 to bring this
conversation to an end, and the man would give her no opportunity of doing so.
She was not in reality paying attention to his arguments, as was evident in her
echo of his last words.
    »Not willingly, but none the less you do so,« he rejoined. »Everyone who
lives at ease and without a thought of changing the present state of society is
tyrannising over the people. Every article of clothing you put on means a life
worn out somewhere in a factory. What would your existence be without the toil
of those men and women who live and die in want of every comfort which seems as
natural to you as the air you breathe? Don't you feel that you owe them
something? It's a debt that can very easily be forgotten, I know that, and just
because the creditors are too weak to claim it. Think of it in that way, and I'm
quite sure you won't let it slip from your mind again.«
    Alfred came towards them, announcing that tea was ready, and Adela gladly
moved away.
    »You won't make any impression there,« said Alfred with a shrug of
good-natured contempt. »Argument isn't understood by women. Now, if you were a
revivalist preacher -«
 
Mrs. Waltham and Adela went to church. Mutimer returned to his lodgings, leaving
his friend Waltham smoking in the garden.
    On the way home after service, Adela had a brief murmured conversation with
Letty Tew. Her mother was walking out with Mrs. Mewling.
    »It was evidently pre-arranged,« said the latter, after recounting certain
details in a tone of confidence. »I was quite shocked. On his part such conduct
is nothing less than disgraceful. Adela, of course, cannot be expected to know.«
    »I must tell her,« was the reply.
    Adela was sitting rather dreamily in her bedroom a couple of hours later
when her mother entered.
    »Little girls shouldn't tell stories,« Mrs. Waltham began, with playfulness
which was not quite natural. »Who was it that wanted to go and speak a word to
Letty this afternoon?«
    »It wasn't altogether a story, mother,« pleaded the girl shamed, but with an
endeavour to speak independently. »I did want to speak to Letty.«
    »And you put it off, I suppose? Really, Adela, you must remember that a girl
of your age has to be mindful of her self-respect. In Wanley you can
