His wife overpowered him when present. She was a head taller than he, and a great talker, but not a cheerful one. They had no children, and Mrs. Timson was very glad to help out their small income by going out cleaning or washing. She washed for the Miss Churchhills, and Peggy's much-prized cotton gowns passed through her hands.
"Come ye in and sit down, me dear," she said to Peggy. "I've been expectin' ye this long while. How's the world treatin' ye? Better 'n it do me, I reckon! For 'tis work, work, work, when me bones is full of aches and pains. And if I had laws to make, I'd make 'em so as to make the sufferin' ones sit still, and the hearty ones to work."
Her husband gave a quiet wink to Peggy.
"Meanin' me, in course, wife; but I do be at it all day long."
"You? You sit in your cart like a dook, and gossip wi' folks till one don't know fac' from fiction. 'Tis me that be at it all day long."
"I like workin'," said Peggy simply. "But then I be stronger than you, missus."
"That you be. I mind when I were a girl how I worked. But there! Things is different nowadays, and I'm gradorly droppin' down towards me tomb."
"I've locked up," said Peggy inconsequently. "Do you think it will be all safe?"
"Safe as my watch in my pocket," said the carrier.
His wife shook her head at him.