I don't think he was 'sent', he just wasn't kept under the parental eye.
I can see the conversation: parents counting their children's whereabouts (as you do after a crisis) "Where's Nick? She still doesn't know." "With Patrick" "Oh no, that's someone else who needs to know." "Well, his parents will have to tell him, I can't manage somebody else's child at the moment on top of ours ..." Peter, helpfully, "He's coming to supper." "Well, that's got to be stopped." Pam rings Mrs Merrick and Peter drifts off - possibly without intention, but in true Marlow fashion to do his emoting in private. But having met Nicola, he needs to tell her - both for her curiosity about what goes on, but also (as after their rescue on MATT) he needs to tell someone what he's seen, what happened.
But why didn't Mrs Merrick come to get Patrick herself? Or was that clever, knowing he'd be less likely to argue with Nellie ?
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I can see the conversation: parents counting their children's whereabouts (as you do after a crisis) "Where's Nick? She still doesn't know." "With Patrick" "Oh no, that's someone else who needs to know." "Well, his parents will have to tell him, I can't manage somebody else's child at the moment on top of ours ..." Peter, helpfully, "He's coming to supper." "Well, that's got to be stopped." Pam rings Mrs Merrick and Peter drifts off - possibly without intention, but in true Marlow fashion to do his emoting in private. But having met Nicola, he needs to tell her - both for her curiosity about what goes on, but also (as after their rescue on MATT) he needs to tell someone what he's seen, what happened.
But why didn't Mrs Merrick come to get Patrick herself? Or was that clever, knowing he'd be less likely to argue with Nellie ?