Zack escorted her to the
entrance of the square; and, on taking leave, showed the sincerity of
his contrition in a very unexpected and desperate manner, by actually
offering to return home then and there with his mother, if she wished
it! Mrs. Thorpe's heart yearned to take him at his word, but she
remembered the doctor's orders and the critical condition of her
husband's health; and forced herself to confess to Zack that the
favorable time for his return had not yet arrived. After this--with
mutual promises to communicate again soon through Valentine--they
parted very sadly, just at the entrance of Baregrove Square: Mrs.
Thorpe hurrying nervously to her own door, Zack returning gloomily to
Mr. Blyth's house.
Meanwhile, how had Mat been occupying himself, since he had left his
young friend alone in the lodging in Kirk Street?
He had really gone out, as Zack had supposed, for one of those long
night-walks of his, which usually took him well into the country before
the first grey of daylight had spread far over the sky. On ordinary
occasions, he only indulged in these oddly-timed pedestrian excursions
because the restless habits engendered by his vagabond life, made him
incapable of conforming to civilized hours by spending the earliest
part of the morning, like other people, inactively in bed.
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