ten in the morning
Mrs Swadling had learned nothing , but she assured half the street that Miss Perkins 's father had turned her out of doors for refusing to marry a man old enough to be her father , and the other half that a forged will had robbed her of thousands and a carriage and pair . Cardigan Street had watched the aristocracy from the gallery of the theatre with sharp , envious eyes , and reported their doings to Mrs Yabsley , but Miss Perkins was the first specimen she had ever seen in the flesh . In a week she learned more about the habits of the idle rich than she had ever imagined in a lifetime . Her lodger lay in bed till ten in the morning , and expected to be waited on hand and foot . And when Mrs Yabsley could spare a minute , she described in detail the splendours of her father 's home . She talked incessantly of helping Mrs Yabsley with the washing , but she seemed as helpless as a child , and Mrs Yabsley , noticing the softness and whiteness of her hands , knew that she had never done a stroke of work in her life . Then , with the curious reverence of the worker for the idler , she explained to her lodger that she only worked for exercise .