brightness by a dozen years of hard reading lending a quietness to their gaze which suited them well. + 

A lady would have said there was a smell of tobacco in the room: a man that there was not. + 

Knight did not rise. He looked at a timepiece on the mantelshelf, then turned again to his letters, pointing to a chair. + 

вАЬWell, I am glad you have come. I only returned to town yesterday; now, donвАЩt speak, Stephen, for ten minutes; I have just that time to the late post. At the eleventh minute, IвАЩm your man.вАЭ + 

Stephen sat down as if this kind of reception was by no means new, and away went KnightвАЩs pen, beating up and down like a ship in a storm. + 

Cicero called the library the soul of the house; here the house was all soul. Portions of the floor, and half the wall-space, were taken up by bookshelves ordinary and extraordinary; the remaining parts, together with brackets, side-tables, etc., being occupied by casts, statuettes, medallions, and plaques of various descriptions, picked up by the owner in his wanderings through France and Italy. + 

One stream only of evening sunlight came into the room from a window quite in the corner, overlooking a court. An aquarium stood in the window. It was a dull parallelopipedon enough for living creatures at most hours of the day; but for a few minutes in the evening, as now, an errant, kindly ray lighted up and warmed the little world therein, when the many-coloured zoophytes opened and put forth their arms, the weeds acquired a rich transparency, the shells gleamed of a more golden yellow, and the timid community expressed gladness more plainly than in words. + 

Within the prescribed ten minutes Knight flung down his pen, rang for the boy to take the letters to the post, and at the closing of the door exclaimed, вАЬThere; thank God, thatвАЩs done. Now, Stephen, pull your chair round, and tell me what you have been doing all this time. Have you kept up your Greek?вАЭ + 

вАЬNo.вАЭ + 

вАЬHowвАЩs that?вАЭ + 

вАЬI havenвАЩt enough spare time.вАЭ + 

вАЬThatвАЩs nonsense.вАЭ + 

вАЬWell, I have done a great many things, if not that. And I have done one extraordinary thing.вАЭ + 

Knight turned full upon Stephen. вАЬAh-ha! Now, then, let me look into your face, put two and two together, and make a shrewd guess.вАЭ + 

Stephen changed to a redder colour. + 

вАЬWhy, Smith,вАЭ said Knight, after holding him rigidly by the shoulders, and keenly scrutinizing his countenance for a minute in silence, вАЬyou have fallen in love.вАЭ + 

вАЬWellвБ†вАФthe fact isвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬNow, out with it.вАЭ But seeing that Stephen looked rather distressed, he changed to a kindly tone. вАЬNow Smith, my lad, you know me well enough by this time, or you ought to; and you know very well that if you choose to give me a detailed account of the phenomenon within you, I shall listen; if you donвАЩt, I am the last man in the world to care to hear it.вАЭ + 

вАЬIвАЩll tell this much: I have fallen in love, and I want to be married.вАЭ + 

Knight looked ominous as this passed StephenвАЩs lips. + 

вАЬDonвАЩt judge me before you have heard more,вАЭ cried Stephen anxiously, seeing the change in his friendвАЩs countenance. + 

вАЬI donвАЩt judge. Does your mother know about it?вАЭ + 

вАЬNothing definite.вАЭ + 

вАЬFather?вАЭ + 

вАЬNo. But IвАЩll tell you. The young personвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬCome, thatвАЩs dreadfully ungallant. But perhaps I understand the frame of mind a little, so go on. Your sweetheartвБ†вАФвАЭ + 

вАЬShe is rather higher in the world than I am.вАЭ + 

вАЬAs it should be.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd her father wonвАЩt hear of it, as I now stand.вАЭ + 

вАЬNot an uncommon case.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd now comes what I want your advice upon. Something has happened at her house which makes it out of the question for us to ask her father again now. So we are keeping silent. In the meantime an architect in India has just written to Mr.¬†Hewby to ask whether he can find for him a young assistant willing to go over to Bombay to prepare drawings for work formerly done by the engineers. The salary he offers is 350 rupees a month, or about ¬£35. Hewby has mentioned it to me, and I have been to Dr.¬†Wray, who says I shall acclimatise without much illness. Now, would you go?вАЭ + 

