"
"I carry everything. What's the use doing things by halves, good or
bad?"
"Well, but that Polly! She is young enough to get her living elsewhere;
and she is extremely disrespectful to you."
"That she is. If I wasn't a lady, I'd have given her a good hiding this
very day for her cheek!"
"Then why not turn her off this very day for her cheek?"
"Well, I'll tell you, since you and I are parted forever. No, I don't
like."
"Oh, come! No secrets between friends."
"Well, then, the old hag is--my mother."
"What?"
"And the young jade--is my sister."
"Good Heavens!"
"And the page--is my little brother."
"Ha, ha, ha!"
"What, you are not angry?"
"Angry? no. Ha, ha, ha!"
"See what a hornets' nest you have escaped from. My dear friend, those
two women rob me through thick and thin. They steal my handkerchiefs,
and my gloves, and my very linen. They drink my wine like fishes.
They'd take the hair off my head, if it wasn't fast by the roots--for a
wonder."
"Why not give them a ten-pound note and send them home?"
"They'd pocket the note, and blacken me in our village. That was why I
had them up here. First time I went home, after running about with that
little scamp, Vandeleur--do you know him?"
"I have not the honor."
"Then your luck beats mine.
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