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‘Let me get on with the table, father. If I am comfortable
there are some who don’t seem to mind it.’
‘The hussy!’ cried Athelny, with a dramatic wave of the
hand. ‘She taunts me with the notorious fact that Joseph, a
son of Levi who sells jewels in Holborn, has made her an of-
fer of marriage.’
‘Have you accepted him, Sally?’ asked Philip.
‘Don’t you know father better than that by this time?
There’s not a word of truth in it.’
‘Well, if he hasn’t made you an offer of marriage,’ cried
Athelny, ‘by Saint George and Merry England, I will seize
him by the nose and demand of him immediately what are
his intentions.’
‘Sit down, father, dinner’s ready. Now then, you children,
get along with you and wash your hands all of you, and
don’t shirk it, because I mean to look at them before you
have a scrap of dinner, so there.’
Philip thought he was ravenous till he began to eat, but
then discovered that his stomach turned against food, and
he could eat hardly at all. His brain was weary; and he did
not notice that Athelny, contrary to his habit, spoke very lit-
tle. Philip was relieved to be sitting in a comfortable house,
but every now and then he could not prevent himself from
glancing out of the window. The day was tempestuous. The
fine weather had broken; and it was cold, and there was a
bitter wind; now and again gusts of rain drove against the
window. Philip wondered what he should do that night. The
Athelnys went to bed early, and he could not stay where he
was after ten o’clock. His heart sank at the thought of going

Of Human Bondage