"Bartley, between your father and me... we... if we could be together, things wouldn't be like this now."
Bertha Haines explained painstakingly to her son, hoping he could understand her difficulties. However, she seemed to have overestimated him; after all, he was just a four-year-old child.
"If you're unwilling, then forget it. I have nothing more to discuss with you."
"Bartley."
Bertha tried to grasp her son's hand but he dodged it, then she heard him speak.
"From birth till now, I've never had a mother. I'm used to it. Even if you're absent for the rest of my life, it doesn't matter to me."
Hearing this, Bertha felt a sudden ache in her nose.
"It's not that mom doesn't want to give to you, it's just... marriage involves two people. Even if I'm willing, your father may not agree."
After all, she was once a married woman and there was a strong possibility she might have really made Amos Smith a cuckold, so she was certain Amos would never agree to this.
