Success

At Galhardy's great foundries, Michael Annarly's ability gives him room to experiment and plenty of people to offend. Una L. Silberrad places her engineer among directors, wealthy hosts and colleagues who measure talent against influence and social standing. Lady Sibyl Carson admires his achievements, while the board's secretary, Brett, responds with open sarcasm. The firm expects him to solve a problem involving aerial torpedoes, and its confidence in his work leaves others resentful of the money and freedom he receives.

Success follows the uneasy connection between invention and acceptance in English society. A later encounter with Carson turns on a few guarded words about the oil-cooled steel Michael has developed for the company. His intense concern for the process sits beside the strain visible when he returns to Nan at their inn. Readers interested in industrial fiction will find technical ambition tested through conversation, professional rivalry and the small signals of friendship.