"
It was, of course, utterly unsuspected by the elder members of the
household that Christopher had "formed a connexion," in so innocent
a sense, with a young woman who sold programmes and took tips at the
theatre. That connexion had come about in the simplest way. One
Sunday evening, a year ago, Christopher was returning from Clapham
Common on the top of a crowded tram, and next to him sat a girl with
a fresh colour, whom he eyed with respectfully furtive admiration.
This young person had paid her fare, but carelessly dropped the
ticket, and it chanced that an inspector who came on board at a
certain point raised the question whether she had really paid. The
conductor weakly expressed a doubt, suggesting that this passenger
had ascended with two or three other people since his last
collection of fares. Here was a chance for young Mr. Parish, who
could give conscientious evidence. Very hot in the face, he
declared, affirmed, and asseverated that the young lady was telling
the truth, and his energy at length prevailed. Of course, this led
to colloquy between the two.
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