‘Very,’ replied Kate.

He reached the office, hung his hat on its accustomed peg, laid the letter and key upon the desk, and waited impatiently until Ralph Nickleby should appear. After a few minutes, the well–known creaking of his boots was heard on the stairs, and then the bell rung.

‘You know we have, Pluck,’ said Pyke, reproachfully.

‘Noo,’ said John, when a hackney coach had been called, and the ladies and the luggage hurried in, ‘gang to the Sarah’s Head, mun.’