the body had left the house, let in another husband to her heart; were
she rid of the expenses connected with the corpse she would not care a
straw if his soul were at the bottom of hell; nor do his own kindred care
any more than she: for when it went hardest with him, instead of giving
him good counsel and earnestly praying for mercy upon him, they were
talking of his property, his will or his pedigree; or what a handsome
robust man he was, and such talk; and now this wailing {21a} on the part
of some is for mere ceremony and custom, on the part of others for
company's sake or for pay."

Scarcely had these gone by than another throng came in sight: a most
gallant lord with his lady at his side, slowly advancing in state, to
whom many men of position doffed, and many were on tiptoe with eagerness
to show him obeisance and reverence. "Here is a noble lord," said I,
"who is worthy such respect from all these!" "Wert thou to take
everything to consideration thou wouldst speak differently. This lord
comes from the Street of Pleasure, she is of the Street of Pride, and yon
old man who is conversing with him comes from the Street of Lucre, and
has a mortgage on almost every acre of my lord's, and is come to-day to
complete the loan." We drew nigh to hear the conversation. "In sooth,
sir," Old Money-bags was saying, "I would not for all that I possess that
you should lack anything which lies in my power to enable you to appear
your own true self this day, especially seeing that you have met so
beautiful and lovely a lady as madam here" (the wily dog knowing full
well what she was). "By the --- by the --- ," said the lord, "next to
gazing at her beauty, my greatest pleasure was to hearken to your fair
reasons; I had liefer pay you interest than get money elsewhere free."
"Indeed, my lord," said one of his chief friends called Flatterer,
"nuncle pays you not a whit less respect than is due to you, but an it
please you, he has bestowed upon her ladyship scarce the half her mead of