Ada said she would go too

and was soon astir. I made a proposal to

Peepy, in default of being able to do anything better for him, that he

should let me wash him and afterwards lay him down on my bed again.

To this he submitted with the best grace possible, staring at me during

the whole operation as if he never had been, and never could again be,

so astonished in his life—looking very miserable also, certainly, but

making no complaint, and going snugly to sleep as soon as it was over. At

first I was in two minds about taking such a liberty, but I soon reflected

that nobody in the house was likely to notice it.

What with the bustle of dispatching Peepy and the bustle of getting

myself ready and helping Ada, I was soon quite in a glow. We found Miss

Jellyby trying to warm herself at the fire in the writing-room, which

Priscilla was then lighting with a smutty parlour candlestick, throwing

the candle in to make it burn better. Everything was just as we had left it

last night and was evidently intended to remain so. Below-stairs the

dinner-cloth had not been taken away, but had been left ready for

breakfast. Crumbs, dust, and waste-paper were all over the house. Some

pewter pots and a milk-can hung on the area railings; the door stood

open; and we met the cook round the corner coming out of a publichouse, wiping her mouth. She mentioned, as she passed us, that she had

been to see what o’clock it was.

But before we met the cook, we met Richard, who was dancing up

and down Thavies Inn to warm his feet. He was agreeably surprised to

see us stirring so soon and said he would gladly share our walk. So he

took care of Ada, and Miss Jellyby and I went first. I may mention that

Miss Jellyby had relapsed into her sulky manner and that I really should

not have thought she liked me much unless she had told me so.

‟Where would you wish to go?” she asked.

‟Anywhere, my dear,” I replied.

‟Anywhere’s nowhere,” said Miss Jellyby, stopping perversely.

‟Let us go somewhere at any rate,” said I.

56and was soon astir. I made a proposal to

Peepy, in default of being able to do anything better for him, that he

should let me wash him and afterwards lay him down on my bed again.

To this he submitted with the best grace possible, staring at me during

the whole operation as if he never had been, and never could again be,

so astonished in his life—looking very miserable also, certainly, but

making no complaint, and going snugly to sleep as soon as it was over. At

first I was in two minds about taking such a liberty, but I soon reflected

that nobody in the house was likely to notice it.

What with the bustle of dispatching Peepy and the bustle of getting

myself ready and helping Ada, I was soon quite in a glow. We found Miss

Jellyby trying to warm herself at the fire in the writing-room, which

Priscilla was then lighting with a smutty parlour candlestick, throwing

the candle in to make it burn better. Everything was just as we had left it

last night and was evidently intended to remain so. Below-stairs the

dinner-cloth had not been taken away, but had been left ready for

breakfast. Crumbs, dust, and waste-paper were all over the house. Some

pewter pots and a milk-can hung on the area railings; the door stood

open; and we met the cook round the corner coming out of a publichouse, wiping her mouth. She mentioned, as she passed us, that she had

been to see what o’clock it was.

But before we met the cook, we met Richard, who was dancing up

and down Thavies Inn to warm his feet. He was agreeably surprised to

see us stirring so soon and said he would gladly share our walk. So he

took care of Ada, and Miss Jellyby and I went first. I may mention that

Miss Jellyby had relapsed into her sulky manner and that I really should

not have thought she liked me much unless she had told me so.

‟Where would you wish to go?” she asked.

‟Anywhere, my dear,” I replied.

‟Anywhere’s nowhere,” said Miss Jellyby, stopping perversely.

‟Let us go somewhere at any rate,” said I.

56