’I think it perfectly natural that such a meeting should be disagreeable.  I believe I understand your feeling.  Indeed, you explained it to me yesterday.’

‘I explained it?’

‘In what you said about the works in the valley.’

‘True.  Many people would have interpreted me less liberally.’

Adela’s eyes brightened a little.  But when she raised them, they fell upon something which disturbed her cheerfulness.  This was the face of Mrs. Mewling, who had come up from the direction of Wanley and was clearly about to pay a visit at the Manor.  The lady smiled and murmured a greeting as she passed by.

‘I suppose Mrs. Mewling is going to see my mother,’ said Hubert, who also had lost a little of his naturalness.

A few more words and they again parted.  Nothing further was said of the postponed visit.  Adela hastened homewards, dreading lest she had made a great mistake, yet glad that she had ventured to come.

Her mother was just going out into the garden, where Alfred’s voice sounded frequently in laughter or denunciation.  Adela would have been glad to sit alone for a short time, for Mrs. Waltham seemed to wish for her company She had only time to glance at herself in her looking-glass and just press a palm against each cheek.

Alfred was puffing clouds from his briar pipe, but Mutimer had ceased smoking.  Near the latter was a vacant seat; Adela took it, as there was no other.

‘What a good thing the day of rest is!’ exclaimed Mrs. Waltham.  ’I always feel thankful when I think of the poor men who toil so all through the week in Belwick, and how they must enjoy their Sunday.  You surely wouldn’t make any change in that, Mr. Mutimer?’

‘The change I should like to see would be in the other direction,’ Richard replied.  ’I would have holidays far more frequent.  In the towns you can scarcely call Sunday a holiday.  There’s nothing to do but to walk about the streets.  On the whole it does far more harm than good.’

‘Do they never go to church?’ asked Adela.  She was experiencing a sort of irritation against their guest, a feeling. traceable to more than one source; Mutimer’s frequent glances did not tend to soothe it.  She asked the question rather in a spirit of adverse criticism.

‘The working people don’t,’ was the reply, ’except a Dissenting family here and there.’

’Perhaps that is one explanation of the Sundays being useless to them.’

Adela would scarcely have ventured upon such a tone in reference to any secular matter; the subject being religion, she was of course justified in expressing herself freely.

Mutimer smiled and held back his rejoinder for a moment.  By that time Alfred had taken his pipe from his lips and was giving utterance to unmeasured scorn.

‘But, Mr. Mutimer,’ said Mrs. Waltham, waving aside her son’s vehemence, ’you don’t seriously tell us that the working people have no religion?  Surely that would be too shocking!’