"Is that final, mother?… Are you sure it is your final decision?"
"Absolutely," she said, her voice cold as steel.
"Very well," said Bonbright, and, turning, he walked steadily toward the door.
"Where are you going?" his father said, taking an anxious step after his son.
"I don't know," said Bonbright. "But I'm not coming back."
He passed through the door and disappeared, but his mother did not call after him, did not relent and follow her only son to bring him back. Her face was set, her lips a thin, white line.
"Let him go," she said. "He'll come back when he's eaten enough husks."
"He's GOT to come back…. We've got to stop this marriage. He's our only son, Georgia—he's necessary to the Family. HIS son is necessary."
"And hers?" she asked, with bitter irony.
"Better hers than none," said Mr. Foote.