" Although he was
making barely enough to pay his sister the monthly interest on her money,
the salaries of his employees, and, until recently, a monthly contribution
to the household expenses, he had a comfortable and delightful home with
not a few of the minor luxuries, an undisputed position in the best
society, an honorable one in the business world, and a beautiful wife.
Now that the conventions forced them to live the retired life, they could
economize without attracting attention; as he paid the bills Alexina would
not know whether he still contributed his share or not; (in time he meant
to pay the whole and give his wife, with the grand gesture, her entire
income for pin money) and, with Alexina's cordial assent, he had sold the
old carriage, and the horses, which were eating their heads off, dismissed
the coachman-gardener, and found a young Swede to take care of the garden
and outbuildings.
Later, they would have their car like other people, but there was no need
for it at present, and it was neither the time nor the occasion to exhibit
a tendency to extravagance. In the matter of "front" he knew precisely
where to leave off.
In a certain small anxious bag-of-tricks way he was clever. But not clever
enough. He knew nothing of Alexina beneath her shining surface. If he
had he would have sought to crowd her mind with the details of the home,
encouraged her to join in the frantic activities of some one of the women's
clubs he held in scorn, persuaded her to play golf daily at the fashionable
club of which they were members, even though she ran the risk of talking,
unchaperoned by himself, with other men.
Pages:
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172