Public school, University, and two years on the Continent had produced a finished man, educated to the finger-tips, deeply read, clever, bright, and occasionally witty; but Jack Meredith was at this time nothing more than a brilliant conglomerate of possibilities.

He had obeyed his father to the letter with a conscientiousness bred of admiration.

He had always felt that his father knew best.

And now he seemed to be waiting--possibly for further orders.
He was suggestive of a perfect piece of mechanism standing idle for want of work delicate enough to be manipulated by its delicate craft.

Sir John had impressed upon him the desirability of being independent, and he had promptly cultivated that excellent quality, taking kindly enough to rooms of his own in a fashionable quarter.