Of course I despise myself for such nervous apprehensions, and do not allow them to influence my actions--just as one, under heavy fire, does not satisfy one's simple yearning to run away.

I would have given a year's income to be able to refuse Boyce's request with a clear conscience; but I could not.

I shrank all the more because my visit in the autumn to Reggie Dacre had shaken me more than I cared to confess.

It had been the only occasion for years when I had entered a London building other than my club.

To the club, where I was as much at home as in my own house, all those in town with whom I now and then had to transact business were good enough to come.