And both were young

by Madeleine L'Engle

"Why did you tell me you were going to tend the furnace?" Flip asked.

"I couldn't very well tell you I was looking for a lost boy, could I? Then I saw Paul, as he is now called, and I knew that my search had come to an end. I've been watching you from a distance to make sure, but now there's no doubt in my mind that you're my son Alain." He opened his arms as though he expected Paul to run into them, but Paul clutched Flip even tighter.

"You are not my father," he said again, and Flip could feel him trembling all over. She herself was shaking and she felt very cold as she stood there in the snow with her arms about Paul.

"Go away!" Paul cried. "You're playing a horrible trick on me."

"I don't want to hurry you, Alain," the man said. "I know this must be a great shock to you. But remember that you have found not a stranger but a father who will love and protect you. Why don't you take me home to Monsieur Laurens and we'll talk it over with him?"

"No," Paul said. "You mustn't see my father."

"But why not, Alain?"

"My father is working. You mustn't disturb him."

"But about something so important, Alain?"

"No," Paul reiterated. "You mustn't see my father."