“What he did was himself. It is himself I care for. I will not let him be a renegade to his own instincts.”
She laughed at him. It was an effort, turning her bitterness to laughter.
“In the contradiction, you simply had a higher sort of triumph. Don’t you think I understand? You labor to beat him down and break him. When you see signs of your work you turn about. When you get him beaten and broken at last, doubtless you will have no more use for him.”
“Doubtless, Cornelia.”
“Tom! Leave David alone!”
His cutting calm had parted her restraint. All of her fear threatened to burst out. She was close to Tom, beseeching. In a moment, her hands would be suppliant.
He let her plead.
“Do that for me, Tom. Leave him! Insult him! Turn him away!”
“I often try to. It’s no use. I can sustain no mood long enough for that.”
She was blinded by his words into a sense of hope.