He genuinely thought she had sinned against him, and that she ought to be exterminated.

He condemned her for all manner of things as to which she had had no choice: for instance, the irregularity of her teeth, and the hollow under her chin, and the little tricks of deportment which are always developed by a spinster as she reaches forty.

He fled in terror of her.

If she should have a glimpse of him, and should recognize him, the consequence would be absolutely disastrous--disastrous in every way; and a period of publicity would dawn for him such as he could not possibly contemplate either in cold blood or warm.

He fled blindly, insinuating himself through the crowd, until he reached a grille in which was a gate, ajar.