His nature was not of that sort, and he could not by a spasm of penitence nullify the events of the last few months.

He must accept himself as altered by what he had gone through.

Was there, then, any life left for the man he was now?
Undoubtedly, the easiest thing was to bid a quiet good-by to the life he had so mismanaged.

He had never in old days been wedded to life.

He had learnt always to regard it rather as a necessary evil than as a thing desirable in itself.