He turned away, leaving Ingleby considerably astonished and half-persuaded that he was right. The latter was still looking into the darkness when Hetty spoke to him.
"It's not worth worrying about. Come and sit down," she said. "Who was that girl, Walter?"
"Miss Coulthurst," said Ingleby.
Hetty moved a little so that the firelight no longer fell upon her, and Ingleby noticed that she was silent a somewhat unusual time. Then she asked, "The girl you used to play tennis with at Holtcar?"
"Yes."
Hetty wished that she could see his face. "You have met her before, in Canada?"
"Once only. On the Vancouver wharf, the day I let them put the tea into the wrong car. She was coming from the steamer."
Hetty's face grew a trifle hard for a moment as she made a tolerably accurate guess at the cause of his neglect on the afternoon in question. Then with a sudden change of mood she laid her hand gently on his arm.
"Don't you think it would have been better for everybody if she had stayed in England, Walter?"
"I expect it would have been for Tom and you. If I had remembered what my business on the wharf was I should never have brought all this upon you."