He sank down and she stood over him, anguish and triumph strangely mingled in her beautiful face.
"General, tell me true; did you not force this quarrel into your son's hand? I know he would not choose to have it. Did you not do it to test his courage, because all these fifteen years you have made yourself a fool with the fear that he became a student only to escape being a soldier? Did you not?"
Her eyes looked him through and through.
"And if I did?" demanded he with faint defiance.
"Yes! and if he has made dreadful haste and proved his courage?" asked she.
"Well, then,"—the General straightened up triumphantly—"then he is my son!"
He beat the desk.
"And heir to your wealth, for example?"
"Certainly."
The lady bowed in solemn mockery.