So he was in good
spirits.
Not so Mrs. Staines; for some time she had been uneasy, fretful, and
like a person with a weight on her mind.
One Sunday she said to him, "Oh, dear, I do feel so dull. Nobody to go
to church with, nor yet to the Zoo."
"I'll go with you," said Staines.
"You will! To which?"
"To both; in for a penny, in for a pound."
So to church they went; and Staines, whose motto was "Hoc age," minded
his book. Rosa had intervals of attention to the words, but found plenty
of time to study the costumes.
During the Litany in bustled Clara, the housemaid, with a white jacket
on so like her mistress's, that Rosa clutched her own convulsively,
to see whether she had not been skinned of it by some devilish
sleight-of-hand.
No, it was on her back; but Clara's was identical.
In her excitement, Rosa pinched Staines, and with her nose, that went
like a water-wagtail, pointed out the malefactor. Then she whispered,
"Look! How dare she? My very jacket! Earrings too, and brooches, and
dresses her hair like mine."
"Well, never mind," whispered Staines. "Sunday is her day. We have
got all the week to shine. There, don't look at her--'From all evil
speaking, lying, and slandering'"--
"I can't keep my eyes off her.
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