Then there es a kind of chaos.
The dog barks and leaps, the baby in its bla gives a cry; another baby, that I have not noticed—it lies in a tin box, beh the table—begins to cry also. Richard takes off his hat and his coat, sets down s, and stretches. The scowling boy drops open his mouth and shows the meat within.
It aint Sue, he says.
Miss Lilly, says the woman before me, quietly. Aint you just the darling. Are you very tired, dear? You have e quite a journey
It aint Sue, says the boy again, a little louder.
ge of plan, says Richard, not catg my eye. Sue stays °n behind, to take care of a feoints.—Mr Ibbs, how are you, sir?
Sweet, son, the pale man answers. He has taken off his apron and is quieting the dog. The boy who opehe door to us has
gohe little brazier is cooling and tig and growing grey. The red-haired girl bends over the screaming babies with a bottle and a spoon, but is still stealing looks at me.
The scowling boy says, ge of plan? I do. You will, answers Richard. Unless— He puts his finger against his mouth, and winks.
The woman, meanwhile, is still before me, still describing my face with her hands, telling off my features as if they were beads upon a string. Brown eyes, she says, beh her breath; her breath is sweet as sugar. Pink lips, two pouters. Nid dainty at the . Teeth, white as a. Cheeks—rather soft, I dare say? Oh!
I have stood, as if in a trance, a her murmur; now, feeling her fingers flutter against my face, I start away from her.
How dare you? I say. How dare you speak to me? How dare you look at me, any of you? And you— I go to Richard and seize his waistcoat. What is this? Where have yht me to? What do they know of Sue, here?
Hey, hey, calls the pale man mildly. The boy laughs. The woman looks rueful.
Got a voice, dont she? says the girl.
Like the blade on a knife, says the man. That .
Richard meets my gaze, then looks away. What I say? He shrugs. I am a villain.
Damn your attitudes now! I say. Tell me what this means. Whose house is this? Is it yours?
Is it his! The boy laughs harder, and chokes on his meat.
John, be quiet, or Ill thrash you, says the woman. Dont mind him, Miss Lilly, I implore you now, dont!
I feel her wringing her hands, but do not look at her. I keep my eyes upon Richard. Tell me, I say.
Not mine, he answers at last.
Not ours? He shakes his head. Whose, then? Where, then?
He rubs at his eye. He is tired. It is theirs, he says, nodding to the woman, the man. Their house, in the Bh.
The Bh ... I have heard him say the name, once or twice before. I stand for a moment in silehinking back across his
words; then my heart drops. Sues house, I say. Sues house, of thieves.
Hohieves, says the woman, creeping closer, to those that know us!
I think: Sues aunt! I was sorry for her, onow I turn and almost spit at her. Will you keep from me, you witch? The kit grows silent. It seems darker, too, and close. I still have Richard gripped by the waistcoat. Wheries to pull away, I hold him tighter. My thoughts are leaping, fast as hares. I think, He has married me, and has brought me here, as a place to be rid of me. He means to keep my money for himself. He means to give them some trifling share for the killing of me, and Sue—even in the midst of my shod fusion, my heart drops again, as I think it—Sue they will free. Sue knows it all.
You shan