Give me this one, and send the bill to me, not to Arthur.' It was _his_ funeral, and, judging from his face, he was burying all his friends, instead of a poor, unknown woman, whose large, coarse features and plain woollen dress looked out of place in that handsome black coffin, with its silver-plated trimmings.

Frank had suggested that she should have a white merino shroud, but his wife had overruled him.

It was _not_ her funeral, and she had no interest in it, except that it should be over as soon as possible, and the house cleansed from the atmosphere of death.

So when her husband asked if the child ought not to have a mourning-dress, she scoffed at him for the suggestion saying she did not like to see children in black anyway, and even if she died herself she should not wish hers to wear it.
'I cannot imagine,' she continued, 'why you have taken so unaccountable a fancy to and interest in these people, especially the child.

One would think she belonged to royalty, the fuss you make over her.