Peter bent eagerly towards her. "Can you tell me where they have gone?"
Mrs. Paragon gently denied him:
"No one knows. They left very quickly. Mr. Smith owed some money."
It pained her so sordidly to touch Peter's tragedy.
"He ran away?" concluded Peter, squarely facing it.
Mrs. Paragon bent her head. Peter tried to say something. He wanted to tell his mother how suddenly precious to him was her knowledge and understanding. But he broke off and his mouth trembled. In a moment she had taken him as a child.
At last she spoke to him again, wisely and bravely:
"Try to put all this away," she pleaded. "You are too young. I want you to be happy with your friends."
She paused shyly, a little daunted by the thought in her mind. Then she quietly continued:
"I don't want you to think yet of women."