And we thought you had come for the rent which we
cannot pay. If it had not been for a dish of tea which was
charitably given me this morning by a person almost as poor as
ourselves that is to say, they live by labour, though their
wages are much higher, as high as two pounds a-week, though
how that can be I never shall understand, when my husband is
working twelve hours a day, and gaining only a penny an hour--
if it had not been for this I should have been a corpse; and
yet he says we were in straits, merely because Walter Gerard's
daughter, who I willingly grant is an angel from heaven for
all the good she has done us, has stepped into our aid. But
the poor supporting the poor, as she well says, what good can
come from that!"
During this ebullition, Mr St Lys had surveyed the apartment
and recognised Sybil.
"Sister," he said when the wife of Warner had ceased, "this is
not the first time we have met under the roof of sorrow."
Sybil bent in silence, and moved as if she were about to
retire: the wind and rain came dashing against the window.
The companion of Mr St Lys, who was clad in a rough great
coat, and was shaking the wet off an oilskin hat known by the
name of a 'south-wester,' advanced and said to her, "It is but
a squall, but a very severe one; I would recommend you to stay
for a few minutes.
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