"Oh no!" said Janet, in a tone to indicate that there was no possibility
of Mrs Cannon being in Bursley.
He was relieved. Yes, he was glad. He felt that he could not have
endured the sensation of her nearness, of her actually being in the next
house. Her presence at the Orgreaves' would have made the
neighbourhood, the whole town, dangerous. It would have subjected him
to the risk of meeting her suddenly at any corner. Nay, he would have
been forced to go in cold blood to encounter her. And he knew that he
could not have borne to look at her. The constraint of such an
interview would have been torture too acute. Strange, that though he
was absolutely innocent, though he had done nought but suffer, he should
feel like a criminal, should have the criminal's shifting downcast
glance!
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