"But why should I need help?"
He continued his dreamy monologue. "You couldn't have come in to see protégées, humble friends, that sort of thing, or you'd have gone through into the parlour ... and you couldn't have come in because you were ill, or you'd have spoken to the woman of the place, who's obviously respectable ... besides, you don't look ill in that way, but only unhappy. ... This street is the only original long lane that has no turning; and the houses on both sides are shut up. ... I could only suppose that you'd seen somebody coming whom you didn't want to meet; and found the public-house was the only shelter in this wilderness of stone. ... I don't think I went beyond the licence of a stranger in glancing at the only man who passed immediately after. ... And as I thought he
