"She's a bad lot, that one is," declared Emmeline, after a long
unfriendly stare; "'er 'usbind 'ates 'er."
"'E knocks 'er abart," said Bert, with enthusiasm.
"No, 'e don't, cos 'e's dead; she poisoned 'im slow and gradual, so that
nobody didn't know. Now she wants to marry a lord, with 'eaps and 'eaps
of money. 'E's got a wife already, but she's going to poison 'er, too."
"She's a bad lot," said Bert with growing hostility.
"'Er mother 'ates her, and she's afraid of 'er, too, cos she's got a
serkestic tongue; always talking serkesms, she is. She's greedy, too; if
there's fish going, she eats 'er own share and 'er little girl's as well,
though the little girl is dellikit."
"She 'ad a little boy once," said Bert, "but she pushed 'im into the
water when nobody wasn't looking."
"No she didn't," said Emmeline, "she sent 'im away to be kep' by poor
people, so 'er 'usbind wouldn't know where 'e was. They ill-treat 'im
somethink cruel."
"Wot's 'er nime?" asked Bert, thinking that it was time that so
interesting a personality should be labelled.
"'Er nime?" said Emmeline, thinking hard, "'er nime's Morlvera." It was
as near as she could get to the name of an adventuress who figured
prominently in a cinema drama.
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