"No, of course not, dear. With this girl at Fernhurst?"
"I don't know. How could I tell?"
And again they sat in silence. It was such a long while since they had been called upon to face a serious situation. For many years now they had lived upon the agreeable surface of an ordered life. They were unprepared for this disquieting intrusion.
"And what's going to happen now?" she said at last. "I suppose you'll have to go down and see him."
"Yes, I think so. Yes, certainly. I ought to go down to-morrow."
"And what will you say to him?"
"I don't know. What is it the headmaster says?"
She handed him the letter and he fumbled with it. "Here it is. 'I do not see myself why this should prejudice in any way his going up to the University.' That's what the headmaster says. But I don't really see how we could manage it. After all, what would happen? He would have to go to a crammer's and everyone would ask questions. We have always said how good the Fernhurst education is, and now they'll begin to wonder why we've changed our minds. If we take Roland away and send him to a crammer's they would be sure to think something was up. You know what people are. It would never do."
"No, I suppose not. But it seems rather hard on Roland if he's got to give up Oxford."