So you have found a son while I was losing mine—who is yours, too!
Darrell
[Struck by this—impersonally interested]
That’s never occurred to me but now I think of it—
[Smiling]
Yes, perhaps unconsciously Preston is a compensating substitute. Well, it’s done both of us good and hasn’t harmed anyone.
Nina
[With bitter emphasis]
Except your real son—and me—but we don’t count, I suppose!
Darrell
[Coolly]
Harmed Gordon? How? He’s all right, isn’t he?
[With a sneer]
I should say from all I’ve been hearing that he was your ideal of college hero—like his never-to-be-forgotten namesake!
Nina
[Thinking resentfully]
He’s sneering at his own son! . . .
[Then trying to be calculating]
But I mustn’t get angry . . . I must make him help me.
[Speaking with gentle reproach]
And am I the ideal of a happy mother, Ned?
