Some years after his return he had inherited the title and the estates, and might have been one of the most invited men in London had he wished to be; while Cynthia could remember at least three women, all desirable, who would have liked to marry him.

The war had swept him more decidedly than ever out of the ordinary current of society.

He had made it both an excuse and a shield.

His work was paramount; and even his old friends had lost sight of him.

He lived and breathed for an important Committee of the Admiralty, on which as time went on he took a more and more important place.