He had brought the working of his business to such a pitch of smooth
perfection that his two elder sons, Michael and Nicholas, could catch up
with it easily and take it in their stride.

Now he was like a sick child that has ranged all its toys in front of it
and finds no comfort in them.

And, as he looked at them, the tulip-wood and the scented sandalwood and
camphor-wood gave him an idea.

The Master and the Professor had both advised him to send his son
Nicholas out of England for a little while. "Let him travel for six
months and get the whole miserable business out of his head."

Nicky, when he gave up the Army, had told him flatly that he would
rather die than spend his life sitting in a beastly office. Nicky had
put it to him that timber meant trees, and trees meant forests; why,
lots of the stuff they imported came from the Himalaya and the West
Indies and Ceylon. He had reminded him that he was always saying a
timber merchant couldn't know enough about the living tree. Why
shouldn't he go into the places where the living trees grew and learn
all about them? Why shouldn't he be a tree-expert? Since they were
specializing in rare and foreign woods, why shouldn't he specialize in
rare and foreign trees?

And the slabs of tulip-wood and scented camphor-wood and sandalwood were
saying to Anthony, "Why not?" Neither he nor Frances had wanted Nicky to
go off to the West Indies and the Himalaya; but now, since clearly he
must go off somewhere, why not?

Drayton and Dorothy came in just as Anthony (still profoundly
dejected) was saying to himself, "Reinstate him. Give him
responsibility--curiosity--healthy interests. Get the whole miserable
business out of his head."

It seemed incredible, after what they had gone through, that Drayton
should be standing there, telling him that there was nothing in it, that
there never had been any miserable business, that it was all a storm in
a hysterical woman's teacup. He blew the whole dirty nightmare to
nothing with the laughter that was like Nicky's own laughter.

Then Anthony and Drayton and Dorothy sat round the table, drafting
letters to the Master and the Professor. Anthony, at Drayton's
dictation, informed them that he regretted the step they had seen fit to
take; that he knew his own son well enough to be pretty certain that
there had been some misunderstanding; therefore, unless he received
within three days a written withdrawal of the charge against his son
Nic