"You have made arrangements, I presume," she commenced, "for residing elsewhere?"
"I have been thinking what I had best do," I said.
"That is not what I asked you. It is perfectly immaterial to me what you have been thinking of. I presume your arrangements to live elsewhere are already made."
As a matter of fact they were not, but I could not pretend to misunderstand her.
"You wish me to leave the house soon?" I said.
"At once," she replied, "without a moment's unnecessary delay. You shall not eat another meal here. Your presence is hateful to me."
"I have known that all my life," I said, mournfully.
"Then why have you remained so long?" she asked, speaking with angry vehemence. "A man with a particle of spirit in him would have gone away years ago, but you, like the creature you are, have sponged upon me to the last hour. You are twenty-one to-day, and I am no longer legally obliged to keep you. Go, and disgrace yourself, as you are sure to do."
"I shall never do that."
"It has to be proved," she retorted. "As if any one knowing you would believe a word that passes your lips! We shall see your name in the papers in connection with some scandalous affair."