“That’s not an answer, sir,” said Mr. Creakle, “to my remark. I expect more than that from you, Steerforth.”

If Mr. Mell looked homely, in my eyes, before the handsome boy, it would be quite impossible to say how homely Mr. Creakle looked. “Let him deny it,” said Steerforth.

“Deny that he is a beggar, Steerforth?” cried Mr. Creakle. “Why, where does he go a-begging?”

“If he is not a beggar himself, his near relation’s one,” said Steerforth. “It’s all the same.”