“Delighted,” answered Serge.
Five minutes later Serge knocked at the study door, went in, and found his father at his desk writing a letter. Francis laid down his pen and turned.
“I want your opinion as a man of the world. I find myself in a situation with which I am not competent to deal, and yet I must deal with it.”
“My experience is,” said Serge, “that most problems solve themselves.”
“This is a moral problem.”
“Moral problems crumble away under the pressure of time more easily than any others.”
Francis was not encouraged. However, he went on:
“Frederic . . .”
“Ah! I thought it must be about Frederic.”