Cleaning Up

Dropped into the cleaners in Newbridge this afternoon to collect some laundry.
The lady known as Lil (aka the Mammy) accompanied me.
She waited in the car while I went for the clothes.
In the cleaners the manageress looked a tad guilty as I entered.
"The colours ran on your mother's cardigan," she explained briskly. "You'll have to contact the manufacturer."
I told her to wait a minute and went back outside to consult the boss.
Boss Lil told me not to bother arguing and just take the clothes.
I went back in.
I didn't bother arguing but I did stand on my dignity a bit.
"Are you going to charge for that?" I asked the woman.
She told me there would be a charge as the cleaners had obeyed the instructions on the cardigan and it wasn't their fault the colours ran.
I said: "Are you sure you want to charge me?"
The manageress looked momentarily distrait but steeled herself and resolutely affirmed her intention to charge.
I fixed her with my famous Paddington Bear stare.
When I looked into her eyes I saw that she was not a bad person.
I nodded, paid for the clothes and left.
Later the same night the Mammy let slip that the cardigan had been damaged BEFORE she sent it to the cleaners.
I asked her why she hadn't told me earlier.
"Ah," sez she, "I didn't want to complicate things."