“You mean,” said his wife slowly, “to look me in the face and to tell me that, after what you overheard on the tramcar—”
“I never overheard nothing of the kind on the tramcar.”
“Perhaps, William, you’ll kindly tell me what horse you did put the money on?”
“I never,” he answered, “put no money on any horse whatsoever.”
“Then where is the money?”
“In the inside pocket of the jacket I’m wearing at the present moment,” he said sulkily.
“But what did you intend to do with it?”
“Hadn’t quite made up my mind about that. Idea was to prevent you from lording it over me. You see, my dear, I’d got accustomed to being master, and the sudden change was a bit trying. And in picking out what I thought was the unlikeliest gee-gee, I acted from the purest of motives, and for what I reckoned the best for all parties concerned. If I made a mistake, I’m sorry for it.”
“Do you realise, William, that if you’d obeyed my orders we should have been in a position to buy a nice little house of our own here in Old Ford, and never had to pay a week’s rent again? Do you understand how much you owe me? Do you comprehend—”
“My dear,” he appealed, putting his hands together, “let me off as light as you can. I won’t go lording it about the place any more. In future, I’ll only lord it over myself.”