 As a dishevelled Larry leaves, Hester Peters (Sarah Churchill) arrives, and he tells her that Howard "interfered" with him.Hester is the daughter of the parish’s previous clergyman and has become infatuated with the athletic and handsome new vicar.However, having earlier seen a young girl leaving the vicarage late one night (Mary, who had sought the vicar's advice about her pregnancy), Hester jumps to the conclusion the two are romantically linked and, "a fury like a woman scorn'd", chooses to believe Larry's account.