She paused and stared into the fire, biting her underlip in concentrated thought, and drawing two of her fingertips along the edge of the mantelpiece. Then she suddenly burst out:

“Don’t you see it’s a life of my own I want, now you’ve deserted me? I’ve lived in the thought of something exciting that you’d do for both of us, but”⁠—and she made a dramatic gesture with her strong shoulders⁠—“you won’t do anything⁠ ⁠… any more than he did.”

“Well, Mother,” said Wolf slowly, when her final outburst had spent itself and a tender whimsical smile had settled down upon her face, “I’m off now, anyway, to see Urquhart. That’s something to have decided upon, at any rate, isn’t it? Oh, I shall get more competent and more unscrupulous, if you give me time. Well, I’m off, so goodbye, Mother.”