They were built upon a foundation of knowledge arduously gained and tested.

The rising in Matanga, if it took place, might delay success, but success would surely come.

He might then look forward with confidence to a seat in that Parliament on which the light was burning, to a share perhaps finally in its executive.
But to-night he found that there was something wanting in the contemplation of these aims, something wanting in the very outlook from his window.

He needed Clarice here in his balcony by his side, and he pictured the shine of her eyes bent towards him in the dark.

And the perception of that need held him in check, gave him a hint of warning that the thought of her might become as a wedge driven into the framework of his purposes and splitting them.
He could still draw back, he assured himself.