Arthur opened the long low window, and looked out upon the old blasted and blackened forest of
chimneys, and the old red glare in the sky, which had seemed to him once
upon a time but a nightly reflection of the fiery environment that was
presented to his childish fancy in all directions, let it look where it
would. He drew in his head again, sat down at the bedside, and looked on at
Affery Flintwinch making the bed. 'Affery, you were not married when I went away.'
She screwed her mouth into the form of saying 'No,' shook her head, and
proceeded to get a pillow into its case. 'How did it happen?'
'Why, Jeremiah, o' course,' said Affery, with an end of the pillow-case
between her teeth. 'Of course he proposed it, but how did it all come about? I should have
thought that neither of you would have married; least of all should I
have thought of your marrying each other.'
the pillow into its place on the bolster, that he
was still looking at her as if waiting for the rest of her reply,
she gave it a great poke in the middle, and asked, 'How could I help
myself?' 'How could you help yourself from being married!'
'O' course,' said Mrs Flintwinch. 'It was no doing o' mine. I'D never
thought of it. I'd got something to do, without thinking, indeed! She
kept me to it (as well as he) when she could go about, and she could go
about then.' 'Well?' 'Well?' echoed Mrs Flintwinch. 'That's what I said myself. Well! What's
the use of considering? If them two clever ones have made up their minds
to it, what's left for me to do? Nothing.'
'Was it my mother's project, then?'
'The Lord bless you, Arthur, and forgive me the wish!' cried Affery,
speaking always in a low tone. 'If they hadn't been both of a mind in
it, how could it ever have been? Jeremiah never courted me; t'ant likely
that he would, after living in the house with me and ordering me
about for as many years as he'd done. He said to me one day, he said,
"Affery," he said, "now I am going to tell you something. What do you
think of the name of Flintwinch?" "What do I think of it?" I says.
"Yes," he said, "because you're going to take it," he said. "Take it?" I
says. "Jere-MI-ah?" Oh! he's a clever one!'
Mrs Flintwinch went on to spread the upper sheet over the bed, and the
blanket over that, and the counterpane over that, as if she had quite
concluded her story. 'Well?' said Arthur again.