He furthermore added that the bearer was dumb.
'Oh, so you're dumb, are you,' said Miss Twexby, folding up the
letter and looking complacently at Pierre. 'I wish there were a few
more men the same way; then, perhaps, we'd have less chat.'
This being undeniable, the fair Martha--for that was the name of the
Twexby heiress--without waiting for any assent, walking into the
back parlour, read the letter to her father, and waited
instructions, for she always referred to Simon as the head of the
house, though as a matter of fact she never did what she was told
save when it tallied with her own wishes.
'It will be all right, Martha, I suppose,' said Simon sleepily.
Martha asserted with decision that it would be all right, or she
would know the reason why; then marching out again to the bar, she
drew a pot of beer for Pierre--without asking him what he would
have--and ordered him to sit down and be quiet, which last remark
was rather unnecessary, considering that the man was dumb. Then she
sat down behind her bar and resumed her perusal of a novel called
The Duke's Duchesses, or The Milliner's Mystery,' which contained a
ducal hero with bigamistic proclivities, and a virtuous milliner
whom the aforesaid duke persecuted. All of which was very
entertaining and improbable, and gave Miss Twexby much pleasure,
judging from the sympathetic sighs she was heaving.
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