Clemency Newcome in the mean time, having accomplished her mission and lingered in the room until she had made herself a party to the news, descended to the kitchen, where her coadjutor, Mr. Britain, was regaling after supper, surrounded by such a plentiful collection of bright pot-lids, well-scoured saucepans, burnished dinner-covers, gleaming kettles, and other tokens of her industrious habits, arranged upon the walls and shelves, that he sat as in the centre of a hall of mirrors. The majority did not give forth very flattering portraits of him, certainly; nor were they by any means unanimous in their reflections; as some made him very long-faced, others very broad-faced, some tolerably well-looking, others vastly ill-looking, according to their several manners of reflecting: which were as various, in respect of one fact, as those of so many kinds of men. But they all agreed that in the midst of them sat, quite at his ease, an individual with a pipe in his mouth, and a jug of beer at his elbow, who nodded condescendingly to Clemency, when she stationed herself at the same table.
“Well, Clemmy,” said Britain, “how are you by this time, and what’s the news?”
Clemency told him the news, which he received very graciously. A gracious change had come over Benjamin from head to foot. He was much broader, much redder, much more cheerful, and much jollier in all respects. It seemed as if his face had been tied up in a knot before, and was now untwisted and smoothed out.
“There’ll be another job for Snitchey and Craggs, I suppose,” he observed, puffing slowly at his pipe. “More witnessing for you and me, perhaps, Clemmy!”
“Lor!” replied his fair companion, with her favorite twist of her favorite joints. “I wish it was me, Britain.”
“Wish what was you?”
“A going to be married,” said Clemency.
Benjamin took his pipe out of his mouth and laughed heartily. “Yes! you’re a likely subject for that!” he said. “Poor Clem!” Clemency for her part laughed as heartily as he, and seemed as much amused by the idea. “Yes,” she assented, “I’m a likely subject for that; an’t I?”
“You’ll never be married, you know,” said Mr. Britain, resuming his pipe.
“Don’t you think I ever shall though?” said Clemency, in perfect good faith.