" And he smiled kindly as he spoke.
My father sank back dumbfounded. "You know me?" he whispered in reply.
"Perfectly. So does Hanky, so does my mother; say no more," and he again
smiled.
George, as my father afterwards learned, had hoped that he would reveal
himself, and had determined in spite of his mother's instructions, to
give him an opportunity of doing so. It was for this reason that he had
not arrested him quietly, as he could very well have done, before the
service began. He wished to discover what manner of man his father was,
and was quite happy as soon as he saw that he would have spoken out if he
had not been checked. He had not yet caught Hanky's motive in trying to
goad my father, but on seeing that he was trying to do this, he knew that
a trap was being laid, and that my father must not be allowed to speak.
Almost immediately, however, he perceived that while his eyes had been
turned on Hanky, two burly vergers had wormed their way through the crowd
and taken their stand close to his two brothers. Then he understood, and
understood also how to frustrate.
As for my father, George's ascendancy over him--quite felt by George--was
so absolute that he could think of nothing now but the exceeding great
joy of finding his fears groundless, and of delivering himself up to his
son's guidance in the assurance that the void in his heart was filled,
and that his wager not only would be held as won, but was being already
paid.
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