made light of Jane's ailment. 'A little fever, that was all--soon
pull her round. Any wounds, by-the-by? No? Oh, soon pull her round.
Send for medicines.'

'We'll have her down in the back-kitchen as soon as the corffin's
away,' said Mrs. Peckover to Mrs. Hewett. 'Don't you upset yerself
about it, my dear; you've got quite enough to think about. Yer
'usband got anythink yet? Dear, dear! Don't you put yerself out. I'm
sure it was a great kindness of you to let the troublesome thing lay
'ere all night.'

Funeral guests were beginning to assemble. On arriving, they were
conducted first of all into the front-room on the ground-floor, the
Peckovers' parlour. It was richly furnished. In the centre stood a
round table, which left small space for moving about, and was at
present covered with refreshments. A polished sideboard supported a
row of dessert-plates propped on their edges, and a number of glass
vessels, probably meant for ornament alone, as they could not
possibly have been put to any use. A low cupboard in a recess was
surmounted by a frosted cardboard model of St. Paul's under a glass
case, behind which was reared an oval tray painted with flowers..
Over the mantel-piece was the regulation mirror, its gilt frame
enveloped in coarse yellow gauze; the mantel-piece itself bore a
'wealth' of embellishments in glass and crockery. On each side of it
hung a framed silhouette, portraits of ancestors. Other pictures
there were many, the most impressive being an ancient oil-painting,
of which the canvas bulged forth from the frame; the subject
appeared to be a ship, but was just as likely a view of the Alps.
Several German prints conveyed instruction as well as delight; one
represented the trial of Strafford in Westminster Hall; another, the