But--better that than that an innocent man should suffer! And walking up and down Bent's smoking-room, and thinking the whole thing through and through, he half made up his mind to tell Bent all about it when he returned.
Brereton presently put on hat and coat and left the house.

It was then half-past seven; a sharp, frosty November evening, with an almost full moon rising in a clear, star-sprinkled sky.

The sudden change from the warmth of the house to the frost-laden atmosphere of the hillside quickened his mental faculties; he lighted his pipe, and resolved to take a brisk walk along the road which led out of Highmarket and to occupy himself with another review of the situation.

A walk in the country by day or night and in solitude had always had attractions for Brereton and he set out on this with zest.

But he had not gone a hundred yards in the direction of the moors when Avice Harborough came out of the gate of Northrop's garden and met him.
"I was coming to see you," she said quietly.