Page:The woman, the man, and the monster (IA womanmanmonster00dawe).pdf/224

 way? Isn’t it better to hold her like this?” She put up her lips and kissed him. “Don’t be silly, there’s a good boy. We're going to be very happy.”

His arm was still about her as they entered the sitting-room. The landlady, who was kneel- ing before the fireplace, rose to greet them.

“Just setting the fire, dearie,” she explained, “in case you should feel a bit chilly towards the evening. I know what ’usbands are,” she added with a sagacious wag of the head, “especially after they’ve been out all day. My old man used to get that fidgety at nights that I never knew what to do with him.”

“My old man never gets fidgety,” laughed Andromeda.

“You’re lucky. ’Usbands as a rule are a sore, sad trial to us pore women.”

“They are,” assented Andromeda; “but I know how to keep mine in a good humour.”

“Well, if Selton were alive I'd ask you for the receipt, but it’s no good to me now, as ’e’s been dead these fifteen year. *E was a terrible troublesome man.”

“They all are,” laughed the young woman