There was very little affection in the silence which fell on the room.

He had given up, long since, expecting it.

It said much for him that its absence neither soured nor embittered him.

It made him unhappy, but he kept that to himself, and let it influence him not a whit in the path of duty he had set before him--a path from which not even the hatred of Templeton would have driven him.
"I'm sure we are all very grateful to Freckleton," he said.

"It will be an honour to anyone to get into the Club, and for those who don't get on at first, it will be something to look forward to and work for.