He was sure that he was nothing to them, though they were the ones whom he considered his best friends.
Another cause of misery was the fact that his father's death in leaving him alone had also thrown him upon his own resources.

Now he would have to shoulder responsibilities which hitherto his father had assumed, and decide questions which until now his father had answered.
However, he felt that his father's death had sobered him as nothing else, not even Ida's suicide, had done.

The time was come at length for him to take life seriously.

He would settle down now to work at his art.
He would go to Paris as his father had wished, and devote himself earnestly to painting.

Yes, the time was come for him to steady himself, and give over the vicious life into which he had been drifting.
But it was not long before Vandover had become accustomed to his father's death, and had again rearranged himself to suit the new environment which it had occasioned.