To those who truly knew and loved him, who had tasted the real
sweetness of his nature, Fleeming's porcupine ways had always been
a matter of keen regret. They introduced him to their own friends
with fear; sometimes recalled the step with mortification. It was
not possible to look on with patience while a man so lovable
thwarted love at every step. But the course of time and the
ripening of his nature brought a cure. It was at the Savile that
he first remarked a change; it soon spread beyond the walls of the
club. Presently I find him writing: 'Will you kindly explain what
has happened to me? All my life I have talked a good deal, with
the almost unfailing result of making people sick of the sound of
my tongue. It appeared to me that I had various things to say, and
I had no malevolent feelings, but nevertheless the result was that
expressed above. Well, lately some change has happened. If I talk
to a person one day, they must have me the next. Faces light up
when they see me. - "Ah, I say, come here," - "come and dine with
me.
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