The Whirlpool George Gissing The Whirlpool Table of Contents The Whirlpool............................................................................................................................................................1 George Gissing...............................................................................................................................................1 Part One.......................................................................................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 1..................................................................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 2..................................................................................................................................................6 CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................................................12 CHAPTER 4................................................................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 5................................................................................................................................................25 CHAPTER 6................................................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 7................................................................................................................................................41 CHAPTER 8................................................................................................................................................48 CHAPTER 9................................................................................................................................................54 CHAPTER 10..............................................................................................................................................62 CHAPTER 11..............................................................................................................................................69 CHAPTER 12..............................................................................................................................................75 Part Two....................................................................................................................................................................81 CHAPTER 1................................................................................................................................................81 CHAPTER 2................................................................................................................................................88 CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................................................95 CHAPTER 4..............................................................................................................................................103 CHAPTER 5..............................................................................................................................................113 CHAPTER 6..............................................................................................................................................121 CHAPTER 7..............................................................................................................................................126 CHAPTER 8..............................................................................................................................................134 CHAPTER 9..............................................................................................................................................143 CHAPTER 10............................................................................................................................................150 CHAPTER 11............................................................................................................................................158 CHAPTER 12............................................................................................................................................167 CHAPTER 13............................................................................................................................................176 CHAPTER 14............................................................................................................................................185 CHAPTER 15............................................................................................................................................192 Part 3.......................................................................................................................................................................197 CHAPTER 1..............................................................................................................................................197 CHAPTER 2..............................................................................................................................................204 CHAPTER 3..............................................................................................................................................210 CHAPTER 4..............................................................................................................................................219 CHAPTER 5..............................................................................................................................................223 CHAPTER 6..............................................................................................................................................230 CHAPTER 7..............................................................................................................................................238 CHAPTER 8..............................................................................................................................................241 CHAPTER 9..............................................................................................................................................249 CHAPTER 10............................................................................................................................................255 CHAPTER 11............................................................................................................................................260 CHAPTER 12............................................................................................................................................264 CHAPTER 13............................................................................................................................................272 i The Whirlpool George Gissing This page copyright © 2001 Blackmask Online. http://www.blackmask.com • Part One • CHAPTER 1 • CHAPTER 2 • CHAPTER 3 • CHAPTER 4 • CHAPTER 5 • CHAPTER 6 • CHAPTER 7 • CHAPTER 8 • CHAPTER 9 • CHAPTER 10 • CHAPTER 11 • CHAPTER 12 • Part Two • CHAPTER 1 • CHAPTER 2 • CHAPTER 3 • CHAPTER 4 • CHAPTER 5 • CHAPTER 6 • CHAPTER 7 • CHAPTER 8 • CHAPTER 9 • CHAPTER 10 • CHAPTER 11 • CHAPTER 12 • CHAPTER 13 • CHAPTER 14 • CHAPTER 15 • Part 3 • CHAPTER 1 • CHAPTER 2 • CHAPTER 3 • CHAPTER 4 • CHAPTER 5 • CHAPTER 6 • CHAPTER 7 The Whirlpool 1 The Whirlpool • CHAPTER 8 • CHAPTER 9 • CHAPTER 10 • CHAPTER 11 • CHAPTER 12 • CHAPTER 13 Part One CHAPTER 1 Harvey Rolfe was old enough to dine with deliberation, young and healthy enough to sauce with appetite the dishes he thoughtfully selected. You perceived in him the imperfect epicure. His club had no culinary fame; the dinner was merely tolerable; but Rolfe's unfinished palate flattered the second−rate cook. He knew nothing of vintages; it sufficed him to distinguish between Bordeaux and Burgundy; yet one saw him raise his glass and peer at the liquor with eye of connoisseur. All unaffectedly; for he was conscious of his shortcoming in the art of delicate living, and never vaunted his satisfactions. He had known the pasture of poverty, and the table as it is set by London landladies; to look back on these things was to congratulate himself that nowadays he dined. Beyond the achievement of a vague personal distinction at the Metropolitan Club, he had done nothing to make himself a man of note, and it was doubtful whether more than two or three of the members really liked him or regarded him with genuine interest. His introduction to this circle he owed to an old friend, Hugh Carnaby, whose social position was much more clearly defined: Hugh Carnaby, the rambler, the sportsman, and now for a twelvemonth the son−in−law of Mrs Ascott Larkfield. Through Carnaby people learnt as much of his friend's history as it concerned anyone to know: that Harvey Rolfe had begun with the study of medicine, had given it up in disgust, subsequently was 'in business', and withdrew from it on inheriting a competency. They were natives of the same county, and learnt their Latin together at the Grammar School of Greystone, the midland town which was missed by the steam highroad, and so preserves much of the beauty and tranquillity of days gone by. Rolfe seldom spoke of his own affairs, but in talking