Joseph Snowdon saw her once or twice before she left London, and from Grace Danver he heard that Grace and she had been schoolfellows in Clerkenwell.

These facts revived in his memory when he afterwards heard Clem speak of Clara Hewett.
Nothing came of the alliance between Polkenhorne and Joseph; when the latter's money was exhausted, they naturally fell apart.

Joseph made a living in sundry precarious ways, but at length sank into such straits that he risked the step of going to Clerkenwell Close.

Personal interest in his child he had then none whatever; his short married life seemed an episode in the remote past, recalled with indifference.

But in spite of his profound selfishness, it was not solely from the speculative point of view that he regarded Jane, when he had had time to realise that she was his daughter, and in a measure to appreciate her character.