Morva alone held him back; how could he hope to rise in his career, while his heart was fettered by the memory of a milkmaid, a cowherd, a shepherdess?
No, it was very evident that from her he must break away.

"But not now," he said to himself, as he paced round the quadrangle, "not yet." She was so sweet--he loved her so much; not yet must the severance come.

"It will be time enough," so his reverie ended, "when my future is more defined and certain, then it will be easy to break away from poor Morva." The invitation of which he had spoken had not been renewed, and though he was far too proud to show his annoyance, the omission galled and fretted his haughty nature, for the lowliness of his birth and circumstances chafed him continually, and engendered a sensitiveness to small annoyances which would not have troubled a nobler nature.

In spite of all this, he found himself, as the term drew near its close, looking forward with pleasure to the old home ways, and the old home friends, and when he climbed into the jingling car beside his father, in the yard of the hotel, not even the rough country shabbiness of the equipage could altogether spoil the pleasant anticipations of a first vacation at home, although, it must be confessed, that as he drove out of the town, he earnestly hoped he would escape the observation of his fellow collegians.
Ebben Owens's happiness should now have been complete, for he had his much-loved son at home at his own hearth; but a shadow seemed to have fallen on the old man's life, a haunting sadness which nothing seemed to dispel.

Ann rallied him upon it playfully, and he would laughingly promise to reform.
"Will at home and all," she said, "and everything going on so well--except, of course, 'tis dreadful about Gethin; but we have been used to his absence, father; and you never seemed to grieve about him." "No, no," said her father, "I have never grieved about him much, but lately I had got so fond of him; he was so kind to me, so merry he was, and so handsome, and always ready to help!" and again he would relapse into silence.
On market day he was very anxious to drive Will into Castell On.
"Come on, 'machgen i; I will give you a new waistcoat.