Page:Margaret Sherwood--A Puritan in Bohemia.djvu/92

84 he is the only son of a wealthy father. He always wanted too many things and he always got them. He lives in spasms. An idea possesses him and he thinks it is the only idea in the world, until a new one comes. And he insists on immediate responses to all his demands. What he needs is discipline."

Mrs. Kent looked down and smiled.

"You seem to have studied him very thoroughly. That temperament is usually sufficient punishment for itself, isn't it?"

"Then," Anne continued, "he's too egoistic. He says 'I' too often."

"That very egoism shows lack of self-consciousness. It is the egoism of a child."

"The fact is," said Anne with a laugh, "there are two of him, boy and fanatic. He's a kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I like the boy very well. Look!" she cried, touching Mrs. Kent's arm. "See how that composes!"

It was a group of chattering Italian women on a dark side street. Children were playing about them.