"The question, then! Why did I allow your son to commit himself in
ignorance?"

"No, _no_!" Mrs. Thorne protested.

"Yes, yes! You have asked that question, you must have. You are an angel,
but you are a mother, too."

"I have asked no questions since you began to tell your story; but I have
wondered how Willy could have found courage, in one week, to offer himself
to such gifts and possessions as yours."

"A mother, and a worldly mother!" Miss Benedet apostrophized. "I did not
look for such considerations from you. And you are troubled for the modesty
of your son?"

"My dear, he has nothing, and he is--of course we think him everything he
should be--but he is not a handsome boy."

"Thank Heaven he is not."

"And he does not talk"--

"About himself. No."

"Ah, you do care for him! You understand him. You would"--

Miss Benedet rose to her feet with decision.