He had begun to dread the announcement he had to make.

At first he had thought only of her keen interest in his affairs, but later he had come to consider what this particular piece of news would mean to her.

Say what you will, he thought, to tell your mother of your engagement is a little like casting off an old love.
Ever since he could remember, he and his mother had lived in the happiest comradeship.

His father, a promising young doctor, had died within a few years of his marriage.

Pete had been brought up by his mother, but he had very little remembrance of any process of molding.