. And he had secret
ways. He was growing more and more sensitive, more and more wrapped up
in Himself. Supposing Michael became a morbid egoist, like Anthony's
brother, Bartholomew?

And there was Dorothy. She went her own way more than ever, with the
absolute conviction that it was the right way. Nothing could turn her.
At thirteen her body was no longer obedient. Dorothy was not going to be
her mother's companion, or her father's, either; she was Rosalind
Jervis's companion. She seemed to care more about little fat, fluffy
Rosalind than about any of them except Nicky. Dorothy was interested in
Michael; she respected his queer thoughts. It was as if she recognized
some power in him that could beat her somewhere some day, and was humble
before a thing her cleverness had failed to understand. But it was Nicky
that she adored, not Michael; and she was bad for Nicky. She encouraged
his naughtiness because it amused her.

Frances foresaw that a time would come, a little later, when Nicky and
Dorothy would be companions, not Nicky and his mother.

In the evenings, coming home from the golf-links, Frances and Anthony
discussed their children.

Frances said, "You can't make any impression on Nicky. There seems to be
no way that you can get at him."

Anthony thought there was a way. It was a way he had not tried yet, that
he did not want to try. But, if he could only bring himself to it, he
judged that he could make a distinct impression.

"What the young rascal wants is a thorough good spanking," said Anthony.

Nicky said so too.

The first time he got it Nicky's criticism was that it wasn't a bad idea
if his father could have pulled it off all right. But he said, "It's no
good if you do it through the cloth. And it's no good unless you _want_
to hurt me, Daddy. And you don't want. And even if you did want, badly
enough to try and hurt, supposing you spanked ever so hard, you couldn't
hurt as much as my earache. And I can bear that."

"He's top dog again, you see," said Frances, not without a secret
satisfaction.

"Oh, is he?" said Anthony. "I don't propose to be downed by Nicky."

Every instinct in him revolted against spanking Nicky. But when
Williams, the groom, showed him a graze on each knee of the pony he had
bought for Frances and the children, Anthony determined that, this time,
Nicky should have a serious spanking.

"Which of them took Roger out?"

"I'm sure I don't know, sir," said Williams.

But An