So much for the commencement of this long whim-wham . After the initial conception and the stirring up of the man 's sluggish temperament to put it in practice , the whole matter evolves itself in a natural train . We may suppose him , as the result of deep deliberation , buying a new wig of reddish hair and selecting sundry garments , in a fashion unlike his customary suit of brown , from a Jew 's old-clothes bag . It is accomplished : Wakefield is another man . The new system being now established , a retrograde movement to the old would be almost as difficult as the step that placed him in his unparalleled position . Furthermore , he is rendered obstinate by a sulkiness occasionally incident to his temper and brought on at present by the inadequate sensation which he conceives to have been produced in the bosom of Mrs. Wakefield . He will not go back until she be frightened half to death . Well , twice or thrice has she passed before his sight , each time with a heavier step , a paler cheek and more anxious brow , and in the third week of his non-appearance he detects a portent of evil entering the house in the guise of an apothecary . Next day the knocker is muffled . Toward nightfall comes the chariot of a physician and deposits its big-wigged and solemn burden at Wakefield 's door , whence after a quarter of an hour 's visit he emerges , perchance the herald of a funeral . Dear woman ! will she die ? By this time Wakefield is excited to something like energy of feeling , but still lingers away from his wife 's bedside , pleading with his conscience that she must not be disturbed at such a juncture . If aught else restrains him , he does not know it . In the course of a few weeks she gradually recovers . The crisis is over ; her heart is sad , perhaps , but quiet , and , let him return soon or late , it will never be feverish for him again . Such ideas glimmer through the mist of Wakefield 's mind and render him indistinctly conscious that an almost impassable gulf divides his hired apartment from his former home . `` It is but in the next street , '' he sometimes says . Fool ! it is in another world .
Hitherto he has put off ' his return XXXXX one particular day to another ; henceforward he leaves the precise time undetermined -- not to-morrow ; probably next week ; pretty soon .
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