there was no way out!

Half an hour's meditation convinced him of this, and, as was his sensible
plan, when a thing was inevitable, he never either fought against it nor
wasted energy in regretting it. And he went slowly out of the office into
which he had come so briskly an hour or two before. But his face
expressed no sign of disquieting emotion; he nodded kindly to Timmins,
and endorsed his desire to be allowed to come and see the grandson. If
anything was on his mind, or if he was revolving some policy for the
future, it did not seem to touch or sour that kindly, pleasant face.

CHAPTER IV

Mr. Taynton did not let these very unpleasant occurrences interfere with
the usual and beneficent course of his life, but faced the crisis with
that true bravery that not only meets a thing without flinching, but
meets it with the higher courage of cheerfulness, serenity and ordinary
behaviour. He spent the rest of the day in fact in his usual manner,
enjoying his bathe before lunch, his hour of the paper and the quiet
cigar afterward, his stroll over the springy turf of the downs, and he
enjoyed also the couple of hours of work that brought him to dinner time.
Then afterward he spent his evening, as was his weekly custom, at the
club for young men which he had founded, where instead of being exposed
to the evening lures of the sea-front and the public house, they could
spend (on payment of a really nominal subscription) a quieter and more
innocent hour over chess, bagatelle and the illustrated papers, or if
more energetically disposed, in the airy gymnasium adjoining the
reading-room, where they could indulge in friendly rivalry with boxing
gloves or single-stick, or feed the appetites of their growing muscles
with dumb-bells and elastic contrivances. Mr. Taynton had spent a couple
of hours there, losing a game of chess to one youthful adversary, but
getting back his laurels over bagatelle, and before he left, had arranged
for a geological expedition to visit, on the Whitsuntide bank holiday
next week, the curious raised beach which protruded so remarkably from
the range of chalk downs some ten miles away.

On returning home, it is true he had deviated a little from his usual
habits, for instead of devoting the half-hour before bed-time to the
leisurely perusal of the evening paper, he had merely given it one
glance, observing that copper was strong and that Boston Copper in
particular had risen half a point, and had