Then Bill took hold of the situation.
“The old girl’s boiled ’em with their insides in,” he explained.
“I thought,” said Andy, staring wide-eyed from one to the other, “that there was something funny. But I never dreamed of anything as bad as this.”
“Mrs. Jebb’ll die. She’s so refined,” said Dick Stamford, trying to turn the thoughts of his host from his own despair.
“She deserves to die,” said Andy with extreme bitterness.
The Beloved for the first time under his roof—and he had offered her this! If he had been a woman he would have wept.
“Poor Mrs. Jebb! She decorated them so beautifully. She tried so hard,” murmured Elizabeth.
“I must say I’m sorry for the woman. It will never be forgotten in Gaythorpe so long as Gaythorpe exists,” said Norah.
“Look here,” said Bill. “It is rough on the poor old thing. She’s tried her best. Let’s bury the bits in the garden, and she’ll think we’ve eaten them, and we’ll say nothing about it.”
“Ridiculous!” said Mrs. Stamford. “Personally I like bread and cheese for lunch better than anything, so I am going to help myself from that Gorgonzola on the sideboard.”