they sat in silence , hands linked , until the door opened and arthur-now fully dressed-sidled in with a tray the size of a card table , laden with bacon , sausages , kidneys , kippers , shirred eggs in butter , grilled mushrooms and tomatoes , toast , jam , marmalade , a huge pot of fragrantly steaming tea , bowls of sugar and milk-and a covered dish which he set ceremoniously before hal , this proving to be filled with a sort of nasty thin gruel .