d of waiting. His secret annoyance was increased by the fact that Nellie took off her white apron in the doorway and flung it hurriedly on to the table-tray which, during the progress of meals

ir family life that he was in a position to spend a hundred pounds a week and still have enough income left over to pay the salary of a town clerk or so? Nobody could guess; and he felt that people ought to be able to guess. When he was young he would have esteemed an income of six thousand pounds a year as necessarily implicating feudal state, valets, castles, yachts, family solicitors, racing-stables, county society, dinner

r, his private soul was glad of it, for [6] he well knew that he would have been considerabl

eature in those placid and pure features, in that buxom body; but now there was a formidable, capable and experienced woman there too. Impossible to credit that the wistful little creature was thirty-seven! But she was! Indeed, it was very

On the other hand, she was not cross. She was just neutral, polite, cheerful, and apparently conscious of perf

e in the baked York ham under its silver canopy, "you

live up to six thousand pounds a year; she wo

w as conscious of perfection as her mist

he?'" demand

pon which trium

d his presence of mind and sought about for a justificatio

But he said this strictly to himself. He could not say it aloud. Nor could he say aloud the

he fact that he did not remark the absence of his mother

of his mother for the meal. But his only audible remark was a somewhat im

is banging Nell

r mo

n perfect amity. Nay, more, they often formed powerful and unscrupulous leagues against him. But whenever Nellie was disturbed, by no matter wh

staying upstai

e eldest chil

e nurse was for; he might have inquired how his mother meant to

asis on the word "now," to imply that those women were a

the calf," said Nelli

rate, was n

him as usual, I sup

Nellie. "But I know we m

rio

isted, with an inadvertent heat

n the

a bite ri

ydrophobia, death amid ho

he said stoutly,

If it had been a good bite she would have made it enormous; she

ed to twit her, encouraged

the smile

e's always nosing in some filth or other," she said challengingly,

icks!" exclaime

received none. Shortly afterwards Maud entered and whispered that Nellie w

e the Signal out of my le

e news of the day propped up against the flower-pot, w