She  necessarily  recalled  to  him  his  life,  with  all  its  misdirection  and.
little  happiness.
LITTLE   DORRIT.  119

"When  he  got  to  his  lodging,  he  sat  down  before  the  dying  lire,  as  he
had  stood  at  the  window  of  his  old  room  looking  out  upon  the  blackened
forest  of  chimneys,  and  turned  his  gaze  back  upon  the  gloomy  vista  by
which  he  had  come  to  that  stage  in  his  existence.  So  long,  so  bare,  so
blank.  ]STo  childhood ;  no  youth,  except  for  one  remembrance ;  the  one
remembrance  proved,  only  that  day,  to  be  a  piece  of  folly.
It  was  a  misfortune  to  him,  trifle  as  it  might  have  been  to  another.
For,  while  all  that  was  hard  and  stern  in  his  recollection,  remained
Heality  on  being  proved — was  obdurate  to  the  sight  and  touch,  and
relaxed  nothing  of  its  old  indomitable  grimness — the  one  tender  recol-
lection of  his  experience  would  not  bear  the  same  test,  and  melted  away.
He  had  foreseen  this,  on  the  former  night,  when  he  had  dreamed  with
waking  eyes ;  but  he  had  not  felt  it  then ;  and  he  had  now.
