Mr. Doran’s points of view, he is so anxious that he can't manage to shave himself. He knows he must marry Polly--his Catholic boss will fire him if he doesn't, and he feels terribly guilty about his "sin." But he realizes that Polly is "a little vulgar"--she's depicted as singing a risque song at one of the musical evenings at the house--and he "had a notion that he was being had." Polly's seduction of him mimics a famous scene from La Boheme so completely that the reader can't help but wonder if she deliberately staged the entire moment (she knocks on his door because her candle went out, and asks him for a light--just as Mimi meets Rodolfo for the first time in Boheme). Yet, although he is vaguely aware that the affair is not entirely his fault, he knows he still must make "reparations" for it by marrying her. He enjoyed their affair in the moment, but he knows that his "delirium" will pass. Helpless and miserable, Mr. Doran longs for escape, but even as he trudges down the stairs to his doom, he passes Polly's thuggish brother, Jack Mooney, who eyes him coldly. Mr. Doran knows that Jack will be enraged and possibly dangerous if he doesn't marry her.