"Why, nothing's going wrong, I hope?"
"Oh, damnably!—I beg your pardon. When he first came back he did certain things that used to get on my nerves, and I, like a fool, let it go on that way, thinking that he was all wrong and I was all right. It's only lately that I've come to see better ... and now, when he particularly needs some steadying influence, I can't give it to him. You see, he gets on other people's nerves, too; he and his ideas—"
"Ideas?"
"Yes; fool notions he got about the way things are done in England—"
"Isn't that a trifle hard?"
"Oh, the ideas may be all right, but not the way he applies them.... At any rate, they, or something else, are playing the deuce with his college course. He's getting in Dutch, all around—"
"In Dutch," murmured Beatrice. "Oh, I do like that!" But James did not notice the interruption.
"And while I see all this going on I have to stand aside and let it go on, because when I say anything it doesn't do any good, but only irritates him and makes him worse."
"I see. Well, I'm always willing to do what I can for Harry, but I'm afraid I haven't any real influence over him, either."
"Oh, yes, you have. He has the greatest respect for you."