I think the trouble and anxiety caused by his delay did a good deal towards hastening the inevitable end; but she bore her grief very quietly, and never uttered a complaint of him in my hearing.

She paid her way regularly enough for a considerable time, and then all at once broke down, and confessed to the landlady that she had not a shilling more in the world.

The woman was a hard creature, and told her that if that was the case, she must find some other lodgings, and immediately.

I heard this, not from Mrs.Nowell, but from the landlady, who seemed to consider her conduct thoroughly justified by the highest code of morals.

She was a lone unprotected woman, and how was she to pay her rent and taxes if her best floor was occupied by a non-paying tenant?
"I was by no means a rich man; but I could not endure to think of that helpless dying creature thrust out into the streets; and I told my landlady that I would be answerable for Mrs.Nowell's rent, and for the daily expenses incurred on her behalf.