Mr. Leigh was in a very depressed and anxious mood. His lateconversations with Mrs. Costello had disturbed him and broken up thecurrent of his thoughts, and even to some extent of his usualoccupations, without producing any result beneficial to either of them.She had told him a strange and almost incredible story of her life; andthen, just when he was full of sympathy and eagerness to be of use toher, everything seemed suddenly to have changed, and the events thatfollowed had been wholly, as it were, out of his reach. He thought overthe matter with a little sensation, which, if he had been less simpleand generous a man, might have been offence. Even as it was, he feltuncomfortably divided between his real interest in his old friends, anda temptation to pretend that he was not interested at all.