In that long imprisonment here, and in her own long confinement to her room, did his mother find a balance to be struck?
'I admit that I was accessory to that man's captivity.

I have suffered for it in kind.

He has decayed in his prison: I in mine.

I have paid the penalty.' When all the other thoughts had faded out, this one held possession of him.

When he fell asleep, she came before him in her wheeled chair, warding him off with this justification.