He sneers, and I
can't say but that much of what he says is true, but there is the
envenomed drop in it which makes his good sense shocking to Armine,
and I fear Babie relishes it more than is good for her. So they make
one another worse, and so they will as long as we are here. It was a
great mistake to stay on, and your uncle must feel it so."
"Could you not go to Dieppe, or some cheap place?"
"I don't feel justified in any more expense. Here the house costs
nothing, and our personal expenditure does not go beyond our proper
means; but to pay for lodging elsewhere would soon bring me in excess
of it, at least as long as Allen keeps up the yacht. Then poor Janet
must have something, and I don't know what bills may be in store for
me, and there's your outfit, and Bobus's."
"Never mind mine."
"My dear, that's fine talking, but you can't go like Sir Charles
Napier, with one shirt and a bit of soap."
"No, but I shall get something for the exchange. Besides, my kit was
costly even for the Guards, and will amply cover all that."
"And you have sold your horses?"
"And have been living on them ever since! Come, won't that encourage
you to make a little jaunt, just to break the spell?"
"I wish it could, my dear, but it does not seem possible while those
bills are such a dreadful uncertainty.
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