But it 'ud be as well if Bessy 'ud have the child's hair cut, so as it 'ud lie smooth." A dreadful resolve was gathering in Maggie's breast, but it was arrested by the desire to know from her aunt Deane whether she would leave Lucy behind.

Aunt Deane would hardly ever let Lucy come to see them.

After various reasons for refusal, Mrs.Deane appealed to Lucy herself.
"You wouldn't like to stay behind without mother, should you, Lucy ?" "Yes, please, mother," said Lucy, timidly, blushing very pink all over her little neck.
"Well done, Lucy! Let her stay, Mrs.Deane, let her stay," said Mr.
Deane, a large but alert-looking man, with a type of _physique_ to be seen in all ranks of English society,--bald crown, red whiskers, full forehead, and general solidity without heaviness.

You may see noblemen like Mr.Deane, and you may see grocers or day-laborers like him; but the keenness of his brown eyes was less common than his contour.
He held a silver snuff-box very tightly in his hand, and now and then exchanged a pinch with Mr.Tulliver, whose box was only silver-mounted, so that it was naturally a joke between them that Mr.
Tulliver wanted to exchange snuff-boxes also.

Mr.Deane's box had been given him by the superior partners in the firm to which he belonged, at the same time that they gave him a share in the business, in acknowledgment of his valuable services as manager.