"Now," said Gregory, selecting a peculiarly vulgar picture of a bull tossing a red-nosed man into a cucumber frame, "I shall send this to Miss Bingham."
"Gregory!" exclaimed Janet; "you shall do nothing of the kind."
"Why not?" Gregory asked. "She'll only laugh, and say: 'How coarse!'"
"No," said Janet, "we'll take them back to the shop, and change them for nice ones."
"Oh, no, not all," Gregory pleaded. "Collins would love this one of the policeman with a cold pie being put into his hand by the cook behind his back."
"Very well," said Janet, "you may send her that, especially as we're getting her some pretty ones."
"Yes," said Gregory, "and Eliza must have this one of the soldier pushing the twins in the perambulator."
"Very well," said Janet, "but no others."
"Oh, yes," said Gregory, "there's Runcie. I'm sure she'd love this one of the curate being pulled both ways at once by two fat women. She's so religious."
After tea they walked to Shottery to see Anne Hathaway's cottage, although not even Hester could be very keen about the poet's wife. Hester, indeed, had it firmly in her head that she was not kind to him. "Otherwise," she said, "he would have left her his best bed instead of his second-best bed."