She twisted the corner of
her apron for a few seconds and then ventured hardily: "Miss Stokes is
expecting a baby, sir."
"You mean Mrs. Watson, Melissa. Dear me, that is good news. A boy or a
girl? God bless my soul, what a silly question! You see, I'm so in the
habit of choosing the gender in advance that I quite forgot myself. I
meant to inquire WHEN."
"They've been married five months, sir," said Melissa.
Two weeks before Christmas, Mrs. Force came to the bank to report to
Mr. Bingle that homes were in view for six of the children, in fact
for all except Frederick, Marie Louise and Wilberforce. It appears
that people hesitate about taking youngsters as old as these three,
and as steeped in vice and ignorance as naturally might be expected in
boys and girls of that age. She said, however, that the Society was
making a point of telling people how nicely and how advantageously all
of the children had been reared by the late Mr. Bingle. She smiled
when she said the "late Mr. Bingle," for it was a capital joke and she
had every intention of making the most of it.
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