But though in a sense incompletely developed, he was not incompletely
developed in another direction. He was at what is called an awkward
age, and both father and mother had detected in him an alarming
tendency to enjoy the society of young women--a tendency much
stimulated by his unnatural mode of life. Thomas was already a
member of the church and was a teacher in the Sunday-school; but his
mother was uneasy, for a serious attachment between Thomas and
anybody in the town would have been very distasteful to her. The tea
having been poured out, and Mr. Broad having fairly settled down upon
the buttered toast and radishes, Mrs. Broad began:
"Have you thought anything more about Thomas, my dear?"
Being a minister's son, he was never called Tom by either papa or
mamma.
"Yes, my love; but it is very difficult to know how to proceed
judiciously in such a case."
"Mrs. Allen asked me, last Wednesday, when he was going to leave
home, and I told her we had not made up our minds. She said that her
brother in Birmingham wanted a youth in his office, but my answer was
directly that we had quite determined that Thomas should not enter
into any trade.
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