A sudden fear shook Chilcote. “Loder!” he exclaimed again, “you wouldn't desert me? I can't go back to-night. I can't go back.”
Still Loder remained immovable.
Alarmed by his silence, Chilcote stepped closer to him.
“Loder! Loder, you won't desert me?” He caught hastily at his arm.
With a quick repulsion Loder shook him off; then almost as quickly he turned round.
“What fools we all are!” he said, abruptly. “We, only differ in degree. Come in, and let us change our clothes.”
XIII
The best moments of a man's life are the moments when, strong in himself, he feels that the world lies before him. Gratified ambition may be the summer, but anticipation is the ardent spring-time of a man's career.
As Loder drove that night frown Fleet Street to Grosvenor Square he realized this—though scarcely with any degree of consciousness—for he was no accomplished self-analyst. But in a wave of feeling too vigorous to be denied he recognized his regained foothold—the step that lifted him at once from the pit to the pinnacle.