She's made fools of us--the nasty, ill-natured thing!" Trembling with excitement she was obliged to sit down in the parlour, whilst Mrs.Bubb hovered about her with indignant consolation.

Gammon, silent as yet, stood looking on.

As he watched Mrs.Clover's countenance his own underwent a change; there was a ruffling of the brows, a working of the lips, and in his good-humoured blue eyes a twinkling of half-amused, half-angry determination.
"Look here," he began, thrusting his hands into his side pockets.
"You've come all this way, Mrs.Clover, to see Polly, and see her you shall." "I don't want to, Mr.Gammon! I couldn't--" "Now steady a bit--quiet--don't lose your head.

Whether you want to see her or not, I want you to, and what's more you shall see her.

If Polly's trying to make fools of us she shan't have all the fun; if she's telling the truth she shall have a fair chance of proving it; if she's lying we'll have a jolly good try to make her jolly well ashamed of herself.