ot fastened on. Another remarkable thing in this little old woman was,
that the same child seemed to have damaged her face in two or three
places with some blunt instrument in the nature of a spoon; her
countenance, and particularly the tip of her nose, presenting the
phenomena of several dints, generally answering to the bowl of that
article. A further remarkable thing in this little old woman was, that
she had no name but Mr F.'s Aunt.

She broke upon the visitor's view under the following circumstances:
Flora said when the first dish was being put on the table, perhaps Mr
Clennam might not have heard that Mr F. had left her a legacy? Clennam
in return implied his hope that Mr F. had endowed the wife whom he
adored, with the greater part of his worldly substance, if not with all.
Flora said, oh yes, she didn't mean that, Mr F. had made a beautiful
will, but he had left her as a separate legacy, his Aunt. She then
went out of the room to fetch the legacy, and, on her return, rather
triumphantly presented 'Mr F.'s Aunt.'

The major characteristics discoverable by the stranger in Mr F.'s Aunt,
were extreme severity and grim taciturnity; sometimes interrupted by
a propensity to offer remarks in a deep warning voice, which, being
totally uncalled for by anything said by anybody, and traceable to no
association of ideas, confounded and terrified the Mind. Mr F.'s Aunt
may have thrown in these observations on some system of her own, and it
may have been ingenious, or even subtle: but the key to it was wanted.
The neatly-served and well-cooked dinner (for everything about the
Patriarchal household promoted quiet digestion) began with some soup,
some fried soles, a butter-boat of shrimp sauce, and a dish of potatoes.
The conversation still turned on the receipt of rents. Mr F.'s Aunt,
after regarding the company for ten minutes with a malevolent gaze,
delivered the following fearful remark:

'When we lived at Henley, Barnes's gander was stole by tinkers.' Mr
Pancks courageously nodded his head and said, 'All right, ma'am.' But
the effect of this mysterious communication upon Clennam was absolutely
to frighten him. And another circumstance invested this old lady with
peculiar terrors. Though she was always staring, she never acknowledged
that she saw any individual.

The polite and attentive stranger would desire, say, to consult her
inclinations on the subject of potatoes. His expressive action would be
hopelessly lost upo