“No, Frank, but it would be impossible to keep her from Mrs. Boffin’s house; and the more there was to eat and drink there, the oftener she would go. And she is an inconvenient woman. I hope it’s not uncharitable to remember that last Christmas Eve she drank eleven cups of tea, and grumbled all the time. And she is not a grateful woman, Frank. You recollect her addressing a crowd outside this house, about her wrongs, when, one night after we had gone to bed, she brought back the petticoat of new flannel that had been given her, because it was too short.”

“That’s true,” said Mr. Milvey. “I don’t think that would do. Would little Harrison⁠—”