“I have no news, I’m afraid.” His anger, his courage, and his belief in his own mission had all but collapsed in the face of his meeting with his “enemy.” He slumped unbidden into a chair.

“I dine late,” she told him. A self-­deprecating smile passed over her lips and, seating herself again and drinking hastily from a glass of white wine, “Because this is almost the only hour in the entire twenty-­four that is free from hustle and bustle, confusion, and even terror. . . . Do please remain seated” (he had risen as she said this). “Can’t I offer you something to eat or drink . . . ?”

“No, no, please,” Vance began while she studied his face anxiously trying to see if there was any resemblance between the brothers, and finding to her disappointment very little if any, for Vance had fair hair and brown eyes, and there was a certain smug and satisfied look about his mouth and brow.

“My brother and I have had a terrible row, Mrs. Vaisey. We almost came to blows . . . I may as well tell you, I do not approve of his being . . . a drudge.”

“Indeed,” she stared at him loftily. “Does he think so poorly then of his position here.”

“Quite the contrary . . . He is disgustingly happy here, I’m afraid.”

“Why be afraid then of happiness?” A wave of triumph suffused her features, which the flickering light from the candle emphasized.

“But it is the wrong kind of happiness, Mrs. Vaisey, don’t you see.”

“Isn’t happiness always just happiness, Mr. De Lakes . . . Unless happiness itself is a sin.”

He smiled in spite of himself.

“Let us go into the parlor and talk, for I can see you are very upset, and I have no appetite at all tonight . . . Have been sitting here staring at my plate for what seems hours . . . Come on, please, shall we?”

She took him by the hand and led him into the spacious adjoining room.

“You’ll have some after-­dinner coffee at least,” she proposed, and her visitor nodded.

His anger had gone, but he still felt compelled to get Sidney released. He must not empty slop jars!

“You should realize that what your brother has accomplished for my son is far greater than any specialist or doctor could or did achieve. So that your fear Sidney is in a demeaning kind of position can’t stand scrutiny, Mr. De Lakes . . . And I am prepared to pay him a fee as high as that of any specialist . . . Don’t you see, he is changing our whole life here. . . .”

He found his own argument cut from under him and was bereft all at once both of a rejoinder and a mission.