Bending his head, he approached her, and held her offered hand, without pressure, only for an instant.
Then he left the room.
There was a little improvement in the night; he could make his way along the pavement without actual groping, and no unpleasant adventure checked him before he reached the station.

Rhoda's face and figure went before him.

He was not downcast; for all that she had said, this woman, soon or late, would yield herself; he had a strange, unreasoning assurance of it.

Perhaps the obstinacy of his temper supplied him with that confident expectation.

He no longer cared on what terms he obtained her--legal marriage or free union--it was indifferent to him.
But her life should be linked with his if fierce energy of will meant anything.
Miss Barfoot arrived at half-past eleven, after many delays on her journey.