“Then you all came back again, ma’am?” I said.

“We all came back again,” replied Mrs. Micawber. “Since then, I have consulted other branches of my family on the course which it is most expedient for Mr. Micawber to take⁠—for I maintain that he must take some course, Master Copperfield,” said Mrs. Micawber, argumentatively. “It is clear that a family of six, not including a domestic, cannot live upon air.”

“Certainly, ma’am,” said I.

“The opinion of those other branches of my family,” pursued Mrs. Micawber, “is, that Mr. Micawber should immediately turn his attention to coals.”