People felt safe when he was near.
Of Amory's attempted sacrifice had been born merely the full realization
of his disillusion, but of Monsignor's funeral was born the romantic elf
who was to enter the labyrinth with him. He found something that he
wanted, had always wanted and always would want--not to be admired,
as he had feared; not to be loved, as he had made himself believe;
but to be necessary to people, to be indispensable; he remembered the
sense of security he had found in Burne.
Life opened up in one of its amazing bursts of radiance and Amory
suddenly and permanently rejected an old epigram that had been playing
listlessly in his mind: "Very few things matter and nothing matters
very much."
On the contrary, Amory felt an immense desire to give people a sense of
security.
* * * *
THE BIG MAN WITH GOGGLES
On the day that Amory started on his walk to Princeton the sky was a
colorless vault, cool, high and barren of the threat of rain. It was a
gray day, that least fleshly of all weathers; a day of dreams and far
hopes and clear visions.
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