"But then he is old for his years, isn't he?"
"Yes, but he is very sensible."
"Yes, he is a little man."
"He is strong, in mind as well as in body. I was going to say that he is just as though he were not little. He works entirely to please himself. And he is a comfort, to both of us. He is a strange child. He is not a child."
"And what is he going to be?"
"He will probably go into the diplomatic service."
She spoke the words and saw, in a flash, before her eyes, Rome, De Staffelaer, all her vain past. And, in that half-darkened room, in that hour of absolute sincerity, she asked herself whether that career would spell happiness for her son.
"Will Van der Welcke like that?..."
"Yes, but Addie must decide for himself. We shall not force him."
There was a knock at the door; and Henri put his head into the room: