"I will see you home," he said.
The children had not been missed. The clock had only just struck nine when there came a knock on the door of the dining-room, where the Captain and his wife still sat by the Yule log. She said "Come in," wearily, thinking it was the frumenty and the Christmas cakes.
But it was her father, with her child in his arms!
VIII.
The Captain had many friends who knew of the sad estrangement between his wife and her father. Some of them were in church the next day, which was Christmas Day, when the Captain's wife came in. They would have hid their faces, but for the startling sight that met the gaze of the congregation. The old grandfather walked into church abreast of the Captain.
"They've met in the porch," whispered one under the shelter of his hat.
"They can't quarrel publicly in a place of worship," said another, turning pale.
"She's gone into his seat," cried a girl in a shrill whisper.
"And the children after her," added her sister, incautiously aloud.