more exactly. Will you give your father my compliments and thanks, and
say that I am entirely satisfied with the firm's conduct of affairs
during my--absence?"

Rocke nodded.

"Certainly," he said. "That will please the governor! I must be off
now. I hope you'll soon be feeling quite yourself again, Sir Wingrave!
It must seem a bit odd at first, I suppose, but it will wear off all
right. What you want, after all, is society. Much better let me
arrange that little dinner for tonight!"

Wingrave shook his head.

"Later on, perhaps," he answered. "Good morning!"



A STUDENT OF CHARACTER

Left alone, Wingrave walked for several minutes up and down the room,
his hands behind him, his head bent. He walked, not restlessly, but
with measured footsteps. His mind was fixed steadfastly upon the one
immediate problem of his own future. His interview with Rocke had
unsettled--to a certain extent unnerved--him. Was this freedom for
which he had longed so passionately, this return into civilized life,
to mean simply the exchange of an iron-barred cell for a palace whose
outer gates were as hopelessly locked, even though the key was of
gold! Freedom! Was it after all an illusion? Was his to be the hog's
paradise of empty delights; were the other worlds indeed forbidden? He