The Man in Possession Author:Rita Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. THE SUBSTITUTE. "what am I to do with him at all, Miss Kate?" asked Biddy ruefully, as she met her young mistress upstairs. "I don't know, B... more »iddy," said the girl. "I suppose he'll stay till the money's paid. I really can't say what the law is. It's a matter of £20, I believe, and we havn't got five even to tide us over Christmas." "Shure 'tis a shame at this time o' year when it's paice and goodwill that is mint to be in ivery blessed household—and a dirty ould vagabond like that setting himself down in my kitchen ; and 'tis expecting vittals and beer he '11 be, not to mention bed and lodgings. Ah, the saints presarve us, Miss Kate, but it's your father, now, is the foolish man ! What could he be laving his taxes unpaid for? Shure 'tis aisy enough to manage butcher and baker and sich-like, but the Quane—(God rest her sowl) she's mighty particlar that she gets her income all right and safe, and so I've been telling the masther, iver since this house was took. Talk of locality ! Shure locality is all very well, but when you've to pay rintand taxes to live in it, 'tis the chape neighbourhood I'd be for choosing." She threw down the rugs and parcels with which she was laden. A bright fire burnt in the grate. The bedroom looked cheerful, and was furnished with that due regard to comfort, almost indeed to luxury, which Cornelius O'Brien deemed only right and fitting for an Irish gentleman. A small table by the fire was covered with a white cloth, on which stood a silver coffee service. The bed, with its snowy linen and satin eider-down coverlet, looked very inviting. It was a strange fact that, hampered as he was, by debts, duns and difficulties, Cornelius O'Brien always insisted that his own personal surroundings should be comfortable, and his own person...« less