It was an enormous, pot-bellied thing of a type
that had beenpopular in pre-Victorian days. BigSam might get material for a poem out
of it and Little Sam mightsee a pretty girl or two.
Its going to beprinted just as Ive written it, too.
God bless me, did you ever hear the equal of that?
She had a hard man to please in Theodore Dark,
butshe made him quite as good a wife as he deserved.
And youre unhappybecause you cant get it. Look at
Donna Dark, he was wont to sneer.
With his first wife, JenniePenhallow, he had
quarrelled from the time they were married.
Suppose Aunt Becky left the jug to some rank
outsider? Everybody concerned felt that it was high time the old lady
diddie.
It was said a collector hadoffered Aunt Becky a
fabulous sum for it. Meanwhile she had to content herself with hating him asbitterly
as Drowned John himself could hate. She alwaysbehaved herself decently, although
many a time it would have been arelief to be indecent. He hadfallen overboard on the
voyage and was reported drowned. I know youll be delighted at this,
Marthadear.
Itwas such a lovely old thing, with its romantic
history. Butsince it must be, Im not going to have any quarrelling over thembefore
Im cold in my grave.
And how many have been answered, said Naomi Dark,
speakingbitterly and suddenly for the first time.
Women regretted this, for they found him
veryattractive. Youwill observe that I have not called myself the late Mrs Dark
orthe deceased lady or relict.
Peter took the precaution ofdropping the surplus
chair over the railing into the spirea bushes. But she tried to lookpleased, because
if she didnt, it might spoil her chances for thejug.
He had had many wildadventures of which his clan
knew and a thousand more of which theynever heard. What thedivvle could have come
between her and Hugh? On her death-bed she had given it to her daughterRachel, who
had married Thomas Dark. He had had many wildadventures of which his clan knew and a
thousand more of which theynever heard.