“Now, Mr. Bellamy,” said Catharine, holding up her finger at him, “you’ll be sick of me at last. You’ve forgotten when I had that bad cold at your house, and was in bed there for a week, and what a bother I was to Mrs. Bellamy.”
“Bother!” cried Bellamy—“bother! Lord have mercy on us! why the missus was sayin’ when you talked about bother, my missus says, ‘I’d sooner have Catharine here, and me have tea up there with her, notwithstanding there must be a fire upstairs and I’ve had to send Lucy to the infirmary with a whitlow on her thumb—yes, I would, than be at a many tea-parties I know.’”
Mrs. Furze gave elaborate tea-parties, and was uncomfortably uncertain whether or not the shaft was intended for her.
“My dear Catharine, I shall be delighted if you go either to Mr. Gosford’s or to Mr. Bellamy’s, but you must consider your wardrobe a little. You will remember that the last time on each occasion a dress was torn in pieces.”
“But, mother, are not dresses intended to keep thorns from our legs; or, at any rate, isn’t that one reason why we wear them?”
“Suppose it to be so, my dear, there is no reason why you should plunge about in thorns.”
Catharine had a provoking way of saving “yes” or “no” when she wished to terminate a controversy. She stated her own opinion, and then, if objection was raised, at least by some people, her father and mother included, she professed agreement by a simple monosyllable, either because she was lazy, or because she saw that there was no chance of further profit in the discussion. It was irritating, because it was always clear she meant nothing. At this instant a servant opened the door, and Alice, a curly brown retriever, squeezed herself in, and made straight for Catharine, putting her head on Catharine’s lap.
“Catharine, Catharine!” cried her mother, with a little scream, “she’s dripping wet. Do pray, my child, think of the carpet.”
But Catharine put her lips to Alice’s face and kissed it deliberately, giving her a piece of cake.
“Mr. Gosford, my poor bitch has puppies—three of them—all as true as their mother, for we know the father.”