oked at them from time to time, by the light of a bit of
a candle she had placed on a box beside her; but she did not kiss them,
and her eyes had no tears. From time to time she looked quickly round
her, as though startled by a sound, a breathing.

Presently, shivering with cold, she went into her own room. There,
mechanically, she took off her outer dress, as though to go to bed; but
when she had done so her hands fell by her side; she stood motionless
till, suddenly, wrapping an old shawl round her, she took up her candle
and went downstairs again.

As she pushed open the door at the foot of the stairs she saw Isaac,
where she had left him, sitting on his chair bent forward, his hands
dropping between his knees, his gaze fixed on a bit of dying fire in
the grate.

"Isaac!"

He looked up with the unwillingness of one who hates the sound he
hears, and saw her standing on the lowest step. Her black hair had
fallen upon her shoulders, her quick breath shook the shawl she held
about her, and the light in her hand showed the anguished brightness of
the eyes.

"Isaac, are yer comin' up?"

The question maddened him. He turned to look at her more fixedly.

"Comin' up? Noa, I'm not comin' up--so now know. Take yerself off,
an' be quick."

She trembled.

"Are yer goin' to sleep down 'ere, Isaac?"

"Aye, or wherever I likes: it's no concern o' yourn. I'm no 'usband o'
yourn from this day forth. Take yerself off, I say!--I'll 'ave no
thief for _my_ wife!"

But, instead of going, she stepped down into the kitchen. His words
had broken her down; she was crying again.

"Isaac, I'd ha' put it back," she said, imploring. "I wor goin' in to
Bedford to see Mr. Grimstone--'ee'd ha' managed it for me. I'd a'
worked extra--I could ha' done it--if it 'adn't been for Timothy. If
you'll 'elp--an' you'd oughter, for yer _are_ my 'usband, whativer yer
may say--we could pay John back--some day. Yo' can go to 'im, an' to
Watson, an' say as we'll pay it back--yo' _could_, Isaac. I can take
ter the plattin' again, an' I can go an' work for Mrs. Drew--she asked
me again lasst week. Mary Anne 'ull see to the childer. Yo' go to
John, Isaac, to-morrer--an'--an'--to Watson. All they wants is the
money back. Yer couldn't--yer couldn't--see me took to prison, Isaac."

She gasped for breath, wiping the mist from her eyes with the edge of
her shawl.

But all that she said only maddened the man's harsh and pessimist
natur