But she had the presence of mind to close this portal in the twinkling of an eye; and having done so, said, though not without confusion, 'Oh yes, Mr Pecksniff, you can come in, if you please.' 'How are we to-day,' said Mr Pecksniff, jocosely, 'and what are our plans?
Are we ready to go and see Tom Pinch's sister?
Ha, ha, ha! Poor Thomas Pinch!' 'Are we ready,' returned Mrs Todgers, nodding her head with mysterious intelligence, 'to send a favourable reply to Mr Jinkins's round-robin?
That's the first question, Mr Pecksniff.' 'Why Mr Jinkins's robin, my dear madam ?' asked Mr Pecksniff, putting one arm round Mercy, and the other round Mrs Todgers, whom he seemed, in the abstraction of the moment, to mistake for Charity.

'Why Mr Jinkins's ?' 'Because he began to get it up, and indeed always takes the lead in the house,' said Mrs Todgers, playfully.

'That's why, sir.' 'Jinkins is a man of superior talents,' observed Mr Pecksniff.

'I have conceived a great regard for Jinkins.

I take Jinkins's desire to pay polite attention to my daughters, as an additional proof of the friendly feeling of Jinkins, Mrs Todgers.' 'Well now,' returned that lady, 'having said so much, you must say the rest, Mr Pecksniff; so tell the dear young ladies all about it.' With these words she gently eluded Mr Pecksniff's grasp, and took Miss Charity into her own embrace; though whether she was impelled to this proceeding solely by the irrepressible affection she had conceived for that young lady, or whether it had any reference to a lowering, not to say distinctly spiteful expression which had been visible in her face for some moments, has never been exactly ascertained.