Chapter 42

"Forty-eight pounds." The speaker's eyes were closed: his weariness seemed to be increasing. "Then do you think it would be possible for you to tear yourself away from your arduous pleasures downstairs for a sufficiently long period to attend to one or two of the things that so very obviously want doing in this room? I am fully aware that my comfort is a matter of supreme indifference to the entire household; but, in return for your forty-eight pounds a year, I hope I am not asking too much. For instance--the fire.…