She had come to Hylda, she said, because of Lord Eglington's position, and she could not believe that the Government would see David's work undone and David killed by the slave-dealers of Africa.
Hylda's reply had given her no hope that Eglington would keep the promise he had made that evening long ago when her father had come upon them by the old mill, and because of which promise she had forgiven Eglington so much that was hard to forgive.

Hylda had spoken with sorrowful decision, and then this pause had come, in which Faith tried to gain composure and strength.

There was something strangely still in the two women.

From the far past, through Quaker ancestors, there had come to Hylda now this grey mist of endurance and self-control and austere reserve.

Yet behind it all, beneath it all, a wild heart was beating.
Presently, as they looked into each other's eyes, and Faith dimly apprehended something of Hylda's distress and its cause, Hylda leaned over and spasmodically pressed her hand.
"It is so, Faith," she said.