Byass caught up the poker and sprang after him. From the
passage came sounds of scuffling and screaming, and in the end of
something produced by the lips. Mrs. Byass then showed a very red
face at the door, and said:
'_Isn't_ he a fool? Just wait a minute while I get the table laid.'
Supper was soon ready in the comfortable kitchen. A cold shoulder of
mutton, a piece of cheese, pickled beetroot, a seed-cake, and
raspberry jam; such was the fare to which Bessie Byass invited her
husband and her guest. On a side-table were some open cardboard
boxes containing artificial flowers and leaves; for Bessie had now
and then a little 'mounting' to do for a shop in Upper Street, and
in that way aided the income of the family. She was in even better
spirits than usual at the prospect of letting her top-rooms. On
hearing that piece of news, Samuel, who had just come from the
nearest public-house with a foaming jug, executed a wild dance round
the room and inadvertently knocked two plates from the dresser. This
accident made his wife wrathful, but only for a moment; presently
she was laughing as unrestrainedly as ever, and bestowing upon the
repentant young man her familiar flattery.
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