M. David's arrival being only a matter of a few hours, Marie could defer the revelation of her plans no longer, so she went to the study in search of him. She found him seated at a table, apparently engaged in translating a French exercise into English.
"Lay aside your books a moment, Frederick, and come and sit down by me. There is something I wish to say to you."
Frederick took a seat beside his mother on a sofa near the fireplace, and his mother, taking her son's hands in hers, said to him, with the tenderest solicitude:
"How cold your hands are, my son. Your writing-table is too far from the fire. You ought to move your table to this part of the room."
"I will, mother, if you wish it."
"I wish you would do so presently, but first we must have a little talk."
"About what?"
"About a very important matter, my son."
"I am listening."
"The reasons that decided me to employ a tutor for you still exist, though he has left us. There are branches in which you need instruction which I am unfortunately not able to give."