"My dear boy," he said, "I am so pleased to see you!"
But there was no response for either on the face of their son. He bowed coldly, and his mother's jeweled arms fell by her side.
"This is a surprise, indeed," he said. "I should have considered some little notice more agreeable."
"Lance, you may say what you will to me," said the earl, "but remember, not one word to your mother."
"My mother was very cruel to me," he said, coldly, turning from her.
But my lady had recovered herself. She held out her hands with charming grace; she looked at her son with a charming smile.
"My dearest Lance," she said, "children call the physician who cuts off a diseased limb cruel, yet he is most merciful. I am even more merciful than he. I did what I did in the spirit of truest kindness to you, my son."
"Let there be no mention of the word kindness between us," he said. "You nearly broke the heart, and certainly ruined the life of the girl whom I loved. Mother, if that be what you call kindness, then I do not understand the English tongue."
"I did it for your sake, my dearest Lance," said my lady, caressingly.
"One would have thought that, loving the girl with my whole heart, for my sake you would have loved her also."