His sense of time as a portion of eternity never left him, and therefore his patience under tardy fulfilment of his desires never faltered.

Some ten years before, he decided that he would at some earlier or later date become mayor of Banbridge, and his decision was still impregnable.

After every new election of another candidate, he begged his patrons for their votes another time, and was not in the least disturbed nor daunted that they had failed in their former promises.

Flynn's good-nature was as unfaltering as his self-esteem, perhaps because of his self-esteem.

He only smiled with fatuous superiority when from time to time, after the elections, his patrons would chaff him about his failure to secure the mayoralty.