The minister had forgotten his article and was watching them through the window, the tall handsome youth, his head bared with the glint of the sun on his short cropped gold curls making one think of a young prince, yet a prince bound under a spell and frozen in a block of ice. He was handsome as Adonis, every feature perfect, and striking in its manly beauty, yet there was nothing feminine about him. The minister was conscious of all this as he watched--this boy whom he had seen grow up, and this girl of his heart. A great still question came into the father's look as he watched.
The minister was conscious of Lynn's mother standing in the doorway just behind him, although she had made no noise in entering. And at once she knew he was aware of her presence.
"Isn't that Mark Carter?" she asked just above a breath.
"And she doesn't know! You haven't told her?"
"He will tell her. See, he is telling her now!"
"But how do you know? See, she is doing the talking. You think he will tell her? _What_ will he tell her, Graham?"
"Oh, he will not tell her in words, but every atom of his being is telling her now. Can't you see? He is telling her that he is no longer worthy to be her equal. He is telling her that something has gone wrong."
"Graham, what do you _think_ is the matter with him? Do you think he is--BAD?" She lifted frightened eyes to his as she dropped into her low chair that always stood conveniently near his desk.
A wordless sorrow overspread the minister's face, yet there was something valiant in his eyes.
"No, I can't think that. I must believe in him in spite of everything. It looks to me somehow as if he was trying to be bad and couldn't."
"Well, but--Graham, isn't that the same thing? If he wants to be?"
"He doesn't want to be. But he has some purpose in it. He is doing it--perhaps--well--it might be for _her_ sake you know."
The mother looked perplexed, and hesitated, then shook her head.
"That would be--preposterous! How could he hurt her so--if he cared. It must be--he does not care--!"
"No, Mary. That's something he's got to work out himself. If he isn't big enough to get over his pride. His self-consciousness. His--whatever he calls it--If he isn't big enough--Then he isn't _big_ enough--!" The man sighed with a faraway patient look. The woman stirred uneasily.