But you know what I meant ?" "Perfectly, and I thank you." They shook hands again.

Champney stepped from the portico, and, reaching the gate, seemed to vanish as he had come, out of the darkness.
The storm was not yet over; the air had again become close and suffocating.

Courtland remained brooding in his chair.

Whether he could accept Champney's news as true or not, he felt that he must end this suspense at once.

A half-guilty consciousness that he was thinking more of it in reference to his own passion than his duty to the company did not render his meditations less unpleasant.