“Why not let Roy make some suggestions himself about what he wants to do,” said Grace. “He’s got to learn self-reliance sometime. John Moore hadn’t anybody to boost him and he’s already found a place in one of the best offices in town.”
“But Roy’s case is very different,” replied Mrs. Durland, instantly on the defensive. “John’s older for one thing and the hard work he’s done to get his education naturally arouses sympathy. I want us all to make Roy feel our confidence in him. I’m getting anxious to have him home. He’s going to be a great comfort to me and it will be fine for you girls to have your brother back. You can both of you do a lot for him. And, Grace, he can help you solve many of your problems,—socially I mean.”
“I shall want Roy to know all my friends,” said Ethel. “Since I’ve been with Gregg and Burley I’ve made a good many acquaintances among men who are in a position to help Roy.”
“Roy’s fine social side is bound to be a help to him in his profession,” said Mrs. Durland. “He’s always been a friendly boy.”
“Yes, mother,” Grace replied. “Roy certainly has a way of making friends.”
She refrained from saying that these friends were not always wisely chosen. She dreaded the time when he would finish at the University and begin his efforts to establish a law practice. A good many young men of the best type of ambitious student had confided in her as to their plans for the future and she thought she knew pretty well the qualities essential to success. Roy was blessed with neither initiative nor industry, and she knew as her mother and Ethel did not, the happy-go-lucky fashion in which he had played through his college course, and his rebellion against undertaking the law. It was quite like him to lean upon John Moore. He must be doing badly or John would not have volunteered to aid him.
As they ate breakfast, with Mr. Durland dividing attention between his food and his newspaper, Mrs. Durland’s usual attempt to create an atmosphere of cheer for the day struck Grace as pathetic in its futility. Hearing her father’s voice she roused herself to find that her mother had asked him to look in the market reports for the quotations on turkeys. Christmas was approaching and Roy would be home; and Mrs. Durland was speculating as to whether a turkey for the Christmas dinner would be too serious a strain on the family budget. Durland shifted uneasily in his chair as his wife recalled that they had never been without a Christmas turkey since they were married. Grace noting the fleeting pain in her father’s patient eyes, hastened to say that beyond question the turkey would be forthcoming. It was a relief to be out of the house, walking to the car with her father who was laden as usual with his notebooks and drawings.
CHAPTER NINE
I
“What’s the difference, lady?”