The young man stood motionless, having the will but not the power to act.
"Listen, Maximilian," his father said. "Suppose I were a soldier like you, ordered to take a certain position, and you knew I'd be killed in the assault. Wouldn't you say to me, as you just did, 'Go, Father, for delay dishonors you, and death is preferable to shame'?"
"Yes," the young man said. "Yes." Once again embracing his father with convulsive pressure, he said, "So be it, Father."
He rushed from the study.
When his son had left, Morrel remained standing for a moment, staring at the door. Then he rang the bell. After a brief interval, Coclès appeared.
He was no longer the same man, the terrible revelations of the past three days had crushed him. The thought that the House of Morrel was about to fail had aged him more than twenty years would have otherwise.
