tand you. I am very sorry
that I--I have not seen, that you have been obliged to ask for release
from an--unpleasant--position. Go--whenever you choose."

He stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. "Mother! Oh, Mother!" he
whispered. "Do you really mean it? Where shall we go?"

"'We,'" she repeated. "Now I do misunderstand you."

"Why, Mother! What do you mean? Of course we shall go together!"

Madame rose from her chair, with some difficulty. "You have said," she
went on, choosing her words carefully, "that I had no right to keep you
chained up here. I admit it--I have not. Equally, you have no right to
uproot me."

[Sidenote: One's Own Choice]

"But, Mother! Why, I couldn't go without you, and leave you alone. We
belong together, you and I!"

The hard lines of her mouth relaxed, ever so little, but her eyes were
very dark and stern. "As much as we belong together," she resumed, "we
belong here. Dead hands built this house, dead hands laid out that
vineyard, dead hands have given us our work. If we fail, we betray the
trust of those who have gone before us--we have nothing to give to those
who come.

"I've seen," she continued, with rising passion. "You were determined
from the first to fail!"

"Fail!" he echoed, with lips that scarcely moved.

"Yes, for no man fails except by his own choice. You might have been
master of the vineyard, but you have preferred to have the vineyard
master you. Confronted with an uncongenial task, you slunk away from it
and shielded yourself behind the sophistry that the work was unworthy of
you. As if any work were unworthy of a man!"

"I hate it," he murmured, resentfully.

"Yes, just as people hate their superiors. You hate it because you can't
do it. Year by year, I have seen the crop grow less and less; year by
year I have seen our income decreasing. We are living now on less than
half of what we had when you took charge of the vineyard. Last year the
grapes were so poor that I was ashamed to use them for wine. And to
think," she flashed at him, bitterly, "that the name of Marsh used to
stand for quality! What does it mean now? Nothing--thanks to you!"

[Sidenote: The Name of Marsh]

The dull red rose to his temples and he cringed visibly. "I--I--" he
stammered.

"One moment, please, and then I shall say no more. This is between you
and your own manhood, not between you and your mother. I put no
obstacles in your path--you may go when and where you choose. I on