my bed an' I'll let 'ee
out long afore the mistress wakes."

"Oh thank you--thank you Hannah. How clever you are to think of all
this."

"Not much cleverness either. Trust a woman for finding out a way when
love's hanging on it."

"Love?" rapped out Lavinia sharply.

"Aye, it's love as is taking you to Twitenham with the young man's
rubbishy play."

"You've not read it, Hannah. It's not fair to call it rubbishy."

"Not read it, no, nor never shall, and may be I'll never see it acted
either. But I hope it will be, Lavinia, for your sake. But take care,
it's ill falling in love with a man who's fond of his cups."

Lavinia made no reply. Her face had suddenly gone grave.

Hannah ceased to tease her and bustled about to get supper--something
warm and comforting, stewed rabbit and toasted cheese to follow.

The bedroom shared by Lavinia and Hannah was in the front of the house.
About two o'clock both were awakened by the champing of a horse and the
squeaking and scraping of wheels followed by a loud wrangling in a deep
bass growl and a shrill treble.

"That's the mistress--drat her," grumbled Hannah from under the
coverlet. "She's a-beatin' down the coachman. She always does it."

The hubbub was ended, and not altogether to the satisfaction of the
hackney coachman judging by the way he banged his door. Mrs. Fenton
stumbled up the stairs to her room rating the extortion of drivers, and
after a time all was silence.

Daylight was in the room when Lavinia awoke. She slipped quietly out of
bed not wanting to disturb Hannah, but the latter was a light sleeper.

"Don't you get up," said Lavinia. "I can dress and let myself out
without bothering you."

"What, an' go into the early morning air wi'out a bite or sup inside
you? I'm not brute beast enough to let you do that."

And Hannah bounced out of bed bringing her feet down with a thump which
must have awakened Mrs. Fenton in the room below had the lady been in a
normal condition, which fortunately was not the case.

Within half an hour the two stole out of the house, and on reaching the
Ludgate Hill end of the Old Bailey turned eastwards. Their destination
was the Stocks Market occupying the site where the present Mansion House
stands. The Stocks Market was the principal market in London at that
time, Fleet Market was not in existence and Covent Garden, then mainly a
fashionable residential quarter, was only in its infancy as to the sale
of fruit and vegetable