“Yet surely, Mrs. Kite, if the place is dangerous, you will not be allowed to remain?”
“Who can interfere with me? The board of guardians have applied to the petty sessions for an order, and it has been granted and served on me.”
“Then, of course, you go?”
“No; they can order me to go, but they cannot force me to go. The policeman says they can fine me ten shillings a day if I remain and defy them. Let them fine me. They must next get an order to distrain to get the amount. They may sell my furniture, but they won’t be able to turn me out.”
“But why remain in peril of your life? You will be crushed under the ruins some stormy night.”
“Why remain here? Because I’ve nowhere else to go to. I will not go into the union, and I will not live in a house with other folk. I am accustomed to be alone. I am not afraid. Here I am at liberty, and I will die here rather than lose my freedom.”
“You cannot even shut your door.”
“I do not need to. I fear nothing, not the sanitary officer; he can do nothing. Not the board of guardians; they can do nothing. Not the magistrates; they cannot touch me.”[[1]]
“Have you anything to live on?”
“I pick up a trifle. I bless bad knees and stop the flow of blood, and show where stolen goods are hidden, and tell who has ill-wished any one.”