“Oh please ” he said hurriedly, his downcast inturned smile suddenly irradiating his forehead, bringing down the eyebrows that must have gone singing thoughtfully up as he spoke about the light … a request of some kind; one of his extraordinary unashamed demands. … “You must help me. I must immediately pawn my watch. Where is a pawning shop?”
Miriam stared her consternation.
“Ah, no,” he said, his features working with embarrassment “it is not for myself. It is my friend, the Polish Doctor, who was only now here,” Miriam gazed, plunging on through relief into a chaos of bewildered admiration.
“But you hardly know him!” she exclaimed, sitting down for more leisurely contemplation.
“That is not the point,” he said seriously, taking the chair on the other side of the little table. “Poor fellow, he is not long in London, and has almost no friends. He is working in abstruse researchings, needing much spendings on materials, and is threatened by his landlady to leave his apartments.”
“Did he tell you this?” said Miriam sceptically recalling the Polish head, its smooth cold perfect beauty and indifference.
“Most certainly he told me. He must immediately have ten pounds.”