The Argosy, Vol. 67

The Tower Gardens, by [author unidentified] (serialized, Chapter XII)

Arnold Birkett, a colonial trader recently returned from the African coast, lies ill with ague and fever at the Tavistock Hotel in London. Tormented by an unnamed guilty deed he cannot confess, he grows desperate for human contact. When Mr. Tildesley, a colonial broker, visits, Birkett finds temporary relief through conversation and accepts an invitation to Tildesley's home, "Crow's Nest," in the suburban villa district of Lambrooke.

At the Tildeskeys' Sunday dinner, Birkett—claiming to be a widower with one daughter—expresses discomfort with contemporary English society, particularly modern young women, whom he finds incomprehensible compared to his idealized memory of English femininity. He speaks extensively of African colonial life and colonial commerce. Mrs. Tildesley finds him intriguing, noting his fine dark eyes, and grows increasingly interested in learning details of his personal history—details Birkett parries with evasion and vague responses. The chapter ends with domestic pleasantries over coffee.