'Because you lived alone there, in the boarding-house, for two years. And you were caught with her at Hoffmann's, she in bloomers, drinking beer. Just a cheap little tough. And there isn't a thing you can do but live it down. Nobody will say a direct word to you.'
'That's what I'll do,' said Henry, 'live it down.'
'It'll be hard, Hen.'
Henry sighed. 'I've faced hard things, Hump.'
'Yes, you have, in a way.'
'I'll wash up. Where we going to eat? Stanley's?'
'I suppose. I don't feel like eating much.'
It was not until they had started out that Henry gave signs of a deeper reaction.
On the outer doorstep he stood motionless.
'Coming along?' asked Humphrey, trying to hide his anxiety.