"Perhaps I should say very. But with papa you never know. He really does love us all, after a fashion, except Egerton, only I'm never sure he doesn't do it to contradict mamma." "Why don't they chuck each other and have done with it?" The vulgar child lets fly straight into the bull's-eye; then adds thoughtfully: "_I_ should, only, then, I'm not a married couple." Tishy elided the absurd figure of speech and ignored it. The chance of patronising was not to be lost. "You are not married, dear. When you are, you may feel things differently. But, of course, papa and mamma _are_ very odd. I used to hear them through my door between the rooms at L.B.G. Road. It was wrangle, wrangle, wrangle; fight, fight, fight; all through the night--till two o'clock sometimes. Oh dear!" "You're sure they always were quarrelling?" "Oh dear, yes. I used to catch all the regular words--settlement and principal and prevaricate. All that sort of thing, you know. But there they are, and there they'll be ten years hence, that's my belief, living together, sleeping together, and dining at opposite ends of the same table, and never communicating in the daytime except through me or Theeny, but quarrelling like cat and dog." "What shall you do when you go back? Go straight there?" "I think so. Julius thinks so. After all, papa's the master of the house--legally, at any rate." "Shall you write and say you're coming?" "Oh, no! Just go and take our chance. We shan't be any nearer if we give mamma an opportunity of miffing away somewhere when we come. What _is_ that little maid talking about there?" The ex-bridesmaid is three or four yards away, and is discoursing eloquently, a word in the above conversation having reminded her of a tragic event she has mentioned before in this story. "I seeps with my bid sister Totey's dolly," is what she appears to be saying. "Never mind the little poppet, Tishy, till you've told me more about it." Sally is full of curiosity. "Did that do the job or did it not? That's what I want to know." "I suppose it did, dear, indirectly. That was on Saturday afternoon. Next morning we breakfasted under a thundercloud with Egerton grinning inside his skin, and looking like 'Won't you catch it, that's all!' at me out of the corner of his eye. That was bad enough, without one's married sister up from the country taking one aside to say that _she_ wasn't going to interfere, and calling one to witness that _she_ had said nothing so far. All she said was, 'Me and mamma settle it between us.' 'Settle what?' said I; and she didn't answer, and went away to the first celebration." "She's not bad, your married sister," Sally decided thoughtfully.