any rate, not such friends as to make it probable that he
will leave me a farthing. He has a granddaughter of his own."

This, and a little more of the same kind, taught Mrs. Cox that it
behoved her to be cautious. That Major Biffin had a snug little
income over and above that derived from his profession was a fact
that had been very well ascertained. That he was very dry, as dry as
a barber's block, might be true. That George Bertram was an amusing
fellow, and made love in much better style than the major, certainly
was true. But little as she might know about money, Mrs. Cox did know
this--that when poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the
window; that eating and drinking are stern necessities; that love
in a cottage is supposed to be, what she would call, bosh; and that
her own old home used to be very unpleasant when Cox was in debt,
and those eastern Jewish harpies would come down upon him with his
overdue bills. Considering all this, Mrs. Cox thought it might
be well not to ratify her engagement with Mr. Bertram till after
they should reach Southampton. What if Biffin--the respectable
Biffin--should again come forward!

And so they went on for a few days longer. Bertram, when they were
together, called her Annie, and once again asked her whether she
loved him. "Whether I do, or whether I do not, I shall give you no
answer now," she had said, half laughing. "We have both been very
foolish already, and it is time that we should begin to have our
senses. Isn't it?" But still she sat next him at dinner, and still
she walked with him. Once, indeed, he found her saying a word to
Major Biffin, as that gentleman stood opposite to her chair upon
the deck. But as soon as the major's back was turned, she said to
Bertram, "I think the barber's block wants to be new curled, doesn't
it? I declare the barber's man has forgotten to comb out it's
whiskers." So that Bertram had no ground for jealousy of the major.

Somewhere about this time, Mrs. Price deserted them at dinner. She
was going to sit, she said, with Mrs. Bangster, and Dr. Shaughnessey,
and the judge. Mrs. Bangster had made a promise to old Mr. Price in
England to look after her; and, therefore, she thought it better to
go back to Mrs. Bangster before they reached Southampton. They were
now past Gibraltar. So on that day, Mrs. Price's usual chair at
dinner was vacant, and Wilkinson, looking down the tables, saw that
room had been made for her next to Dr.