Nor did he on this particular morning rouse himself into immediate activity.

Stretching himself languorously, he permitted the alarm to exhaust itself, then buried his head in his pillow.
But he did not close his eyes.

With a painful effort he prevented his tired eyelids from falling and for half an hour remained stretched between the sheets, lost in gloomy reflection.
There had been a purpose in setting the alarm at this early hour; the same purpose now held him awake, absorbed in thought, yet alert to every sound about the house.

He heard the butler unlock the storm doors and the servants prepare for the morning work.

An occasional delivery wagon ground through the gravel walk, the grating noise of the wheels rasping his quivering nerves.
Through the open window a stream of sunshine flooded the floor and distributed itself impartially about the room.