Mrs. Arbuthnot. Let him leave me if he chooses, but not with him—not with him! I couldn’t bear it. [Walks up and down.]
[Enter Hester.]
Hester. What a lovely night it is, Mrs. Arbuthnot.
Mrs. Arbuthnot. Is it?
Hester. Mrs. Arbuthnot, I wish you would let us be friends. You are so different from the other women here. When you came into the Drawing-room this evening, somehow you brought with you a sense of what is good and pure in life. I had been foolish. There are things that are right to say, but that may be said at the wrong time and to the wrong people.
Mrs. Arbuthnot. I heard what you said. I agree with it, Miss Worsley.
Hester. I didn’t know you had heard it. But I knew you would agree with me. A woman who has sinned should be punished, shouldn’t she?
Mrs. Arbuthnot. Yes.
Hester. She shouldn’t be allowed to come into the society of good men and women?
Mrs. Arbuthnot. She should not.