Reason

At about this time Maria, then Luigi came home. When they asked why she was crying and I told them the reason, for a moment they remained silent, but after the shock, seeing the permit, the passport and the ticket, Luigi was the first to congratulate me, for he had been going through the same tyranny of uncertainty as I did moving from job to job. He saw in my going to England an opportunity I should not miss and urged me to fight for it.

Maria was silent but after hearing the opinion of Luigi, she agreed that I should be allowed to leave.

Mother was fixed on her own idea and since my father was not around to stop me, she was determined to take me to see the judge, a friend of the family for many years, hoping he would stop me.

That night I couldn’t sleep. My date of traveling was within three days and without my mother’s consent I was in a predicament. I had never opposed her before, but this was my life I was fighting for. Having been given a chance of improving it, no one, not even my mother, the judge and whoever she sought help from could take that chance away from me.