She went out of the houseboat and down the gangplank. She had now a warm moment in which she appreciated Most greatly. He was proving as firm a man as she had supposed he was. A quiet man, gentle. True, he had been neither quiet nor gentle a moment ago, but this did not fool her. It merely meant that Most was able to raise his own tempo to meet a need. Sarah overtook Alice Mildred. “You won’t need to walk, Mother Lineyack. Mr. Driscoll is letting us use his car.” The tired eyes rested on Sarah wonderingly. “Mother Lineyack…. You have always addressed me that way when you were being hurt, haven’t you, Sarah?” “I—suppose so.” “Do you hate me now, Sarah?” Sarah shook her head slowly. “No. I don’t believe I do.” “Why not, my dear?” “I don’t know, Mother Lineyack. Perhaps I have no room left for anything but anxiety about my son,” Sarah said wearily. “And also… well, I was never able somehow to get close to you. But tonight—tonight it hasn’t been that way.”
