The Silent House

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CHAPTER I

THE TENANT OF THE SILENT HOUSE


Lucian Denzil was a briefless barrister, who so far departed from the
traditions of his brethren of the long robe as not to dwell within the
purlieus of the Temple. For certain private reasons, not unconnected
with economy, he occupied rooms in Geneva Square, Pimlico; and, for the
purposes of his profession, repaired daily, from ten to four, to
Serjeant's Inn, where he shared an office with a friend equally
briefless and poor.

This state of things sounds hardly enviable, but Lucian, being young and
independent to the extent of £300 a year, was not dissatisfied with his
position. As his age was only twenty-five, there was ample time, he
thought, to succeed in his profession; and, pending that desirable
consummation, he cultivated the muses on a little oatmeal, after the
fashion of his kind. There have been lives less happily circumstanced.

Geneva Square was a kind of backwater of the great river of town life
which swept past its entrance with speed and clamour without disturbing
the peace within. One long, narrow street led from a roaring
thoroughfare into a silent quadrangle of tall grey houses, occupied by
lodging-house keepers, city clerks and two or three artists, who
represented the Bohemian element of the place. In the centre there was
an oasis of green lawn, surrounded by rusty iron railings the height of
a man, dotted with elms of considerable age, and streaked with narrow
paths of yellow gravel.