Emma shook her head.
'No, nothing more,' she said, in a tone removed alike from
resentment and from pathos; 'I want you, please, to say that we can
t take anything after this.'
'But what are you going to do, Emma?'
'To leave this house and live as we did before.'
'Oh, but you can't do that What does Kate say?'
'I haven't told her yet; I'm going to do so to-day.'
'But she'll feel it very hard with the children.'
The children were sitting together in a corner of the kitchen. Emma
glanced at them, and saw that Bertie, the elder, was listening with
a surprised look.
'Yes, I'm sorry,' she replied simply, 'but we have no choice.'
Alice had an impulse of generosity.
'Then take it from _me_,' she said. 'You won't mind that. You know I
have plenty of my own. Live here and let one or two of the rooms,
and I'll lend you what you need till the business is doing well. Now
you can't have anything to say against that?'
Emma still shook her head.
'The business will never help us. We must go back to the old work;
we can always live on that. I can't take anything from you, Alice.'
'Well, I think it's very unkind, Emma.'
'Perhaps so, but I can't help it: It's kind of you to offer, I feel
that; but I'd rather work my fingers to the bone than touch one
halfpenny now that I haven't earned.
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