This
man's countenance put her out. As a matter of course, he wished to
overreach her in some way, but he was obviously very deep indeed.
And then she found it so difficult to guess his purposes. How would
he proceed if she gave him details of Jane's history, admitting that
she was the child of Joseph James Snowdon? What, again, had he been
told by the people of whom he had made inquiries? She needed time to
review her position.
'As I was sayin',' she resumed, poking the fire, 'I've been a mother
to her these six years or more, an' I feel I done the right thing by
her. She was left on my 'ands by them as promised to pay for her
keep; an' a few months, I may say a few weeks, was all as ever I
got. Another woman would a sent the child to the 'Ouse; but that's
always the way with me; I'm always actin' against my own
interesses.'
'You say that her parents went away and left her?' asked the old
man, knitting his brows.
'Her father did. Her mother, she died in this very 'ouse, an' she
was buried from it. He gave her a respectable burial, I'll say that
much for him. An' I shouldn't have allowed anything but one as was
respectable to leave this 'ouse; I'd sooner a paid money out o' my
own pocket.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107