Having brought this admonition to an end--upon which, to say thetruth, the young gentleman for whose benefit it was designed,bestowed little or no heed, having to all appearance his facultiesabsorbed in the contemplation of the sweetmeats,--Miss Miggssignified to the company in general that they were not to beuneasy, for she would soon return; and, with her nephew"s aid,prepared to bear her wardrobe up the staircase.
"My dear," said the locksmith to his wife. "Do you desire this?"
"I desire it!" she answered. "I am astonished--I am amazed--at heraudacity. Let her leave the house this moment."
Miggs, hearing this, let her end of the box fall heavily to thefloor, gave a very loud sniff, crossed her arms, screwed down thecorners of her mouth, and cried, in an ascending scale, "Ho, goodgracious!" three distinct times.
"You hear what your mistress says, my love," remarked thelocksmith. "You had better go, I think. Stay; take this with you,for the sake of old service."
Miss Miggs clutched the bank-note he took from his pocket-book andheld out to her; deposited it in a small, red leather purse; putthe purse in her pocket (displaying, as she did so, a considerableportion of some under-garment, made of flannel, and more blackcotton stocking than is commonly seen in public); and, tossing herhead, as she looked at Mrs Varden, repeated-"Ho, good gracious!"
"I think you said that once before, my dear," observed thelocksmith.
"Times is changed, is they, mim!" cried Miggs, bridling; "you canspare me now, can you? You can keep "em down without me? You"renot in wants of any one to scold, or throw the blame upon, nolonger, an"t you, mim? I"m glad to find you"ve grown soindependent. I wish you joy, I"m sure!"
With that she dropped a curtsey, and keeping her head erect, herear towards Mrs Varden, and her eye on the rest of the company, asshe alluded to them in her remarks, proceeded:
"I"m quite delighted, I"m sure, to find sich independency, feelingsorry though, at the same time, mim, that you should have beenforced into submissions when you couldn"t help yourself--he he he!
It must be great vexations, "specially considering how ill youalways spoke of Mr Joe--to have him for a son-in-law at last; andI wonder Miss Dolly can put up with him, either, after being offand on for so many years with a coachmaker. But I HAVE heerd say,that the coachmaker thought twice about it--he he he!--and that hetold a young man as was a frind of his, that he hoped he knowedbetter than to be drawed into that; though she and all the familyDID pull uncommon strong!"
Here she paused for a reply, and receiving none, went on as before.
"I HAVE heerd say, mim, that the illnesses of some ladies was allpretensions, and that they could faint away, stone dead, wheneverthey had the inclinations so to do. Of course I never see sichcases with my own eyes--ho no! He he he! Nor master neither--hono! He he he! I HAVE heerd the neighbours make remark as some oneas they was acquainted with, was a poor good-natur"d mean-spiritedcreetur, as went out fishing for a wife one day, and caught aTartar. Of course I never to my knowledge see the poor personhimself. Nor did you neither, mim--ho no. I wonder who it canbe--don"t you, mim? No doubt you do, mim. Ho yes. He he he!"
Again Miggs paused for a reply; and none being offered, was sooppressed with teeming spite and spleen, that she seemed like toburst.
"I"m glad Miss Dolly can laugh," cried Miggs with a feeble titter.
"I like to see folks a-laughing--so do you, mim, don"t you? Youwas always glad to see people in spirits, wasn"t you, mim? And youalways did your best to keep "em cheerful, didn"t you, mim?
Though there an"t such a great deal to laugh at now either; isthere, mim? It an"t so much of a catch, after looking out so sharpever since she was a little chit, and costing such a deal in dressand show, to get a poor, common soldier, with one arm, is it, mim?
He he! I wouldn"t have a husband with one arm, anyways. I wouldhave two arms. I would have two arms, if it was me, though insteadof hands they"d only got hooks at the end, like our dustman!"
Miss Miggs was about to add, and had, indeed, begun to add, that,taking them in the abstract, dustmen were far more eligible matchesthan soldiers, though, to be sure, when people were past choosingthey must take the best they could get, and think themselves welloff too; but her vexation and chagrin being of that internallybitter sort which finds no relief in words, and is aggravated tomadness by want of contradiction, she could hold out no longer, andburst into a storm of sobs and tears.
In this extremity she fell on the unlucky nephew, tooth and nail,and plucking a handful of hair from his head, demanded to know howlong she was to stand there to be insulted, and whether or no hemeant to help her to carry out the box again, and if he took apleasure in hearing his family reviled: with other inquiries ofthat nature; at which disgrace and provocation, the small boy, whohad been all this time gradually lashed into rebellion by the sightof unattainable pastry, walked off indignant, leaving his aunt andthe box to follow at their leisure. Somehow or other, by dint ofpushing and pulling, they did attain the street at last; where MissMiggs, all blowzed with the exertion of getting there, and with hersobs and tears, sat down upon her property to rest and grieve,until she could ensnare some other youth to help her home.
"It"s a thing to laugh at, Martha, not to care for," whispered thelocksmith, as he followed his wife to the window, and goodhumouredlydried her eyes. "What does it matter? You had seenyour fault before. Come! Bring up Toby again, my dear; Dollyshall sing us a song; and we"ll be all the merrier for thisinterruption!"