The boy's education was entirely classical and
athletic, and as he was quick at learning and loved his games, he
took a high position amongst his school-fellows. He was not
particularly reflective, but he was generous and courageous,
perfectly straightforward, a fair specimen of thousands of English
public-school boys. As he grew up, he somewhat disappointed his
father by a lack of any real interest in the subjects in which his
father was interested. He accepted willingly, and even
enthusiastically, the household conclusions on religion and politics,
but they were not properly his, for he accepted them merely as
conclusions and without the premisses, and it was often even a little
annoying to hear him express some free opinion on religious questions
in a way which showed that it was not a growth but something picked
up. Mr Palmer, senior, sometimes recoiled into intolerance and
orthodoxy, and bewildered his son who, to use one of his own phrases,
'hardly knew where his father was.' Partly the reaction was due to
the oscillation which accompanies serious and independent thought,
but mainly it was caused by Mr Palmer's discontent with Frank's
appropriation of a sentiment or doctrine of which he was not the
lawful owner. Frank, however, was so hearty, so affectionate, and so
cheerful, that it was impossible not to love him dearly.
In his visits to Fenmarket, Frank had often noticed Madge, for the
'Crown and Sceptre' was his headquarters, and Madge was well enough
aware that she had been noticed.
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