'
'Hush!' cried Tom. 'She'll hear you.'
'I should be very sorry if she did hear me, Mr Pinch,' said Cherry,
raising her voice a little; 'for it is not in my nature to add to the
uneasiness of any person; far less of my own sister. I know what a
sister's duties are, Mr Pinch, and I hope I always showed it in my
practice. Augustus, my dear child, find my pocket-handkerchief, and give
it to me.'
Augustus obeyed, and took Mrs Todgers aside to pour his griefs into her
friendly bosom.
'I am sure, Mr Pinch,' said Charity, looking after her betrothed and
glancing at her sister, 'that I ought to be very grateful for the
blessings I enjoy, and those which are yet in store for me. When I
contrast Augustus'--here she was modest and embarrased--'who, I don't
mind saying to you, is all softness, mildness, and devotion, with the
detestable man who is my sister's husband; and when I think, Mr Pinch,
that in the dispensations of this world, our cases might have been
reversed; I have much to be thankful for, indeed, and much to make me
humble and contented.'
Contented she might have been, but humble she assuredly was not.
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