“That seems rather surprising, sir,” said Kenneth, with a laugh his father did not like, “when I have been going and coming without comment ever since I left college.”
“All the more reason why you should begin to think of settling down,” replied his father testily.
“Settling down?” repeated the son; “what do you want me to do?”
“We will come to that later. The main thing is, that you are to give up this notion and remain here with me. If you force me to it I shall refuse to give you the money for such an expedition.”
“I have some property of my own,” Kenneth said, his whole nature rising in rebellion.
“You wouldn’t be such a fool as to squander that pittance on a pleasure trip! Be careful, Kenneth! I am in no mood to be thwarted to-day!”
“Then why do you thwart me? It is not a remarkable thing for a man to want to travel,” trying to speak calmly, “and I don’t see why you should take it in this unexpected way—it is unreasonable.”
But Mr. Landor, being a quick-tempered man, was beyond reason and had too little comprehension of his son to realize that his opposition tended to fan into a fixed resolve what had up to this time been only a pleasing possibility. There was a stern look about his mouth as he said to Kenneth, “You will do as I say, and remain for the present in Radnor. I have other plans for you.”
As he had never been dictated to in his life, this emphatic order fell with considerable astonishment upon Kenneth’s ears, even though he knew his father to be in an irascible frame of mind. He thought, however, that the thing might blow over, as many a quarrel between them had blown over, after which, in all these contests of will, the younger man had invariably gained the day.
Kenneth was not of an ugly disposition; indeed, his nature was most lovable, while his peculiar exemption from responsibility had produced an inconsequential, happy-go-lucky attitude toward life that was one of his greatest charms. And the selfishness that sometimes cropped out in his character was not viciousness, but the natural outcome of over-indulgence. It had never occurred to him that his father would make any demands upon him, though in a vague, unformed sort of way he intended ultimately to make demands upon himself. Just how he should do this gave him occasional delightfully introspective moments in which he played with possibilities. In his father’s eyes that was Kenneth’s great weakness—that he played with all the abandon of a vagabond; but to blame the man for this was a great injustice, since his father had not suggested or encouraged his taking up any business or profession, and had supplied him with a liberal income dating back to the beginning of his college career.