She had not yet finished preparing Mrs Clennam's tea, when the soft

knock came to the door which always announced Little Dorrit. Mistress

Affery looked on at Little Dorrit taking off her homely bonnet in the

hall, and at Mr Flintwinch scraping his jaws and contemplating her in

silence, as expecting some wonderful consequence to ensue which would

frighten her out of her five wits or blow them all three to pieces.

After tea there came another knock at the door, announcing Arthur.

Mistress Affery went down to let him in, and he said on entering,

'Affery, I am glad it's you. I want to ask you a question.' Affery

immediately replied, 'For goodness sake don't ask me nothing, Arthur! I

am frightened out of one half of my life, and dreamed out of the

other. Don't ask me nothing! I don't know which is which, or what is

what!'--and immediately started away from him, and came near him no

more.

Mistress Affery having no taste for reading, and no sufficient light for

needlework in the subdued room, supposing her to have the inclination,

now sat every night in the dimness from which she had momentarily

emerged on the evening of Arthur Clennam's return, occupied with crowds

of wild speculations and suspicions respecting her mistress and her

husband and the noises in the house. When the ferocious devotional

exercises were engaged in, these speculations would distract Mistress

Affery's eyes towards the door, as if she expected some dark form to

appear at those propitious moments, and make the party one too many.

Otherwise, Affery never said or did anything to attract the attention of

the two clever ones towards her in any marked degree, except on certain

occasions, generally at about the quiet hour towards bed-time, when she

would suddenly dart out of her dim corner, and whisper with a face of

terror to Mr Flintwinch, reading the paper near Mrs Clennam's little

table: 'There, jeremiah! Now! What's that noise?'

Then the noise, if there were any, would have ceased, and Mr Flintwinch

would snarl, turning upon her as if she had cut him down that moment

against his will, 'Affery, old woman, you shall have a dose, old woman,

such a dose! You have been dreaming again!'




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