He had felt from the beginning that he was so much more the man to deal with an affair like this than poor old Hilary.

When, therefore, Thyme put her head into his study and said, "Father, Mrs.Tallents Smallpeace!" he had first thought, 'That busybody!' and then, 'I wonder--perhaps I'd better go and see if I can get anything out of her.' In considering Stephen's attitude towards a woman so firmly embedded in the various social movements of the day, it must be remembered that he represented that large class of men who, unhappily too cultivated to put aside, like Mr.Purcey, all blue subjects, or deny the need for movements to make them less blue, still could not move, for fear of being out of order.

He was also temperamentally distrustful of anything too feminine; and Mrs.Tallents Smallpeace was undoubtedly extremely feminine.

Her merit, in his eyes, consisted of her attachment to Societies.

So long as mankind worked through Societies, Stephen, who knew the power of rules and minute books, did not despair of too little progress being made.