"What did she say?"
"What could she say? But, my goodness, wouldn't she have told some lies if I hadn't been there, and she had had him all to herself!"
"Lies about me?"
"She hated the sight of you. She never could forgive you because you were better born than she. And, would you believe it, she started to set her cap at him."
"Little cat!"
"He said he would come again to see if we heard any more of you, and, when he went, she actually made eyes at him. And, if that weren't enough, she wore her best dress and all her nick-knacks every day till he came again."
"He did come again?"
"This time he spoke to me. He went soon after I told him we hadn't heard of you."
"Did he send you to town to look for me?"
"I did that on my own. I traced you to a dancing academy, then to North Kensington, and then to New Cross."