162                  
                   Bellew at Fordham
to Morse�s house � and to share the expenses
of house keeping but the agreement was bro-
ken when Mrs. M. attempted getting an ad-
vance on the terms.  I couldn�t help grinning
hugely, at the idea of my old friend Mrs
Kidder and Mrs Bellew � two of the most
atrociously selfish women in the world � living
in the same house together !  What a row there
would have been !  I told Bellew it would
never have done.  �Well, I thought so, from
the look of Mrs Morse�s face,� he answered,
praising her husband however.  �By the way
they know you and speak very highly of you.�
We passed by the cottage which Lotty had
occupied, in our walk; two strange girls
were sitting on the stoop outside.  Returning
we had a mildly conversational evening,
peppered by antagonism on the question of
the United States versus England. Both
Bellew and his wife hated the latter and
I championed it.  Finally to bed in an
upper room, in which I remarked Edge�s
portmanteau.  He himself was expected
on the morrow.  Bellew said that Edge
had been a dreadful nuisance, talking all
the time, coming down early of a morning
[unclear word] esconcing himself in Bellew�s place