"When we have had our coffee," he said, "I hope that you will feel like a walk. The moon is coming up over the sea."
She shook her head.
"Take Hester," she said. "She loves that sort of thing. I have a headache, and I should like to go upstairs as soon as possible."
So Hester walked with Mannering out to the rocks where pools of water, left by the tide, shone like silver in the moonlight. They talked very little at first, but as they leaned over the rail and looked out seawards Hester broke the silence, and spoke of the things which they both had in their minds.
"I am sorry they came," she said. "I am afraid it will upset mother, and it is not pleasant for you, is it?"
"For me it is nothing, Hester," he answered, "and I hope that your mother will not worry about it. They all behaved very nicely, and we need not see much of them."
She passed her arm through his.
"Tell me how you feel about it," she begged. "It must seem to you like a glimpse of the life you left when—when you—married!"
"Hester," he said, earnestly, "don't make any mistake about this. Don't let your mother make any mistake. It was my political change of views which separated me from all my former friends—that entirely. To them I am an apostate, and a very bad sort of one. I deserted them just when they needed me. I did it from convictions which are stronger to-day than ever. But none the less I threw them over. I always said that they very much exaggerated my importance as a factor in the situation, and my words are proved. They carried the elections without any difficulty, and they have formed a strong Government. They can afford to be magnanimous to me. If I had stayed with them I should have been in office. As it was, I lost even my seat."
"You did what you thought was right," she said, softly. "No one can do any more!"