He was glad to have the cheque, and knew quite well that he should keep it, but a certain uneasiness hung about his mind all the morning.

Dyce had his ideal of manly independence; it annoyed him that circumstances made the noble line of conduct so difficult.

He believed himself strong, virile, yet so often it happened that he was constrained to act in what seemed rather a feeble and undignified way.

But, after all, it was temporary; the day of his emancipation from paltry necessities would surely come, and all the great qualities latent in him would have ample scope.
Plainly, he must do something.

He could live for the next few months, but, after that, had no resources to count upon.