ess turning earth like grains of dust on a sleeping top were
born--mysterious act!--and mated--act so much more mysterious than it
seemed!--and died--act which was the essence of mystery! She was dizzied
with astonishment, and to steady herself put out her hands and caught
hold of those broad shoulders, which, her marvelling mind recalled to
her, she had miraculously been able to make out of her so much less
broad body. She felt guilty as she recovered, for the habit of thinking
about subjects unconnected with her family had always seemed to her as
unwomanly as a thin voice or a flat chest. Penitently she dropped a kiss
on his forehead and muttered, "Richard, you're a good son. You've made
up for everything I've been through many times over...."

"Then stay up with me a little," he said. "Don't let's go to bed yet."
He stretched out his arm and moved a wicker armchair that stood on the
hearth till it faced the grate. "Sit down, dear, and I'll make you a
fire. Dear, do sit down. This is the last night we shall have
together." She obeyed, for he spoke with the sullenness which she knew
to be in him a mask of intense desire. He busied himself with the fire
and coal that the servants had left ready for the morning, and when he
had made a blaze he squatted down on the rug and rested his head on her
lap and seemed to sleep.

But he did not. Against the fine silk of her kimono she felt the sweep
of his eyelashes. "Why is he doing this?" she wondered; and discovered
happily, "Ah, he is going to tell me about Ellen." She waited serenely,
while the clock ticked.

Presently he spoke, but did not lift his head. "Mother, I like being
here...."

She was not perturbed because he then fell silent. It was natural enough
that he should be shy of speaking of his other love.

But he continued: "Mother, do you know why I would always have stuck to
my people, no matter how they'd treated me? I wonder if you'll think I'm
mad? I'd have stuck to them in any case--because they've got the works
on Kerith Island, and I've always wanted to work there. Think of it! I
shall be able to sleep here at night and go out in the morning to a
place I've seen all my life out of these windows. And all day long I'll
be able to put my head out of my lab. door and look along the hill to
our tree-tops. Mother, I do love this house," he said earnestly, raising
his head and looking round the kitchen as if even it were dear to him,
though he could not have been