"I am so glad to see you, Master Reginald," she said, the hard voice in which she habitually spoke becoming soft and tender. "I have not seen you for a long time."
"A whole week, Patience, that's all," he replied, carelessly. "You see I'm busy with my studies."
"That's right, dear!" she said, eagerly. "Work--work hard, and make a name in the world.
"For whose sake?" he asked, a little bitterly.
"For mine!"
There was a world of tenderness in the way in which she spoke the words, and her eyes seemed to devour him as she gazed. He moved restlessly, and with a supreme effort plunged straight into the object of his visit.
"Why not for my parents' sake?"
The woman's face lost its look of tenderness, and became hard and rigid as she pressed the arms of her chair convulsively, and looked up into his face.
"Who has been speaking to you about them," she asked fiercely.
"Doctor Larcher."