Mrs. Marston, very much flustered, asked what the animals were for.
'I think, mother, they're for you.' Edward smiled.
She surveyed Foxy, full of vitality after the drive; the bird, moping and rough; the rabbit, with one ear inside out, looking far from respectable. She heard the ventriloquistic mews.
'I don't want them, dear,' she said with great decision.
'It's a bit of a cats' 'ome you're starting, mum,' said Abel.
Mrs. Marston found no words for her emotions.
But while Edward and Abel bestowed the various animals, she said to
Martha:
'Weddings are not what they were, Martha.'
'Bride to groom,' said Martha, who always read the local weddings: 'a one-eyed cat; a foolish rabbit as'd be better in a pie; an ill-contrived bird; and a filthy smelly fox!'
Mrs. Marston relaxed her dignity so far as to laugh softly. She decided to give Martha a rise next year.