She was not quite sure that such mourning would not be more bitter to her in California than in Mrs. Pipkin's solitary lodgings at Islington.
"So he was Mr. Montague's partner,--was he now?" asked Mrs. Pipkin a day or two after their return from the Crumb marriage. For Mr. Fisker had called on Mrs. Hurtle, and Mrs. Hurtle had told Mrs. Pipkin so much. "To my thinking now he's a nicer man than Mr. Montague." Mrs. Pipkin perhaps thought that as her lodger had lost one partner she might be anxious to secure the other;--perhaps felt, too, that it might be well to praise an American at the expense of an Englishman.
"There's no accounting for tastes, Mrs. Pipkin."
"And that's true, too, Mrs. Hurtle."
"Mr. Montague is a gentleman."
"I always did say that of him, Mrs. Hurtle."

"So Mr. Fisker was Mr. Montague's partner, was he?" asked Mrs. Pipkin a day or two after their return from the Crumb marriage. For Mr. Fisker had called on Mrs. Hurtle. "I think he's a nicer man than Mr. Montague."
"Mr. Montague is a gentleman."
"I always did say that of him, Mrs. Hurtle."
