"
"Jock, I can say it to you. I don't know what to do. The poor boy's
heart is in these Church matters, and he is so bitterly grieved at
the failure of all his plans that I cannot bear to check him in doing
all he can. It is just what I ought to have been doing all these
years; I only saw my duties as they were being taken away from me,
and so I deserve the way Miss Parsons treats me."
"What way?"
"You need not bristle up. She is very civil; but when I hint that
Armine has study and health to consider, I see that in her eyes I am
the worldly obstructive mother who serves as a trial to the hero."
"If she makes Armine think so-—"
"Armie is too loyal for that. Yet it may be only too true, and only
my worldliness that wishes for a little discretion. Still, I don't
think a sensible woman, if she were ever so good and devoted, would
encourage his fretting over the disappointment, or lead him to waste
his time when so much depends on his diligence. I am sure the focus
of her mind must be distorted, and she is twisting his the same way."
"And her brother follows suit?"
"I think they go in parallel grooves, and he lets her alone. It is
very unlucky, for they are a constant irritation to Bobus, and he
fancies them average specimens of good people.
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