IV
He left the house with his mind in confusion as to the meaning of Mills’s offer. He drove about for an hour, pondering it, reviewing the whole evening from the first mention of Laconia to the suggestion, with its plausible inadvertence, that business openings might be found for him. Mills was hardly the man to make such a proposition to a comparative stranger without reason. The very manner in which he had approached the subject was significant. Mills knew! If he didn’t know, at least his suspicions were strongly aroused. Either his conscience was troubling him and he wished to quiet it by a display of generosity, or he was anxious to establish an obligation that would reduce to the minimum the chance that any demand might be made upon him. Bruce was glad to be in a position to refuse Mills’s help; his mother’s care and self-denial had made it unnecessary for him to abase himself by accepting Mills’s bounty.
He wished he knew some way of making Mills understand that he was in no danger; that any fears of exposure he might entertain were groundless. His pride rose strong in him as he reviewed his hours spent with Mills. He had not acquitted himself badly; he had forced Mills to respect him, and this was a point worth establishing. When finally he fell asleep it was with satisfaction,—a comforting sense of his independence and complete self-mastery.