Rachel stood at her own front door and took off her glove in order more easily to manipulate the latch-key, which somehow, since coming into frequent use again, had never been the same manageable latch-key, but a cantankerous¹ old thing, though still very bright. She opened the door quietly, and stepped inside quietly, lest by chance she might disturb Louis, the invalid—but also because she was a little afraid.

 

The most contradictory² feelings can exist together in the mind. After the desolate³ discomfort⁴ of Julian Maldon's lodging⁵ and the spectacle of his clumsiness in the important affair of mere⁶ living, Rachel was conscious of a deep and proud happiness as she re-entered the efficient, cosy⁷, and gracious organism of her own home. But simultaneously⁸ with this feeling of happiness she had a dreadful general apprehension⁹ that the organism might soon be destroyed, and a particular apprehension concerning her next interview with Louis, for at the next interview she would be under the necessity of telling him about her transaction with Julian. She had been absolutely determined¹⁰ upon that transaction. She had said to herself, "Whatever happens, I shall take that money to Julian and insist on his keeping all of it." She had, in fact, been very brave—indeed, audacious. Now the consequences were imminent¹¹, and they frightened her; she was less brave now. One awkward detail of the

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