第15章

"Look 'ere,missis,I wasn't goin'ter let on,but since yer on fer a straight talk,I tell yer there's more in me than yer think,an'if it's up ter me ter git married,I can do it without gittin'roused on by yous.""Keep yer 'air on,Joe,"said Mrs Yabsley,smiling."I didn't mean ter nark yer,but yer know wot I say is true.An'don't say I ever put it inter yer 'ead ter git married.You've studied the matter,an'yer know it means 'ard graft an'plenty of worry.There's nuthin'in it,Joe,as yer said,an'besides,the Push is waitin'for yer.

"Of course,there's no 'arm in yer comin''ere ter see the kid,but I'ope yer won't stand in Ada's way w'en she gits a chance.There's Tom Mullins,that was after Ada before she ever took up wi'yous.Only last week 'e told Mrs Jones 'e'd take Ada,kid an'all,if he got the chance.I know yous don't want a wife,but yer shouldn't 'inder others as do.""Yer talkin'through yer neck,"cried Jonah,losing his temper.

"Suppose I tell yer that the kid's done the trick,an'I want ter git married,an'bring 'im up respectable?"The old woman was silent,but a wonderful smile lit up her face.

"Yer've got a lot ter say about the feelin's.Suppose I tell yer there's somethin'in me trembles w'en I touch this kid?I felt like a damned fool at first,but I'm gittin'used to it.""That's yer own flesh an'blood a-callin'yer,Joe,"cried Mrs Yabsley,in ecstasy--"the sweetest cry on Gawd's earth,for it goes to yer very marrer.""That's true,"said Jonah,sadly;"an''e's the only relation I've got in the wide world,as far as I know.More than that,'e's the only livin'creature that looks at me without seein'my hump."It was the first time in Mrs Yabsley's memory that Jonah had mentioned his deformity.A tremor in his voice made her look at him sharply.Tears stood in his eyes.With a sudden impulse she stopped and patted his head.

"That's all right,Joe,"she said,gently."I was only pullin'yer leg.

I wanted yer to do the straight thing by Ada,but I wasn't sure yer'd got a 'eart,till the kid found it.But wot will the Push say w'en .""The Push be damned!"cried Jonah.

"Amen ter that,"said Mrs Yabsley."Gimme yer fist."Jonah stayed to tea that night,contrary to his usual habit,for Mrs Yabsley was anxious to have the matter settled.

"Wot's wrong wi'you an'me gittin'married,Ada?"he said.Ada nearly dropped her cup.

"Garn,ye're only kiddin'!"she cried with an uneasy grin.

"Fair dinkum!"said Jonah.

"Right-oh,"said Ada,as calmly as if she were accepting an invitation to a dance.

But she thought with satisfaction that this was the beginning of a perpetual holiday.For she was incorrigibly lazy and hated work,going through the round of mechanical toil in a slovenly fashion,indifferent to the shower of complaints,threats and abuse that fell about her ears.

"Where was yer thinkin'of gittin'married,Joe?"inquired Mrs Yabsley after tea.

"I dunno,"replied Jonah,suddenly remembering that he knew no more of weddings than a crow.

"At the Registry Office,of course,"said Ada."Yer walk in an'yer walk out,an'it's all over.""That's the idea,"said Jonah,greatly relieved.He understood vaguely that weddings were expensive affairs,and he had thirty shillings in his pocket.

"Don't tell me that people are married that goes ter the Registry Office!"cried Mrs Yabsley."They only git a licence to 'ave a family.I know all about them.Yer sign a piece of paper,an'then the bloke tells yer ye're married.'Ow does 'e know ye're married?'E ain't a parson.I was married in a church,an'my marriage is as good now as ever it was.Just yous leave it to me,an'I'll fix yez up."Ever since Ada was a child,Mrs Yabsley had speculated on her marriage,when all the street would turn out to the wedding.And now,after years of planning and waiting,she was to be married on the quiet,for there was nothing to boast about.

"Well,it's no use cryin'over skimmed milk,"she reflected,adapting the proverb to her needs.

But she clung with obstinacy to a marriage in a church,convinced that none other was genuine.And casting about in her mind for a parson who would marry them without fuss or expense,she remembered Trinity Church,and the thing was done.

Canon Vaughan,the new rector of Trinity Church,had brought some strange ideas from London,where he had worked in the slums.He had founded a workman's club,and smoked his pipe with the members;formed a brigade of newsboys and riff-raff,and taught them elementary morality with the aid of boxing-gloves;and offended his congregation by treating the poor with the same consideration as themselves.And then,astonished by the number of mothers who were not wives,that he discovered on his rounds,he had announced that he would open the church on the first Saturday night in every month to marry any couples without needless questions.They could pay,if they chose,but nothing was expected.

Jonah and Ada jumped at the idea,but Mrs Yabsley thought with sorrow of her cherished dream--Ada married on a fine day of sunshine,Cardigan Street in an uproar,a feast where all could cut and come again,the clink of glasses,and a chorus that shook the windows.Well,such things were not to be,and she shut her mouth grimly.But she determined in secret to get in a dozen of beer,and invite a few friends after the ceremony to drink the health of the newly married,and keep the secret till they got home.And as she was rather suspicious of a wedding that cost nothing,she decided to give the parson a dollar to seal the bargain and make the contract more binding.

A QUIET WEDDING

The following Saturday Mrs Yabsley astonished her customers by delivering the shirts and collars in the afternoon.There were cries of amazement.