“Caleb came to his mother's side and helped her to her feet. "Besides, if you rest, then I am free to make love to Jacqueline.""Caleb!" Jacqueline had been worried she would say the wrong thing. Instead, Caleb had put his foot in it.But obviously all the cliches she'd ever heard about Italian sons were true. He really could do no wrong, for Mrs. D'Angelo shook her finger at him--but she said indulgently, "You are incorrigible.""Ma, I'm just trying to get going on those grandchildren you want.”

“He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t tell her how much she had come to mean to him. She could destroy him with her rejection. If she had feigned her feelings for him – if he’d bought into her lies and her quest for freedom…. He wasn’t sure what he would do. He could hurt her." Caleb.”

“ Where is this going to take me? she had asked. And Caleb's answer: Where do you want it to?”

“Clare could bear this no longer. His eyes were full of tears, which seemed like drops of molten lead. He bade a quick good-night to these sincere and simple souls whom he loved so well; who knew neither the world, the flesh, or the devil in their own hearts; only as something vague and external to themselves. He went to his own chamber.His mother followed him, and tapped at his door. Clare opened it to discover her standing without, with anxious eyes. "Angel," she asked, "is there something wrong that you must go away so soon? I am quite certain you are not yourself.""I am not, quite, mother," said he."About her? Now, my son, I know it is that--I know it is about her! Have you quarreled in these three weeks?""We have not exactly quarreled," he said. "But we have had a difference--""Angel--is she a young woman whose history will bear investigation?"With a mother's instinct Mrs. Clare had put her finger on the kind of trouble that would cause such a disquiet as seemed to agitate her son. "She is spotless!" he replied; and he felt that if it had sent him to eternal hell there and then he would have told that lie. ”

“You need to find yourself a new eye doctor. Trenton just happens to have one."Her eyes moved to him,then back to the cup she'd managed to get hold of. "There's nothing wrong with my vision," she replied indignantly."You're as blind as a bat.""What an unkind thing to say," she said with a humph."You get top honors on unkind remarks, Missy. I'm just stating the obvious.""Which isn't the least bit true.""Isn't it? How many fingers am I holding up?" When she said nothing, he added, "Uh-huh,I rest my case."She lowered her head a bit,conceding, he thought, until she replied triumphantly, "Three."He mumbled under his breath. "You were guessing.""And you have trouble admitting when you're wrong,don't you?”

“What do you know about life? " Bitterness ached in her throat. " You were born with everything. You never had to struggle for a single thing you wanted, never had to worry if you'd be accepted or loved or wanted back." He stared at her, grateful for the moment that she couldn't see that he'd spent nearly half of his life worrying that she, the single thing he wanted, would accept him, love him, and want him back.”