any problems in the past. She hadn’t given anyone the slightest excuse to comment or gossip about her before and had always stood out at school because of her high marks and for her obedient and pleasant character. This unexpected turn shattered them and they didn’t know how to handle it or how to face up to public outcry. For their daughter to run away in such a manner, with someone unknown at that, was not only a heavy burden, it was an unbearable one for these conservative people whose only possessions were their good name and their moral life. Their heart was wrung by their daughter’s criminal thoughtlessness that had demolished the last bulwark of defense that they had in their society. At this moment even the worry of what would happen to their child and in whose hands she was had been superseded by the anger and indignation of the shock she had sprung on them. Mr. Niko would have wanted to have the young lady in front of him and to give her the hiding of her life. Instead of that he banged his fist on the table, swearing and uttering curses and empty threats while the rest of the family shrank into a corner, deeply hurt by the sudden calamity that had descended on their home…
