In which the quiet of a summer day conceals the restless anticipation of a coming upheaval, leading the narrator to reflect upon her late husband, a tireless champion of human freedom whose life was devoted to the labour cause. At a dinner gathering, her first encounter with Ernest Everhard reveals a man of muscular presence and unyielding spirit who challenges the complacent clergy with a fierce critique of metaphysical philosophy, grounding truth firmly in practical reality and the lived experience of the working class.