And then a queer thing happened to him. He had been about to extinguish
the light and go to bed, when he remembered that the parcel of MS. was
lying on the table and that his mother would see it in the morning. She
would probably ask questions about it ... and he would have to tell her
that Messrs. Hatchway and Selden had refused to publish it. He seized
the parcel and tucked it under his arm. He would keep it in his room
and post it without saying anything to her about it. He did not wish
her to know that it had been declined. Messrs. Hatchway and Selden had
given a very good excuse for not publishing it--conditions of the
publishing trade--and they had manifested a desire to see other work of
his. That could hardly be said to be a refusal to print the book ... at
all events, it could not be called an ordinary, condemnatory refusal.
No doubt, had the conditions of the publishing trade been easier,
Messrs. Hatchway and Selden would have been extremely pleased to print
the book. It was not their fault that the conditions of the publishing
trade were so difficult!... Anyhow, he did not wish his mother to know
that the book had been refused, even though the conditions of the
publishing trade were so difficult. So he took the MS. up to his
bedroom with him.