Putting everything else aside, these investigations had their delights.

What other young fellow of his age could boast an Eleanor, who said she had been fond of him tens of thousands of years before?
Moreover, here was one of the gates to that knowledge which he desired so earnestly, and how could he find the strength to shut it in his own face?
Of course the end of the matter was that by the following Sunday, his toothache had departed, and the carriage did not return empty to the Villa Ogilvy.
He found his hostess looking white and ethereal, an appearance that she had acquired increasingly ever since their first meeting.

Her delight at seeing him was obvious, as was that of the others.

For this he soon discovered the reason.

It appeared that the sitting on the previous Sunday, when he was overcome by toothache, had been an almost total failure.