Aynsley laughed and turned away with Ruth, who was in a thoughtful mood, for what she had heard deepened her distrust of Clay and made her anxious about his influence on her father. She admitted that, in her inexperience she could not presume to judge what was right for him, but she felt troubled.
“Have you told your father you will take over the mill?” she asked Aynsley.
“Yes; and I believe he was immensely gratified, though he only said he was glad to see I was coming to my senses. However, on thinking it over, I half regret my decision. The old man has money enough for both of us, and, to my mind, driving a car or sailing a yacht is much less risky work than trying to get ahead of the people you deal with.”
“But is that necessary? Can’t you carry on a business without taking advantage of your rivals and customers?”
“I’m hardly in a position to judge, but from what I’ve heard it seems difficult. When I take up the mill I’ve got to make it pay. It would be a bad shake-up for the old man if I only lost the money he put in. He’d feel himself disgraced, and it would be a heavy strain on his affection. Though he tells me I’m a fool pretty often, he’s really fond of me.”
“Yes,” said Ruth; “I’ve noticed that, and I like him for it. After all, you need some sympathy. The situation’s complicated.”
“That’s so. I’m half afraid I’m not smart enough to grapple with it. Of course, there is such a thing as compromise: you can do your best all round, but make a small concession here and there.”
“I’m not sure that would work. Isn’t there a risk of the concessions becoming too numerous? It would be safer not to give way at all.”
“It sounds a drastic rule. The trouble is that my relatives and friends expect too much of me, and I suspect that some of them are pulling opposite ways.”
Ruth felt sorry for him. Though he was careless, he was honest, and she thought he would shrink from anything that was mean and savored of trickery. Now, however, he had to stand a searching test: he would be expected to make the sawmill pay, and Clay would not be satisfied with a small profit. Ruth felt that she had assumed some responsibility in persuading him to undertake an uncongenial task; for if he proved unfitted for it, his troubles would be numerous. For all that, she could not believe that it was impossible to get rich uprightly.