"Uh—well, no. Of course I must have some talk with Reuben about this in—well, in a day or two...."
"Tell Kate."
"Kate, I have done a thing, the which seemed right to me at the time, and still does, but...."
"Tell Kate."
"Artemis is to sail tomorrow. The Tuesday afternoon, if the weather be right. The sky's clear tonight—I dare say it will be fair."
"Oh?"
"Ay—Barbados. And Ben does not know it, Kate, and will not know it until she is gone."
"Oh, John!"
"I know. Now let me try to tell thee: Ben was most desirous to sail—you knew that—and I—I can't have it, Kate. Not now, and he so young—the hardships, and his study disrupted, all that. A while ago—a week ago Saturday, I think—he spoke to me of this. He had the thought that Artemis might make a quick passage to New York. It was reasonable. He'd given it much thought evidently, and spoke up every inch a man, I was obliged to consider it, though I still think my own judgment is best, and so—so she's for Barbados, and will surely bring enough on her return to clear away—certain debts, and put us in good posture for some time to come.... Well, let it be I'm simply a coward, Kate: I could not face him, and tell him he was not to go—that is, not now, when I—I tell thee, Kate, I can't quite seem to recover from what happened to Iris. Not as I used to recover from such misfortune. Why, when Hera was lost—oh, I'm getting old. I simply could not bear to see the light go out of him, as I knew it would."
"But later, when he's bound to know——"