But it was one of the worst moments of his life when he announced his intention to his mother. She listened to his embarrassed explanation silently, and without offering any interruption; but her pleasant, strong-featured face grew set and stern, and when he had finished she looked at him almost solemnly. "He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow," she said slowly and sadly, and no word of reproach could have stung him more deeply. It made him angry. "Mother, you have no right to say that, and to speak as though I were failing in my duty towards you," he returned indignantly; "it is not fair--all my life I have tried to please you, and to carry out your wishes." "I am not complaining of you, Malcolm," she replied quietly; "your own conscience is accusing you, not your mother. Would you have me suppress the truth or tell you a lie? Do you think any mother could listen unmoved to what you have told me just now--that you intend to leave my roof, that my only son finds his home so uncongenial, and his life here so irksome, that he is forced to quit it?" "Mother, you are making things worse and worse," returned Malcolm passionately; "you are putting matters in a wrong light. Will you listen to me a moment?" "Have I ever refused to listen to you, my son?" and a softer and more motherly expression came into the gray eyes. "No, you have always been kind," he replied; but there was a slight quiver in his voice. "Mother, it is not my fault--at least I hope not--that we think so differently on most subjects. I am nearly eight-and-twenty, and at that age a man is bound to do the best for himself." "I hoped you would have married before this, Malcolm." "There is no question of marrying at present," he returned in a constrained voice. "I have not yet seen the woman whom I wish to make my wife." Then a singular expression crossed Mrs. Herrick's face. "I am sorry to hear that, Malcolm; I would have willingly given you up to a wife, but life in chambers seems to me so Bohemian." "It is only an idea," he returned impatiently. "Mother dear, try to believe that I am doing it for the best--for both our sakes. I am not leaving you alone--you have Anna; and in spite of all your kindness to me, I am well aware that I have never been any real help or comfort; if I thought you needed me--that you relied on me for assistance or protection--I would never have carved out this independent life." "It is the spirit of the age," she returned a little bitterly; "it is the children who make terms, and the parents who have to yield and submit."