He had not thought much of the books,
but he had a certain new sense of enjoyment in the fruits
of this placid, abstracted rumination which perhaps they
had helped to induce.
"About your father," he said now, as his wife,
who had come out to speak with him on some other matter,
was turning to go away again: "I'm afraid I annoyed
you the other day by what I said."
"I have no recollection of it," she told him,
with tranquil politeness, over her shoulder.
He found himself all at once keenly desirous of a
conversation on this topic. "But I want you to recollect,"
he said, as he rose to his feet. There was a suggestion
of urgency in his tone which arrested her attention.
She moved slowly toward the chair, and after a little
perched herself upon one of its big arms, and looked up
at him where he leant against the parapet.
"I've thought of it a good deal," he went on,
in halting explanation. His purpose seemed clearer to
him than were the right phrases in which to define it.
"I persisted in saying that I'd do something you didn't
want me to do--something that was a good deal more
your affair than mine--and I've blamed myself for it.
That isn't at all what I want to do."
Her face as well as her silence showed her to be at a loss
for an appropriate comment. She was plainly surprised,
and seemingly embarrassed as well.
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