han Roy's comfortable assurance sounded within him the
parting threat of Jane: "Disaster will come of it. _Then_ perhaps you'll
admit I was right." It shook the foundations of courage. He simply could
not stand up to the conjunction of disaster--and Roy. With an effort he
freed himself of the insidious thing,--and just then, to his immense
surprise, Roy stooped and kissed the top of his head.

"Confound Aunt Jane! She's been bludgeoning you. And you _are_ worrying.
You mustn't--I tell you. Bad for your work. Look here"--a portentous
pause. "Shall I chuck it--for the present, anyhow?"

The parental attitude of the modern child has its touching aspect. Nevil
looked up to see if Roy were chaffing; and there smote him the queer
illusion (rarer now, but not extinct) of looking into his own eyes.

Roy had spoken on impulse--a noble impulse. But he patently meant what
he said, this boy stigmatised by Jane as "all in the clouds," and
needing a "tight hand." Here was one of those "whimsical and perilous
moments of daily life" that pass in a breath; light as thistledown,
heavy with complex issues. To Nevil it seemed as if the gods, with
ironical gesture, handed him the wish of his heart, saying: "It is
yours--if you are fool enough to take it." Stress of thought so warred
in him that he came to himself with a fear of having hurt the boy by
ungracious silence.

The pause, in fact, had been so brief that Roy had only just become
aware that his cherished dream was actually trembling in the
balance--when Nevil stood up and faced him, flatly defying Jane and
Olympian irony.

"My dear old boy, you shall _not_ chuck it," he said with smiling
decision. "I've never believed in the older generation being a drag on
the wheel. And now it's my turn, I must play up. What's life worth
without a spice of risk? I took my own--a big one--family or no----"

He broke off--and Roy filled the gap. "You mean--marrying Mother?"

"Yes--just that," he admitted frankly. "The greatest bit of luck in my
life. She shared the risk--a bigger one for her. And I'm damned if we'll
cheat you of yours. There's a hidden key somewhere that most of us have
to find. Yours may be in India--who knows?"

He spoke rapidly, as if anxious to convince himself no less than the
boy. And he had his reward.

"Dad--you're simply stunning--you two," Roy said quietly, but with clear
conviction.

At that moment the purring of the gong vibrated through the house, and
he sli