Spencer uttered a horrified ejaculation. He had never come across anything quite like this, at any rate, in actual experience.
"Would you like to know something of my history, or would you like to kick me out at once, and have done with it?" asked Esmond quietly.
But there were still some remnants of compassion in Spencer. And he was also a little curious. He was dealing, after all, with a human document. Tommy's revelations would add to his experience of life.
"Tell me all you would like to say," he said.
"It will be a relief to unbosom myself, after the years I have led this life," was Esmond's answer. "When I left Elsinore Gardens with my life in ruins, I felt I could have shrieked it all out to the policeman standing at the corner. I came on here, because I thought you would listen to me, because I felt sure you were not a Pharisee."
Spencer motioned him to the sideboard. "Mix yourself another stiff peg, and steady your nerves. Then tell me as much as you like."
Esmond went over and helped himself. After a few seconds the ague-like trembling ceased, and he was able to speak in a fairly steady voice.
"My father was a solicitor in a small way of business in an obscure town in the west of England. There were three children—an elder brother, myself, and a sister. My elder brother succeeded to the practice and is still in the same place, making both ends meet on a microscopic income. My sister is dead.
"My father was a God-fearing, deeply religious man, and did more than his duty by his family. He scraped and pinched to give us a good education, that being the only capital he could leave us. I was placed in an insurance office, the head of which was a distant connection of my mother's.
"If I had chosen to be content with my lot I daresay in time I might have done fairly well, as I had more than average abilities, and gave complete satisfaction in the performance of my duties.