"I hate and abhor him," said Phœbe, firmly. "He is not a man; he is a reptile."
The door opened, and Mrs. Pamflett appeared.
"Come in," cried Miser Farebrother, "and hear what this ungrateful child calls your son. Repeat it in her hearing," he said to Phœbe.
The girl did not speak.
"I will tell you," said Miser Farebrother, "and if she denies it she lies. I asked her what objection she had to Jeremiah, and she answered that she hated and abhorred him, and that he was not a man but a reptile."
"Did you say that?" exclaimed Mrs. Pamflett, with venom in her voice and eyes.
Phœbe was silent.
"That is the proof," said Miser Farebrother. "If she did not say it she would deny it."
"My son a reptile!" said Mrs. Pamflett; "then what am I—his mother? I shall remember it!"
"Do you want me any longer?" asked Phœbe of her father.