'Comin up? noa, I'm not comin up--so now yer know. Take yerself off, an
be quick.'

She trembled.

'Are yer goin to sleep down 'ere, Isaac?'

'Aye, or wherever I likes: it's no concern o' yourn. I'm no 'usband o'
yourn from this day forth. Take yourself off, I say!--I'll 'ave no thief
for _my_ wife!'

But instead of going she stepped down into the kitchen. His words had
broken her down; she was crying again.

'Isaac, I'd ha' put it back,' she said, imploring. 'I wor goin in to
Bedford to see Mr. Grimstone--'ee'd ha' managed it for me. I'd a worked
extra--I could ha' done it--if it 'adn't been for Timothy. If you'll
'elp--an you'd oughter, for yer _are_ my 'usband, whativer yer may say--
we could pay John back--some day. Yo can go to 'im, an to Watson, an say
as we'll pay it back--yo _could_, Isaac. I can take ter the plattin
again, an I can go an work for Mrs. Drew--she asked me again lasst week.
Mary Anne ull see to the childer. You go to John, Isaac, to-morrer--an--
an--to Watson. All they wants is the money back. Yer couldn't--yer
couldn't--see me took to prison, Isaac.'

She gasped for breath, wiping the mist from her eye with the edge of her
shawl.

But all that she said only maddened the man's harsh and pessimist nature
the more. The futility of her proposals, of her daring to think, after