"Yes. But stay a little longer."
She sat down again beside him, and he lay still with his eyes closed.
"Did you go to see the children today?" he asked after a pause.
"Yes, I stopped in. They were playing in the yard—they're so little, you know, they don't realize anything—except perhaps the girl. I wanted to take one of them, but Mrs. Peters said she thought they were better off together."
"Yes, I should think so.... We'll have to find homes for them, though, and it isn't likely they can be together long."
"I know. Mrs. Peters said she would keep one of them—and I could take one. I'm sure Laurence would think that right, as he is so much interested in—the father."
Mary's face and tone expressed a sudden repugnance. Hilary half-opened his eyes and looked at her.
"You hate sinners, don't you, Mary? You don't understand why people sin?"
"From weakness," she said.
"And you haven't much pity for weakness.... You don't understand how a man can make a beast of himself with drink, because he's unhappy."