He was still comfortably ahead in the race, but a famine in opportunities was not far remote.

Ten big dinner parties and a string of elaborate after-the-play suppers maintained a fair but insufficient average, and he could see that the time was ripe for radical measures.

He could not go on forever with his dinners.

People were already beginning to refer to the fact that he was warming his toes on the Social Register, and he had no desire to become the laughing stock of the town.

The few slighting, sarcastic remarks about his business ability, chiefly by women and therefore reflected from the men, hurt him.