London had already begun to disgorge its workers as he neared Putney Bridge; the ant-heap was on the move outwards. What a lot of ants, all with a living to get, holding on by their eyelids in the great scramble! Perhaps for the first time in his life Soames thought: “ I could let go if I liked! Nothing could touch me; I could snap my fingers, live as I wished⁠—enjoy myself!” No! One could not live as he had and just drop it all⁠—settle down in Capua, to spend the money and reputation he had made. A man’s life was what he possessed and sought to possess. Only fools thought otherwise⁠—fools, and socialists, and libertines!