He thought that Sylvia would not have the matter in mind at all, since she had the girl to fuss over, and that she would not ask him any questions.
On his way home he stopped at Sidney Meeks's.

He found the lawyer in a demoralized dining-room, which had, nevertheless, an air of homely comfort, with its chairs worn into hollows to fit human anatomies, and its sideboard set out with dusty dishes and a noble ham.

Meeks was a very good cook, although one could not confidently assert that dust and dirt did not form a part of his ingredients.

One of his triumphs was ham cooked in a manner which he claimed to have invented.

After having been boiled, it was baked, and frequently basted in a way which Meeks kept as secret as the bouquet of his grape wine.