"Go on, Matthew."

"There is a saying as how 'you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.'"

"I've heard that."

"Just so, sir. Now, Miss Thoroughbung is a very nice lady."

"I don't think she's a nice lady at all."

"But—Of course it's not becoming in me to speak against my betters, and as a menial servant I never would."

"Go on, Matthew."

"Miss Thoroughbung is—"

"Go on, Matthew."

"Well;—she is a sow's ear. Ain't she, now? The servants here never would have looked upon her as a silk purse."