This was the light in which she had come to regard Morris,
who had conciliated her at first, and made his impression by his
delicate and calculated deference--a sort of exhibition to which Mrs.
Penniman was particularly sensitive. He had largely abated his
deference afterwards, for he economised his resources, but the
impression was made, and the young man's very brutality came to have
a sort of filial value. If Mrs. Penniman had had a son, she would
probably have been afraid of him, and at this stage of our narrative
she was certainly afraid of Morris Townsend. This was one of the
results of his domestication in Washington Square. He took his ease
with her--as, for that matter, he would certainly have done with his
own mother.
CHAPTER XXVIII
The letter was a word of warning; it informed him that the Doctor had
come home more impracticable than ever. She might have reflected
that Catherine would supply him with all the information he needed on
this point; but we know that Mrs. Penniman's reflexions were rarely
just; and, moreover, she felt that it was not for her to depend on
what Catherine might do. She was to do her duty, quite irrespective
of Catherine. I have said that her young friend took his ease with
her, and it is an illustration of the fact that he made no answer to
her letter. He took note of it, amply; but he lighted his cigar with
it, and he waited, in tranquil confidence that he should receive
another.
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