Without a moment's delay the lock was drawn back, and mother and son stood together in the room.
Mrs. Halford closed the door gently and locked it, and Henry, placing a chair near the table for his mother, seated himself and looked inquiringly at her.
"Mother," he exclaimed, suddenly, "you have guessed my secret."
"I know there must be something on your mind," she replied. "Close study has never before made you listless and unhappy."
"I fly to books to drown thought, they are my only relief."
"Would it not relieve you to confide in your mother, Henry?"
There was a pause.
"You used to tell me all your troubles when you were a child, and why not now?"
He raised his head, and the words burst forth impulsively—
"Mother, if I had told you weeks ago, instead of acting on impulse as I always do, I might have spared myself bitter mortification."