CHAPTER V
THE STRENGTHENING OF THE CHAIN
For the next few days following the night of the dinner at John Castlemaine's house, a change seemed to have come over Radford Leicester. He became less hopeless, and he did not drink so freely. It might seem as though an evening spent in the society of a good woman had a beneficial effect upon him. He did not take any further steps to carry out his avowed intention, but when he spoke of women it was with less bitterness.
Both Sprague and Purvis noticed this, and both wondered what it portended. Could it be that Leicester meant to reform, or did it mean that he was simply playing a part, in order to win the woman he had boasted he could win?
Nevertheless he was moody, and seemed unhappy. He met these men sometimes at the club, but spoke little. Moreover, in public he was very abstemious, so much so that even the waiter noticed it.
"Is he turning over a new leaf?" asked Purvis of Sprague.
"If he is, he is not playing the game," replied the other.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it was understood that he should win her on the understanding that he was an atheist and a drunkard."