His mother never raised her head. If she saw him she made no sign. Rhys had been away all the afternoon. That lay heavier on her heart than any wanderings of William, though _he_ thought otherwise. There was no red-headed Cate lying in wait for her youngest born--no one seeking to steal his heart away from her. She was hesitating whether to take Rhys to task, or, as Ales suggested, to 'wait and let the waters pass.'
But Jane Edwards had not a passive nature. She was more inclined to be up and doing than to wait. 'Yes,' she communed with herself, 'the waters may pass, but they may carry my Rhys with them. I want no Cate ordering about here; the artful jade!'
As if the very thought had been a stimulus, she rose abruptly, and, passing out into the moonlight, joined her son, who was bending over the low stone wall, looking intently down the rugged slope.
He gave a sudden start as she went on, 'Do you be watching the moonlight on the river, and thinking how different was the night that took your father from us?'
She put her arm within his as she spoke, and laid her head, in its white linen cap, against his shoulder.
'Ah, Rhys, that was a terrible time, a terrible time. But, thanks be to God, we won through it. And it made a man of you, my dear boy. Well do I remember how you came to comfort me, and promised always to be a good son, and do your duty by me, and by the children, and by the farm, in the sight of God. And you have always done it, Rhys, _fach_, always-- And--and--it would be breaking my heart, Rhys, if--if--you should be caring more for some one else than for your promise--or for your mother--and--and for Jonet--and the others.' And there she paused, but he made no response, and she continued.
The latter half of the sentence was sobbed rather than spoken, and Rhys, who had a tender heart, notwithstanding his contempt for William's day-dreams, was deeply moved by her emotion.
For the moment, Cate and his own day-dreams were lost sight of.
'Mother, dear,' said he, not perhaps so truthfully as might have been, though he felt at the time that all he said _was_ true. 'Mother, no one can ever come between us, or make me forget my old promise. What makes you be thinking so to-night? Have I not done my duty so far?' And now his strong arm went round her with more than the old protectorate.