'Oh, I _can't_ lie still, so it's no use talkin'! But see, I want to
speak about Clara. That woman Mrs. Tubbs has been here to see me,
talkin' an' talkin'. She says she'll give Clara five shillin' a
week, as well as board an' lodge her. I don't know what to do about
it, that I don't. Clara, she's that set on goin', an' her father's
that set against it. It seems as if it 'ud be a good thing, don't
it, Sidney? I know _you_ don't want her to go, but what's to be
done? What _is_ to be done?'

Her wailing voice caused the baby to wail likewise. Kirkwood looked
about the room with face set in anxious discontent.

'Is it no use, Mrs. Hewett?' he exclaimed suddenly, turning to her.
'Does she mean it? Won't she ever listen to me?'

The woman shook her head miserably; her eyes filled with tears.

'I've done all I could,' she replied, half sobbing. 'I have; you
know I have, Sidney! She's that 'eadstrong, it seems as if she
wouldn't listen to nobody--at least nobody as we knows anything
about.'

'What do you mean by that?' he inquired abruptly. 'Do you think
there's any one else?'

'How can I tell? I've got no reason for thinkin' it, but how can I
tell? No, I believe it's nothin' but her self-will an' the fancies
she's got into her 'ead. Both her an' Bob, there's no doin' nothin'
with them. Bob, he's that wasteful with his money; an' now he talks