If he commended anything, he did so with a judicial air.

In fact, it would not have been easy to imagine Mr.Dalmaine speaking with an outburst of natural fervour on any topic whatsoever.

His view was the view of common sense, and he enunciated the barrenest convictions in a tone which would have suited profound originality.
A week later there was a dinner party at the Tyrrells, and Egremont was among the bidden.

He had persisted in his tendency to hold aloof from general society, in spite of many warnings from Mrs.Ormonde, but he could not, short of ingratitude, wholly absent himself from his friends at Lancaster Gate.

Mrs.Tyrrell was no exception to the rule in her attitude to Egremont; as did all matronly ladies, she held him in very warm liking, and sincerely hoped that a young man so admirably fitted for the refinements of social life would in time get rid of his extravagant idealism.