He turned away this time and moved off, halting more noticeably than usual on his infirm foot.
He returned to his office near the pit-bank, and found Mr. Bonnithorne awaiting him.
"The day is young, but I'm no sluggard, you know," said the lawyer. "I thought we might want a word or two before the meeting at the Ghyll."
Hugh Ritson did not notice the explanation. He looked anxious and disturbed. While stripping off his pit flannels, and putting on his ordinary clothes, he told Mr. Bonnithorne what had just occurred, and then added:
"If anything had been necessary to prove that this morning's bad business is inevitable, I should have found it in this encounter with the men."
"It comes as a fillip to your already blunted purpose," said the lawyer with a curious smile. "Odd, isn't it?"
"Blunted!" said Hugh Ritson, and there was a perceptible elevation of the eyebrows.
Presently he drew a long breath, and said with an air of relief:
"Ah, well, if she suffers who has suffered enough already, he, at least, will be out of the way forever."
Bonnithorne shifted slightly on his seat.