physicians, he gave his mother little solicitude, for the woman
of the world, versed in all the proprieties of her station, had
no comprehension of the sensitive spirit that had been repressed
equally with his physical nature. That he should become cold toward
her, and cynical toward her world of wealth and fashion, was to her
but a proof that his character was defective also, and led to the
fear that his "absurd notions" might occasion trouble. His intimacy
with the Jocelyns threatened to justify her forebodings, and, while
knowing nothing of Mildred personally, she was naturally inclined
to the belief that she, like many others, would be glad to escape
poverty by allying herself to an old and wealthy family, and she
regarded her son as weak enough to become a ready victim. Nevertheless
he was of age, and if he should enter into a formal engagement it
might be no easy matter to break it or escape the consequences.
Therefore she determined at all hazards to prevent such a consummation,
and thus far had succeeded. She was greatly angered that, in spite
of her precautions and injunctions, he had again met Mildred, and
she resolved to end the interview at once, even at the cost of being
thought rude and harsh, for if left to themselves that summer day
they might realize all her fears. At the same time she proposed
to manifest her disapproval so decidedly that if the young woman
still sought to enter her family, it would be by a sort of violence;
and she also was not unmindful of the fact that, with the exception
of an apparent laborer and her coachman, only the parties interested
were the witnesses of her tactics. Therefore she had looked at
Mildred as coldly and haughtily as only a proud woman can, with
the result already narrated. Although compelled to admit that the
girl was not what she had imagined her to be, she was none the less
bent on preventing further complications, and resolved to take her
son elsewhere as soon as he had sufficiently recovered.