Before
giving it back to her, he decided at least to see Barker and learn
about his prospects and expectations. He might find some way of
making himself useful to him.
In a state of independence he found Lemuel much more accessible than
formerly, and their interview was more nearly amicable. Sewell said
that he had been delighted to hear of Lemuel's whereabouts from his
old friend Evans, and to know that they were housed together. He
said that he used to know Mrs. Harmon long ago, and that she was a
good-hearted, well-meaning woman, though without much forecast. He
even assented to Lemuel's hasty generalisation of her as a perfect
lady, though they both felt a certain inaccuracy in this, and Sewell
repeated that she was a woman of excellent heart and turned to a
more intimate inquest of Lemuel's life.
He tried to find out how he employed his leisure time, saying that
he always sympathised with young men away from home, and suggesting
the reading-room and the frequent lectures at the Young Men's
Christian Union for his odd moments. He learned that Lemuel had not
many of these during the week, and that on Sundays he spent all the
time he could get in hearing the different noted ministers. For the
rest, he learned that Lemuel was very much interested in the city,
and appeared to be rapidly absorbing both its present civilisation
and its past history.
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