“There! Stop where you are, ma’am,” said Mr. Bounderby, “stop where you are! Mrs. Bounderby will be very glad to be relieved of the trouble, I believe.”

“Don’t say that, sir,” returned Mrs. Sparsit, almost with severity, “because that is very unkind to Mrs. Bounderby. And to be unkind is not to be you, sir.”

“You may set your mind at rest, ma’am.⁠—You can take it very quietly, can’t you, Loo?” said Mr. Bounderby, in a blustering way to his wife.

“Of course. It is of no moment. Why should it be of any importance to me?”