But they left me alone.

I was a bitter disappointment in every way.

They wanted a reasonable son, who would go into the agency business, and they had instead--me.

I should think that I was pretty odious, too, and we were all of passionate tempers.
Besides, with all this reading, I didn't do particularly well at school.
How could I when day after day I would march off from the house, leaving a smooth bed behind me in my room?
We were thorny people.

Quarrels were frequent.