,« said Mrs. Bardell.
    »Your little boy is a very long time gone.«
    »Why it's a good long way to the Borough, sir,« remonstrated Mrs. Bardell.
    »Ah,« said Mr. Pickwick, »very true; so it is.«
    Mr. Pickwick relapsed into silence, and Mrs. Bardell resumed her dusting.
    »Mrs. Bardell,« said Mr. Pickwick, at the expiration of a few minutes.
    »Sir,« said Mrs. Bardell again.
    »Do you think it a much greater expense to keep two people, than to keep
one?«
    »La, Mr. Pickwick,« said Mrs. Bardell, colouring up to the very border of
her cap, as she fancied she observed a species of matrimonial twinkle in the
eyes of her lodger; »La, Mr. Pickwick, what a question!«
    »Well, but do you?« inquired Mr. Pickwick.
    »That depends -« said Mrs. Bardell, approaching the duster very near to Mr.
Pickwick's elbow, which was planted on the table - »that depends a good deal
upon the person, you know, Mr. Pickwick; and whether it's a saving and careful
person, sir.«
    »That's very true,« said Mr. Pickwick, »but the person I have in my eye
(here he looked very hard at Mrs. Bardell) I think possesses these qualities;
and has, moreover, a considerable knowledge of the world, and a great deal of
sharpness, Mrs. Bardell; which may be of material use to me.«
    »La, Mr. Pickwick,« said Mrs. Bardell; the crimson rising to her cap-border
again.
    »I do,« said Mr. Pickwick, growing energetic, as was his wont in speaking of
a subject which interested him, »I do, indeed; and to tell you the truth, Mrs.
Bardell, I have made up my mind.«
    »Dear me, sir,« exclaimed Mrs. Bardell.
    »You'll think it very strange now,« said the amiable Mr. Pickwick, with a
good-humoured glance at his companion, »that I never consulted you about this
matter, and never even mentioned it, till I sent your little boy out this
morning - eh?«
    Mrs. Bardell could only reply by a look. She had long worshipped Mr.
Pickwick at a distance, but here she was, all at once, raised to a pinnacle to
which her
