"I am waiting here for my father," she said, in explanation.
"In deference to Wilks's terrors I am waiting here until he has gone," said Hardy, with a half smile.
There was a pause. "I hope that he will not be long," said the girl.
"Thank you," returned Hardy, wilfully misunderstanding, "but I am in no hurry."
He gazed at her with admiration. The cold air had heightened her colour, and the brightness of her eyes shamed the solitary candle which lit up the array of burnished metal on the mantelpiece.
"I hope you enjoyed your visit to London," he said.
Before replying Miss Nugent favoured him with a glance designed to express surprise at least at his knowledge of her movements. "Very much, thank you," she said, at last.
Mr. Hardy, still looking at her with much comfort to himself, felt an insane desire to tell her how much she had been missed by one person at least in Sunwich. Saved from this suicidal folly by the little common sense which had survived the shock of her sudden appearance, he gave the information indirectly.
"Quite a long stay," he murmured; "three months and three days; no, three months and two days."