‘Do you wish I hadn’t come?’ she asked, anxious now again for fear she might be out of place.

‘No,’ he said. ‘I wish there hadn’t been the violence — so much ugliness — but perhaps it was inevitable.’

She watched him in silence. He seemed deadened.

‘But where shall I stay?’ she asked, feeling humiliated.

He thought for a moment.

‘Here, with me,’ he said. ‘We’re married as much today as we shall be tomorrow.’

‘But — ’

‘I’ll tell Mrs Varley,’ he said. ‘Never mind now.’