"Isn't it a beautiful place?" asked Mrs. Lowell.
"I don't know," returned the boy after a hesitation. Then he looked down on the grass at Philip.
"Do you want to go back and watch Mr. Barrison paint?"
"Yes."
"All right. Run along. We'll talk some other time."
The boy rose and shuffled across the porch and down the steps.
"Mrs. Lowell, it is heart-breaking!" exclaimed Diana softly.
Her companion nodded.
"The situation is incomprehensible," said Diana. "It seems as if Mr. Gayne had some ulterior design which impelled him to stultify any outcropping of intelligence in his nephew. Have you not observed it from the moment of their arrival?"