The other went upstairs, and entered the back-room, where it was quite dark.
‘That you, Clara?’ asked Amy’s voice. ‘The candle’s on the mantel-shelf.’
‘Why aren’t you asleep?’ Clara returned sharply. But the irritation induced by Clem’s triumph quickly passed in reflection on Sidney’s mode of leave-taking. That had not at all annoyed her, but it had made her thoughtful. She lit the candle. Its light disclosed a room much barer than the other one. There was one bed, in which Amy and Annie lay (Clara had to share it with them), and a mattress placed on the floor, where reposed little Tom; a low chest of drawers with a very small looking-glass upon it, a washstand, a few boxes. Handsome girls, unfortunate enough to have brains to boot, do not cultivate the patient virtues in chambers of this description.
There was a knock at the door. Clara found her father standing there.
‘Have you anything to tell me, my girl?’ he asked in a subdued voice, furtively regarding her.
‘I shall go on Monday.’
He drew back a step, and seemed about to return to the other room.
‘Father, I shall have to give Mrs. Tubbs the five shillings for a few weeks. She’s going to let me have a new dress.’
‘Your earnin’s is your own, Clara.’
‘Yes; but I hope very soon to be able to give you something. It’s hard for you, having no work.’