“I do not think De Malpas was a heathen.”
“Hast thou been to the creeping thing up yonder and begged to be baptised to-morrow?”
This was a complimentary allusion to that Right Reverend person, the Bishop of Norwich.
“Nay, Licorice, I am as true to the faith as thou.”
“Ay de mi! I must have put on my gown wrong side out, to make thee say so.” And Licorice pretended to make a close examination of her skirt, as if to discover whether this was the case.
“Licorice, is it not written, ‘Cursed be their wrath, for it was cruel?’ Thine was, wife.”
“Whatever has come to thy conscience? It quietly went to sleep for eighteen years; and now, all at once, it comes alive and awake!”
Abraham winced, as though he felt the taunt true.
“‘Better late than never,’ wife.”
“That is a Christian saying.”