“I ha never thowt yet, missus,” said Stephen, “o’ askin thy name.”

The old lady announced herself as “ Mrs. Pegler.”

“A widder, I think?” said Stephen.

“Oh, many long years!” Mrs. Pegler’s husband (one of the best on record) was already dead, by Mrs. Pegler’s calculation, when Stephen was born.

“ ’Twere a bad job, too, to lose so good a one,” said Stephen. “Onny children?”

Mrs. Pegler’s cup, rattling against her saucer as she held it, denoted some nervousness on her part. “No,” she said. “Not now, not now.”