“Then you’re a cruel man,” said the matron vivaciously, as she held out her hand for the beadle’s cup; “and a very hard-hearted man besides.”

“Hard-hearted, ma’am?” said Mr. Bumble. “Hard?” Mr. Bumble resigned his cup without another word; squeezed Mrs. Corney’s little finger as she took it; and inflicting two openhanded slaps upon his laced waistcoat, gave a mighty sigh, and hitched his chair a very little morsel farther from the fire.