"I don't care at all." And he put his arms round his mother, clinging to her as if he had been a child.
"I know, laddie, I know," whispered his mother.

"Never you fear, never fear." And then, as if to herself, she added, "Thank the Lord you are not a coward, whatever." Thomas found himself again without words, but he held his mother fast, his big body shaking with his sobs.
"And, Thomas," she continued, after a pause, "your father--we must just be patient." All her life long this had been her struggle.

"And--and--he is a good man." Her tears were now flowing fast, and her voice had quite lost its calm.
Thomas was alarmed and distressed.

He had never in all his life seen his mother weep, and rarely had heard her voice break.
"Don't, mother," he said, growing suddenly quiet himself.

"Don't you mind, mother.