Watched
Ever since his imprisonment and illness, Arthur has felt he is being watched.
It happens at home: where Affery—whose first words to him were a lament over his loss of weight—is trying to make him eat something every time he turns around; where Amy positively turns pale if he ever coughs, or feels hot, or looks tired. It happens at Doyce and Clennam's, where Doyce or Pancks is forever drifting into his counting-house to inquire nonchalantly whether he doesn't feel like going home early, and getting some rest. When he and Amy go to see Mr. and Mrs. Meagles in the spring, and they all walk out in the garden under the flowering trees, the eyes of that worthy couple are fixed on him every moment, as though they expect him to vanish away, and are trying to take his description to give to the police.
In vain does he object, or protest, or try to laugh away the concern that surrounds him. It persists; and though he will never confess it—will scarcely admit it even to himself—he cannot help enjoying being its object. Nothing has ever made him feel so safe, and cherished, and loved.