In Volume 9 in A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series, Philip emerges from the First World War, feeling overwhelmed by the powers of destruction. Tentatively, at first, he resumes his ascent. His progress is charted through his encounters with women, each meeting unfulfilled because of his own egotism, the result of his determination to foster his mystical sensitivity to the influence of nature. In each encounter he seeks a spirit fellow to his own, but he holds himself back, until he is driven to offer himself to the girl Barley, and finds himself restored to life.
