But he was no coward, though not quite so courageous as Hector, who yet turned and fled before Achilles.

Without the upholding sense of duty, no man can be sure of his own behaviour, simply because he cannot be sure of his own nerves.

Duty kept the red-cross knight "forlorne and left to losse," "haplesse and eke hopelesse," "Disarmd, disgraste, and inwardly dismayde, And eke so faint in every joynt and vayne," from turning his back on the giant Orgoglio, and sent him pacing towards him with feeble steps instead.

But although he was not wanting in mere animal courage, Beauchamp's pride always prevented him from engaging in any contest in which he was not sure of success, the thought of failure being to him unendurable.

When he found that he had miscalculated the probabilities, he was instantly dismayed; and the blow he received on his mouth reminding his vanity of the danger his handsome face was in, he dropped his arms and declined further contest, comforting himself with the fancy of postponing his vengeance to a better opportunity.
But within an hour he knew that he had lost his chance, as certainly as he who omits the flood-tide of his fortune.