Still watching his son, he put out his hand, groping for the edge of the mantelpiece, and took hold of it with a firm grasp.

For a moment he said nothing; then: "And--and you say you seduced her." Without looking up, Vandover answered, "Yes, sir," and then he added, "It is horrible; when I think of it I sometimes feel as though I should go off my head.

I--" But the Old Gentleman interrupted him, putting out his hand: "Don't," he said quickly, "don't say anything now--please." They were both silent for a long time, Vandover gazing stupidly at a little blue and red vase on the table, wondering how his father would take the news, what next he would say; the Old Gentleman drawing his breath short, occasionally clearing his throat, his eyes wandering vaguely about the walls of the room, his fingers dancing upon the edge of the mantelpiece.

Then at last he put his hand to his neck as though loosening his collar and said, looking away from Vandover: "Won't you--won't you please go out--go away for a little while--leave me alone for a little while." When Vandover closed the door, he shut the edge of a rug between it and the sill; as he reopened it to push the rug out of the way he saw his father sink into the chair and, resting his arm upon the table, bow his head upon it.
He did not see his father again that night, and at breakfast next morning not a word was exchanged between them, but his father did not go downtown to his office that forenoon, as was his custom.

Vandover went up to his room immediately after breakfast and sat down before the window that overlooked the little garden in the rear of the house.
He was utterly miserable, his nerves were gone, and at times he would feel again a touch of that hysterical, unreasoning terror that had come upon him so suddenly the other morning.
Now there was a new trouble: the blow he had given his father.