He drew it on, and
went to tell the barmaid that he should be absent exactly twenty
minutes. It was Daniel's policy to lead his underlings to expect
that he might return at any moment, though he would probably be away
a couple of hours.
The sisters were now living in a street crossing the angle between
Goswell Road and the City Road. Daniel was not, as a rule, lavish in
his expenditure, but he did not care to walk any distance, and there
was no line of omnibuses available. He took a hansom.
It generally fell to Emma's share to put her sister's children to
bed, for Mrs. Clay was seldom at home in the evening. But for Emma,
indeed, the little ones would have been sadly off for motherly care.
Kate had now and then a fit of maternal zeal, but it usually ended
in impatience and slappings; for the most part she regarded her
offspring as encumbrance, and only drew attention to them when she
wished to impress people with the hardships of her lot. The natural
result was that the boy and girl only knew her as mother by name;
they feared her, and would shrink to Emma's side when Kate began to
speak crossly.
All dwelt together in one room, for life was harder than ever.
Emma's illness had been the beginning of a dark and miserable time.
Whilst she was in the hospital her sister took the first steps on
the path which leads to destruction; with scanty employment, much
time to kill, never a sufficiency of food, companions only too like
herself in their distaste for home duties and in the misery of their
existence, poor Kate got into the habit of straying aimlessly about
the streets, and, the inevitable consequence, of seeking warmth and
company in the public-house.
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