"No," she answered slowly.
"Then why are you astonished?"
"I did not say I was astonished."
"No, mother, but you looked astonished; tell me why? Why were you astonished at the idea of my marrying a second time? Do you know any reason why I should not?"
This was a fierce pleasure. It was like stirring up a sleeping lion when there was no chance of escape save through a small door, before reaching which he might, if he awoke, spring upon you, seize you by the back, and batter out your brains with one swing against the bars. It was like mounting a parapet under fire, and standing there thirty seconds, watch in hand, expecting to be struck, and trying to anticipate where.
"Reason for your not marrying! No, I know nothing to prevent your marrying."
She did care to excite him in his very critical mental condition by reference to the little comfort he had derived from his experience of wedlock.
"Well, mother, it is not only that no cause exists why I should not marry, but an absolute necessity—a necessity there is no evading, makes the step inevitable."
He had raised his head from his hand and was looking in her face.
"You have always had good reasons for your acts," she said, humouring his whim.