“And what chance do you think you have of getting in the XI.? Surely they ought to give you a trial soon.”
“Oh, I don’t know, father; I’m not much class, and there are several old colors. I ought to get my seconds all right, and next season....”
He stopped, realizing suddenly that he did not as yet know whether there would be any next season for him, and quickly changed the conversation, telling his father of a splendid rag that the Lower Fourth had organized for the last Saturday of the term.
Sooner or later the all-important question had to be tackled, but by the time lunch had finished, son and father had established their old intimacy of quiet conversation, and they were ready to face and, if need be, to dismiss the violent intrusion of the trouble. They walked up and down the hotel grounds, Mr. Whately wondering at what exact point he should dab in his carefully constructed argument. Then there came a pause, into which his voice broke suddenly:
“You know, Roland, about this business....”
“Well, I mean, going out with a girl in the town. Do you think it’s....” He paused. After all, he did not know what to say.
“I know, father. I know.” And looking at each other they realized that it would be impossible for them to discuss it. Their relationship was at stake. It had no technique to deal with the situation. And Roland asked, as his mother had asked, “What’s going to happen, father?”
For answer, Mr. Whately put his hand into his pocket, took out the headmaster’s letter and gave it to Roland. Roland read it through and then handed it back. “Not a bad fellow, the Chief,” he said, and they walked up and down the path in silence.
And after another pause: “What’s going to happen to me at the end of the term?”
“That’s what I’ve got to decide. I suggested a bank, but your mother was very much against it.”
“Well, I’ll do my best for you, but it’ll be difficult. Oxford’s out of the question. You can see that, can’t you? I should have to send you to a crammer, and everyone would talk. It would be sure to leak out. And we don’t want anything like that to happen, because they would be sure to think it was something worse than it really was. I’m afraid Oxford’s got to go. Your mother agreed with me about that.”