вАЬYou mean to say, because it is a possible road to the young lady.вАЭ + 

вАЬYes; I was thinking I could go over and make a little money, and then come back and ask for her. I have the option of practising for myself after a year.вАЭ + 

вАЬWould she be staunch?вАЭ + 

вАЬOh yes! ForeverвБ†вАФto the end of her life!вАЭ + 

вАЬHow do you know?вАЭ + 

вАЬWhy, how do people know? Of course, she will.вАЭ + 

Knight leant back in his chair. вАЬNow, though I know her thoroughly as she exists in your heart, Stephen, I donвАЩt know her in the flesh. All I want to ask is, is this idea of going to India based entirely upon a belief in her fidelity?вАЭ + 

вАЬYes; I should not go if it were not for her.вАЭ + 

вАЬWell, Stephen, you have put me in rather an awkward position. If I give my true sentiments, I shall hurt your feelings; if I donвАЩt, I shall hurt my own judgment. And remember, I donвАЩt know much about women.вАЭ + 

вАЬBut you have had attachments, although you tell me very little about them.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd I only hope youвАЩll continue to prosper till I tell you more.вАЭ + 

Stephen winced at this rap. вАЬI have never formed a deep attachment,вАЭ continued Knight. вАЬI never have found a woman worth it. Nor have I been once engaged to be married.вАЭ + 

вАЬYou write as if you had been engaged a hundred times, if I may be allowed to say so,вАЭ said Stephen in an injured tone. + 

вАЬYes, that may be. But, my dear Stephen, it is only those who half know a thing that write about it. Those who know it thoroughly donвАЩt take the trouble. All I know about women, or men either, is a mass of generalities. I plod along, and occasionally lift my eyes and skim the weltering surface of mankind lying between me and the horizon, as a crow might; no more.вАЭ + 

Knight stopped as if he had fallen into a train of thought, and Stephen looked with affectionate awe at a master whose mind, he believed, could swallow up at one meal all that his own head contained. + 

There was affective sympathy, but no great intellectual fellowship, between Knight and Stephen Smith. Knight had seen his young friend when the latter was a cherry-cheeked happy boy, had been interested in him, had kept his eye upon him, and generously helped the lad to books, till the mere connection of patronage grew to acquaintance, and that ripened to friendship. And so, though Smith was not at all the man Knight would have deliberately chosen as a friendвБ†вАФor even for one of a group of a dozen friendsвБ†вАФhe somehow was his friend. Circumstance, as usual, did it all. How many of us can say of our most intimate alter ego, leaving alone friends of the outer circle, that he is the man we should have chosen, as embodying the net result after adding up all the points in human nature that we love, and principles we hold, and subtracting all that we hate? The man is really somebody we got to know by mere physical juxtaposition long maintained, and was taken into our confidence, and even heart, as a makeshift. + 

вАЬAnd what do you think of her?вАЭ Stephen ventured to say, after a silence. + 

вАЬTaking her merits on trust from you,вАЭ said Knight, вАЬas we do those of the Roman poets of whom we know nothing but that they lived, I still think she will not stick to you through, say, three years of absence in India.вАЭ + 

вАЬBut she will!вАЭ cried Stephen desperately. вАЬShe is a girl all delicacy and honour. And no woman of that kind, who has committed herself so into a manвАЩs hands as she has into mine, could possibly marry another.вАЭ + 

вАЬHow has she committed herself?вАЭ asked Knight curiously. + 

Stephen did not answer. Knight had looked on his love so sceptically that it would not do to say all that he had intended to say by any means. + 

вАЬWell, donвАЩt tell,вАЭ said Knight. вАЬBut you are begging the question, which is, I suppose, inevitable in love.вАЭ + 

вАЬAnd IвАЩll tell you another thing,вАЭ the younger man pleaded. вАЬYou remember what you said to me once about women receiving a kiss. DonвАЩt you? Why, that instead of our being charmed by the fascination of their bearing at such a time, we should immediately doubt them if their confusion has any grace in itвБ†вАФthat awkward bungling was the true charm of the occasion, implying that we are the first who has played such a part with them.вАЭ + 

