"This was more than my mother could stand.
"'It's you that have let it get cold,' she cried hotly.
"Now this was pure impromptu 'gag,' and my mother would have done better to confine herself to the rehearsed dialogue.
"'Oh, missus!' cried Selina. 'How can you say that? Why, this is the first moment I've come down.'
"'Yes,' said my mother, gladly seizing the opportunity of slipping back into the text. 'Somebody had to do the work, Selina. In this world no work can go undone. If those whose duty it is do not do it, it must fall on the shoulders of other people. That is why I got up at seven this morning instead of you and have tidied up the place and made the master's breakfast.'
"'That was real good of you!' exclaimed Selina, with impulsive admiration.
"My mother began to feel that the elaborate set piece was going off in a damp sort of way, but she kept up her courage and her saintly expression and continued,
"'It was freezing when I got out of my warm bed, and before I could get the fire alight here I almost perished with cold. I shouldn't be surprised if I have laid the seeds of consumption.'
"'Ah,' said Selina with satisfaction. 'Now you see what I have had to put up with.' She took another piece of toast.
"Selina's failure to give the cues extremely disconcerted my mother. Instead of being able to make the high moral remarks she had intended, she was forced to invent repartées on the spur of the moment. The ethical quality of these improvisations was distinctly inferior.