we have now no place in which you could teach pupils even if pupils--'

'The milkman said he knew of two young ladies of the highest
respectability who were in search of a suitable establishment, and he
took a card,' interposed Mrs Wilfer, with severe monotony, as if she
were reading an Act of Parliament aloud. 'Tell your father whether it
was last Monday, Bella.'

'But we never heard any more of it, ma,' said Bella, the elder girl.

'In addition to which, my dear,' her husband urged, 'if you have no
place to put two young persons into--'

'Pardon me,' Mrs Wilfer again interposed; 'they were not young persons.
Two young ladies of the highest respectability. Tell your father, Bella,
whether the milkman said so.'

'My dear, it is the same thing.'

'No it is not,' said Mrs Wilfer, with the same impressive monotony.
'Pardon me!'

'I mean, my dear, it is the same thing as to space. As to space. If you
have no space in which to put two youthful fellow-creatures, however
eminently respectable, which I do not doubt, where are those youthful
fellow-creatures to be accommodated? I carry it no further than that.
And solely looking at it,' said her husband, making the stipulation at
once in a conciliatory, complimentary, and argumentative tone--'as I am
sure you will agree, my love--from a fellow-creature point of view, my
dear.'