“If you will forgive my remarking it,” Mr. Pengarth said, “this seems rather an extraordinary place for you to come to if you really dislike solitude.”
“I come to escape from an intolerable situation, and because I was ill,” Wingrave said.
“You might have brought friends,” the lawyer suggested.
“I have no friends,” Wingrave answered.
“Some of the people in the neighborhood would be very glad—” Mr. Pengarth began.
“I do not wish to see them,” Wingrave answered.
Mr. Pengarth took a peach, and held his tongue. Wingrave broke the silence which followed a little abruptly.
“Tell me, Mr. Pengarth,” he said, “do I look like a man likely to fail in anything he sets out to accomplish?”
The lawyer shook his head vigorously.
“You do not,” he declared.