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“ O , dear no , sir . He never dines here , ” replied the butler . “ Indeed we see very little of him on this side of the house ; he mostly comes and goes by the laboratory . ” “ Well , good - night , Poole . ” “ Good - night , Mr . Utterson . ” And the lawyer set out homeward with a very heavy heart . “ Poor Harry Jekyll , ” he thought , “ my mind misgives me he is in deep waters ! He was wild when he was young ; a long while ago to be sure ; but in the law of God , there is no statute of limitations . Ay , it must be that ; the ghost of some old sin , the cancer of some concealed disgrace : punishment coming , pede claudo , years after memory has forgotten and self - love condoned the fault . ” And the lawyer , scared by the thought , brooded awhile on his own past , groping in all the corners of memory , lest by chance some Jack - in - the - Box of an old iniquity should leap to light there . His past was fairly blameless ; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension ; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done , and raised up again into a sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing yet avoided . And then by a return on his former subject , he conceived a spark of hope . “ This Master Hyde , if he were studied , ” thought he , “ must have secrets of his own ; black secrets , by the look of him ; secrets compared to which poor Jekyll’s worst would be like sunshine . Things cannot continue as they are . It turns me cold to think of this creature stealing like a thief to Harry’s bedside ; poor Harry , what a wakening ! And the danger of it ; for if this Hyde suspects the existence of the will , he may grow impatient to inherit . Ay , I must put my shoulders to the wheel — if Jekyll will but let me , ” he added , “ if Jekyll will only let me . ” For once more he saw before his mind’s eye , as clear as transparency , the strange clauses of the will . DR . JEKYLL WAS QUITE AT EASE A fortnight later , by excellent good fortune , the doctor gave one of his pleasant dinners to some five or six old cronies , all intelligent , reputable men and all judges of good wine ; and Mr . Utterson so contrived that he remained behind after the others had departed . This was no new arrangement , but a thing that had befallen many scores of times . Where Utterson was liked , he was liked well . Hosts loved to detain the dry lawyer , when the light - hearted and loose - tongued had already their foot on the threshold ; they liked to sit a while in his unobtrusive company , practising for solitude , sobering their minds in the man’s rich silence after the expense and strain of gaiety . To this rule , Dr . Jekyll was no exception ; and as he now sat on the opposite side of the fire — a large , well - made , smooth - faced man of fifty , with something of a slyish cast perhaps , but every mark of capacity and kindness — you could see by his looks that he cherished for Mr . Utterson a sincere and warm affection .
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