It
was the last piece left. I am trying to forgive her,"--the Major made
no harsher remark than, "A storm in a slop-basin! Your sister is not a
brilliant letter-writer, certainly."
The source of another heart-ache for Madam Liberality was poor Tom. He
was as liberal and hospitable as ever in his own way. He invited his
friends to stay with his mother, and when they and Tom had gone, Madam
Liberality and her mother lived without meat to get the housekeeping
book straight again. Their great difficulty in the matter was the
uncertain nature of Tom's requirements. And when he did write for
money he always wrote in such urgent need that there was no refusing
him if by the art of "doing without" his wants could be supplied.
But Tom had a kindly heart; he sent his sister a gold locket, and
wrote on the box, "For the best and most generous of sisters."
Madam Liberality liked praise, and she dearly liked praise from Tom;
but on this occasion it failed to soothe her. She said curtly, "I
suppose it's not paid for. If we can't afford much, we can afford to
live at our own expense, and not on the knavery or the forbearance of
tradesmen." With which she threw the locket into a box of odds and
ends, and turned the key with some temper.
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