вАЬIt is true, quite,вАЭ said Knight musingly. + 

It often happened that the disciple thus remembered the lessons of the master long after the master himself had forgotten them. + 

вАЬWell, that was like her!вАЭ cried Stephen triumphantly. вАЬShe was in such a flurry that she didnвАЩt know what she was doing.вАЭ + 

вАЬSplendid, splendid!вАЭ said Knight soothingly. вАЬSo that all I have to say is, that if you see a good opening in Bombay thereвАЩs no reason why you should not go without troubling to draw fine distinctions as to reasons. No man fully realizes what opinions he acts upon, or what his actions mean.вАЭ + 

вАЬYes; I go to Bombay. IвАЩll write a note here, if you donвАЩt mind.вАЭ + 

вАЬSleep over itвБ†вАФit is the best planвБ†вАФand write tomorrow. Meantime, go there to that window and sit down, and look at my Humanity Show. I am going to dine out this evening, and have to dress here out of my portmanteau. I bring up my things like this to save the trouble of going down to my place at Richmond and back again.вАЭ + 

Knight then went to the middle of the room and flung open his portmanteau, and Stephen drew near the window. The streak of sunlight had crept upward, edged away, and vanished; the zoophytes slept: a dusky gloom pervaded the room. And now another volume of light shone over the window. + 

вАЬThere!вАЭ said Knight, вАЬwhere is there in England a spectacle to equal that? I sit there and watch them every night before I go home. Softly open the sash.вАЭ + 

Beneath them was an alley running up to the wall, and thence turning sideways and passing under an arch, so that KnightвАЩs back window was immediately over the angle, and commanded a view of the alley lengthwise. CrowdsвБ†вАФmostly of womenвБ†вАФwere surging, bustling, and pacing up and down. Gaslights glared from butchersвАЩ stalls, illuminating the lumps of flesh to splotches of orange and vermilion, like the wild colouring of TurnerвАЩs later pictures, whilst the purl and babble of tongues of every pitch and mood was to this human wildwood what the ripple of a brook is to the natural forest. + 

Nearly ten minutes passed. Then Knight also came to the window. + 

вАЬWell, now, I call a cab and vanish down the street in the direction of Berkeley Square,вАЭ he said, buttoning his waistcoat and kicking his morning suit into a corner. Stephen rose to leave. + 

вАЬWhat a heap of literature!вАЭ remarked the young man, taking a final longing survey round the room, as if to abide there forever would be the great pleasure of his life, yet feeling that he had almost outstayed his welcome-while. His eyes rested upon an armchair piled full of newspapers, magazines, and bright new volumes in green and red. + 

вАЬYes,вАЭ said Knight, also looking at them and breathing a sigh of weariness; вАЬsomething must be done with several of them soon, I suppose. Stephen, you neednвАЩt hurry away for a few minutes, you know, if you want to stay; I am not quite ready. Overhaul those volumes whilst I put on my coat, and IвАЩll walk a little way with you.вАЭ + 

Stephen sat down beside the armchair and began to tumble the books about. Among the rest he found a novelette in one volume, The Court of Kellyon Castle. By Ernest Field. + 

вАЬAre you going to review this?вАЭ inquired Stephen with apparent unconcern, and holding up ElfrideвАЩs effusion. + 

вАЬWhich? Oh, that! I mayвБ†вАФthough I donвАЩt do much light reviewing now. But it is reviewable.вАЭ + 

вАЬHow do you mean?вАЭ + 

Knight never liked to be asked what he meant. вАЬMean! I mean that the majority of books published are neither good enough nor bad enough to provoke criticism, and that that book does provoke it.вАЭ + 

вАЬBy its goodness or its badness?вАЭ Stephen said with some anxiety on poor little ElfrideвАЩs score. + 

вАЬIts badness. It seems to be written by some girl in her teens.вАЭ + 

Stephen said not another word. He did not care to speak plainly of Elfride after that unfortunate slip his tongue had made in respect of her having committed herself; and, apart from that, KnightвАЩs severeвБ†вАФalmost dogged and self-willedвБ†вАФhonesty in criticizing was unassailable by the humble wish of a youthful friend like Stephen. + 

Knight was now ready. Turning off the gas, and slamming together the door, they went downstairs and into the street. + 