"It would be worth it," said she.
"It might be if you stopped five months. Not unless."
"Look here, Kate. It's all very well, but I consider that the house owes me that five pounds. Mayn't I have it, Stephen or no Stephen?"
"It's no use asking me now. It will depend on Stephen."
"And Stephen, I imagine, will depend on us."
"Probably. Do you hear what Minnie says, Mother?"
The old woman's hands knitted fiercely, while her sharp yellow face crumpled into an expression half peevish, half resigned.
"I hear what you both say, and I think I've got enough to worry me without you talking about Stephen coming home."
Her voice was so thin that even Minnie, not hearing, had missed the point. As for the man outside, he was still struggling with emotion, and had caught but a word here and there.
Kate's voice was jagged like a saw and carried farther. It was now that he really began to hear.