“La, pa! what should I know about stores and groceries?” cries her ladyship.
“He! Remember stealing the sugar, and what came on it, my dear ladyship?” says grandpapa.
“At any rate, a handsome, well-grown man in our livery will look better than that shrivelled old porter creature!” cries my lady.
“No livery is so becoming as old age, madam, and no lace as handsome as silver hairs,” says Mr. Warrington. “What will the county say if you banish old Lockwood?”
“Oh! if you plead for him, sir, I suppose he must stay. Hadn't I better order a couch for him out of my drawing-room, and send him some of the best wine from the cellar?”
“Indeed your ladyship couldn't do better,” Mr. Warrington remarked, very gravely.
And my lord said, yawning, “Cousin George is perfectly right, my dear. To turn away such an old servant as Lockwood would have an ill look.”
“You see those mouldy old carps are, after all, a curiosity, and attract visitors,” continues Mr. Warrington, gravely. “Your ladyship must allow this old wretch to remain. It won't be for long. And you may then engage the tall porter. It is very hard on us, Mr. Van den Bosch, that we are obliged to keep our old negroes when they are past work. I shall sell that rascal Gumbo in eight or ten years.”
“Don't tink you will, master!” says Gumbo, grinning.
“Hold your tongue, sir! He doesn't know English ways, you see, and perhaps thinks an old servant has a claim on his master's kindness,” says Mr. Warrington.