"You did, mum," agreed Bindle tactfully; "I "eard you myself quite plainly."
"Then where is he? I"m Mrs. Stiffson."
Mrs. Stiffson was a tall woman of generous proportions. Her hair was grey, her features virtuously hard, her manner overwhelming. Her movements gave no suggestion of limbs, she seemed to wheel along with a slight swaying of the body from side to side.
"Well?" she interrogated.
""E"s sort of engaged, mum," temporised Bindle, ""avin" breakfast.
I"ll tell "im you"re "ere. I"ll break it gently to "im. You know, mum, joy sometimes kills, an" "e don"t look strong."
Without a word Mrs. Stiffson wheeled round and, ignoring the lift, marched for the stairs. As he followed, Bindle remembered with satisfaction that he had omitted to close the outer door of Number Six.
Straight up the stairs, like "never-ending Time," marched Mrs.
Stiffson. She did not hurry, she did not pause, she climbed evenly, mechanically, a model wife seeking her mate.
Any doubts that Bindle may have had as to Mrs. Stiffson"s ability to find the husband she sought were set at rest by the shrill pipings of Oscar. Even a trained detective could not have overlooked so obvious a clue.
Along the corridor, straight for Number Six moved Mrs. Stiffson, Bindle in close attendance, fearful lest he should lose the dramatic intensity of the arrival of "the wronged wife."
Unconscious that Nemesis was marching upon him, Mr. Stiffson, stimulated by the coffee, bacon and eggs, and the gay insouciance of Cissie Boye, was finding the situation losing much of its terror for him.
No man for long could remain indifferent to the charming personality of Cissie Boye. Her bright chatter and good looks, her innocence, strangely blended with worldly wisdom, her daring garb; all combined to divert Mr. Stiffson"s mind from the thoughts of his wife, apart from which the clock pointed to five minutes past nine, and Mrs.
Stiffson was as punctual as fate.
Had he possessed the intuition of a mongoose, Mr. Stiffson would have known that there was a snake in his gra.s.s.
Instinct guiding her steps, Mrs. Stiffson entered the flat. Instead of turning to the right, in the direction of the bedroom in which Oscar was overdoing the thanksgiving business for bird-seed and water, she wheeled to the left and threw open the sitting-room door.
From under Mrs. Stiffson"s right arm Bindle saw the tableau. Mr.
Stiffson, who was facing the door, was in the act of raising his coffee-cup to smiling lips. Cissie Boye, sitting at right angles on his left, was leaning back in her chair clapping her hands.
"Oh, you naughty old thing!" she was crying.
At the sight of his wife, Mr. Stiffson"s jaw dropped and the coffee-cup slipped from his nerveless hands. It struck the edge of the table and emptied its contents down the opening of his low-cut waistcoat.
At the sight of the abject terror on Mr. Stiffson"s face, Cissie Boye ceased to clap her hands and, turning her head, met Mrs. Stiffson"s uncompromising stare and Bindle"s appreciative grin.
"Jabez!" It was like the uninflected accents of doom.
Mr. Stiffson shivered; that was the only indication he gave of having heard. With unblinking eyes he continued to gaze at his wife as if fascinated, the empty coffee-cup resting on his knees.
"Jabez!" repeated Mrs. Stiffson. "I thought I told you to wear your tweed mixture to-day."
Mrs. Stiffson had a fine sense of the dramatic! The unexpectedness of the remark caused Mr. Stiffson to blink his eyes like a puzzled owl, without however removing them from his wife, or changing their expression.
Cissie Boye laughed, Bindle grinned.
"Won"t you sit down?" It was Cissie Boye who spoke.
"Silence, hussy!" There was no anger in Mrs. Stiffson"s voice; it was just a command and an expression of opinion.
Cissie Boye rose, the light of battle in her eyes. Bindle pushed past Mrs. Stiffson and stood between the two women.
"Look "ere, mum," he said, "we likes manners in this "ere flat, an"
we"re a-goin" to "ave "em, see! Sorry if I "urt your feelin"s. This ain"t a woman"s club."
"Hold your tongue, fool!" the deep voice thundered.
"Oh, no, you don"t!" said Bindle cheerfully, looking up at his mountainous antagonist. "You can"t frighten me, I ain"t married to you. Now you jest be civil."
"Listen!" cried Cissie Boye with flashing eyes. "Don"t you go giving me the bird like that, or----" She paused at a loss with what to threaten her guest.
"It"s all right, miss," said Bindle, "You jest leave "er to me; I got one o" my own at "ome. She"s going to speak to me, she is."
Mrs. Stiffson"s efforts of self-control were proving unequal to the occasion, her breathing became laboured and her voice husky.
"What is my husband doing in this person"s flat?" demanded Mrs.
Stiffson, apparently of no one in particular. There was something like emotion in her voice.
"Well, mum," responded Bindle, ""e was eatin" bacon an" eggs an"
drinking coffee."
"How dare you appear before my husband like that!" Mrs. Stiffson turned fiercely upon Cissie Boye. "You brazen creature!" anger was now taking possession of her.
"Here, easy on, old thing!" said Cissie Boye, seeing Mrs. Stiffson"s rising temper, and entirely regaining her own good humour.
"I repeat," said Mrs. Stiffson, "what is my husband doing in your company?"
"Ask him what he"s doing in my flat," countered Cissie Boye triumphantly.
"Look "ere, mum," broke in Bindle in a soothing voice, "it"s no use a-playin" "Amlet in a rage. You jest sit down and talk it over friendly like, an" p"raps I can get a drop of Royal Richard from old Sedgy. It"s sort of been a shock to you, mum, I can see. Well, things do look bad; anyhow, Royal Richard"ll bring you round in two ticks."
Mrs. Stiffson turned upon Bindle a look that was meant to annihilate.
Bindle glanced across at Mr. Stiffson, who was mechanically rubbing the middle of his person with a napkin, his eyes still fixed upon his wife.
"Because your "usband gets into the wrong duds," continued Bindle, "ain"t no reason why you should get into an "owling temper, is it?"
There was a knock at the door and, without waiting for a reply, Mrs.
Sedge entered, wearing a canvas ap.r.o.n and a c.r.a.pe bonnet on one side and emitting an almost overpowering aroma of Royal Richard. In her hands she carried a large bowl of porridge. Marching across to the table, she dumped it down in front of Mr. Stiffson.
"Ain"t that jest like a man, forgettin" "alf o" wot "e ought to remember!" she remarked and, without waiting for a reply, she stumped out of the room, banging the door behind her.
Bindle sniffed the air like a hound.
"That"s Royal Richard wot you can smell, mum," he explained.
Cissie Boye laughed.