winter moons, more golden than harvest moons--"

"Are you quite well now, Beatrice?"

"Quite well--as well as I will ever be. I am not understood, Amory. I
know that can't express it to you, Amory, but--I am not understood."

Amory was quite moved. He put his arm around his mother, rubbing his
head gently against her shoulder.

"Poor Beatrice--poor Beatrice."

"Tell me about _you_, Amory. Did you have two _horrible_ years?"

Amory considered lying, and then decided against it.

"No, Beatrice. I enjoyed them. I adapted myself to the bourgeoisie.
I became conventional." He surprised himself by saying that, and he
pictured how Froggy would have gaped.

"Beatrice," he said suddenly, "I want to go away to school. Everybody in
Minneapolis is going to go away to school."

Beatrice showed some alarm.

"But you're only fifteen."

"Yes, but everybody goes away to school at fifteen, and I _want_ to,
Beatrice."

On Beatrice's suggestion the subject was dropped for the rest of the
walk, but a week later she delighted him by saying:

"Amory, I have decided to let you have your way. If you still want to,
you can go to school."

"Yes?"

"To St. Regis's in Connecticut."

Amory felt a quick excitement.

"It's being arranged," continued Beatrice. "It's better that you should
go away. I'd have preferred you to have gone to Eton, and then to Christ
Church, Oxford, but it seems impracticable now--and for the present
we'll let the university question take care of itself."

"What are you going to do, Beatrice?"

"Heaven knows. It seems my fate to fret away my years in this country.
Not for a second do I regret being American--indeed, I think that a
regret typical of very vulgar people, and I feel sure we are the great
coming nation--yet"--and she sighed--"I feel my life should have drowsed
away close to an older, mellower civilization, a land of greens and
autumnal browns--"

Amory did not answer, so his mother continued:

"My regret is that you haven't been abroad, but still, as you are a man,
it's better that you should grow up here under the snarling eagle--is
that the right term?"

Amory agreed that it was. She would not have appreciated the Japanese
invasion.

"When do I go to school?"

"Next month. You'll have to start East a little early to take your
examinations. After that you'll have a free week, so I want you to go up
the Hudson and pay a visit."

"To who?"

"To Monsignor Darcy, Amory. He wants to