Ready Money

"So yon are goihg to be married, Kate ? Well, I hope yoú haVe made a wise choice " O yes, nncle," I píied liglitly ; "I know I have. Iïeïiry is to make me perfectly happy." "What has lie got?" was the next pleasant observation that fell froni Únele Jocelyn'B lips. " Got ? uuele .' I úon't know whatyou mean," I anuwered, growing rosy red at the uneXpected inquiry. "What are his means? What does ha intend to settle upon yon ?" " He has his business," promptly intemipted my mother. " And he is so clever, he is sure to get on," I added, in my eagerness to assure Únele Jocelyn it was all right ae regarded noy future. " That will depend a great déal upon you, Kate," he replied grayely. "The wife has more to do in inakiug or marring her husband thau is generally suspected. A c&reless, extravagant, bad wife íb the greatest curse a man can have ; a good one i the greatest blessing." "Yes, nncle; O yes," I assented, glancing toward my mother, who was snliling soinewhat scomfully, I fancied, at his opinión. "Take care of his pence, and his pounds will take care of themselves," continued únele ; " and beware of ever getting into debt, Kate ; it's the easiest thing to get into, and the hardest thing to get out of. Take my advice ; ive well within your means and always pay ready money." "Yes, únele ; O yes," I responded. " I am sure yon are right ; and Henry is ao prudent, he is certain to have the best ideas." "Well, keep them bef ore your own miad. Don't deSpise an oldman's counsel ; buy nothing that you can't afford, and always pay ready money." I remember that conversation so well with Uncle Jocelyn, some few weeks before my marriage ; at the time it did not strike me so forcibly as af terward, for my Qimd was too much filled with other and o me more interesting matters. Uncle Jocelyn was an old man, and the unount of his fortune liad always been wrapped in some obscurity ; but he lived oomfortably, and possessed a small property in Berkshire, upon which he had built a pretty and substantial house, where I had often spent many happy ilays. He had ahvays shown a special affection for me, no doubt owing to the Eact of my being the daughter of his only brother, wlio had died when I was quite an infant, leaving me to the sole guarliauship of my mother. Unfortunately for me, there had never been any love lost between the latter and Uncle Jocelyn ; the coolness had rather increased thaii dimiiiished as ears went by ; and when invitations were sent for us to visit Conington, which was the name of my uncle's place, my motherinvariably refused for herself, and only with great persuasión permitted me to go. How I enjoyed these visits ! How sweet were the hay-fields and cloverscented meadows ! How cool and fresh the marble-slabbed dairy, with its rows of brimming basins of frothy golden oream ! How fragrant was the oldfashioned garden, with its long, grassy walks and great big dewy roses, and the old cedar tree so shady, under which Uncle Jocelyn would sit of an aftemoon smoking, listening apparently quite satisfied witli my childish conversation ! The sun always seemed to be shining in those days. I enn recall no gloom toen, and things all wore a charm, which I did not know lay ehietfy in the faot of my own youth and Utter ignorance of life and its cares. However, not to digress, I had not seen so much of Uncle Jocelyn since I had grown up, partly on accovint of my mother's unabated dislike to him, partly because of the existence of a new interHt in life. I had met Henry Arden. He was six-and-twenty, five years my senior. His position in life was a fairly good one, he having a small interest in a ftrst-rate city business which gave him over L300 a year ; his eharacter was irreproahable ; and when I say that he was a general favorite wherever he went it may be surmised that in my opinión he was, if not quite perfect, very akin to it. For myself, I was passable - perhaps a little' more thau that- but I was penniless until my motlier died ; so it was a very astonishing tlnng to me how so desirable a partí had falleu to my lot. He was oerkain to get on - the senior j partners had been known to say so themselves. Consequently our start in life promised to be a fair one. And to be brief, wc were married. Our honeymoon was of comparatively short duratioi), but it was long enough to cost Henry, as I afterwards learned, something like L40, whioh was a considerable out of L1500 a year ; for it liad not oconrred to him to lay by any spare cash for those unavoidablc expenses. I had ÍVH. rather nneasy at the expenditure, bnt it was too sarly daya U veutiire on any renionstrance had I been so incliud ; we wera sure to live veiy quietly when we once settled down, and could easily then ijiake ny for any little travagance of whioh at tlie outset wc liad been guilty. We were to live in London, anti we were fully agreed on one point ; lodgings were not to bc thought of ; we must have a houBe of oür own. The prospect of possessing one jointly with Henry was very Jjleasafat to me. I pictttred án endless fund of amusement and oceupation, too, in furnishing and adorning it ; but the mansion had still to be selected ; so our first l)usiness was to find one to suit ns, the next to get into it as soon as possible. We must have spent a small fortune iu cab-hire before we found just what wc wanted ; even then, thbugh the situation Was gopd ahd the domicile desirable, the i-ent rather frightehed us ; it was 80 guineas a .year', uhfurhfehed, bilt we should be so coiüfortabie in it. The smidlness of its size - and it was extreihely sinall - Vas rather fin advantage than otherwise, ate it would require so little furnithre ; and two inaids ivotijd be amply STiïïïcite'nt fot our establishment, which m such a place would be a most creditable ménage. We were delighted with the house, the balcony to the drawing-room being, as we enthusiastically ngreed, almost worth the rent itself ; and we made no resistance when the house agent, who must have had some amusement over our innocence and inexperience, flxed us for a seven-years' lease, representing to us that our ndvnntnges were almost unequaled, having no premium tb pay. We eoneutecl- ih consideration of all he enühiei'ated in favor of our bargain - to mnke any repairs that were necessnry ; and in fact Were in such deliglit with the whole ftffair that the agreemeht, as lliight have been expected, was very easify arrived at. We knew iiothiilg about fumifehihg ; never dveameil 'of the dfthgers of green wood or the inevitable resultó, of cheafa investment ; thinking oürselves Very acute to get hold of two furnishing lists to combare priceS ; beSideS which we sat down with paper and pencil to calcúlate exactly how much we must spend ; and and I, remembering Uncle Joscelyn's advice, ventured to say that we should resolve not to go beyond it. We came to the conclusión that actual necessanes might be bought, taking the prices from the books, for L150 ; so Henry decided on borrowing L200, with which we feit sure the house could be really nicely done, and this sum he was to pay interest for until the principal was paid off. Nothing could have surpasaed oltr prudence - before we set out. When We got into t.ne hop We had selected aa the one to pntronifcp, we foünd that the things We had thought of were Very inferior to oür imagiiiihgï? il trine more here aiid a trifle there coilld make no differehce in the sum total, and be everything ih the niceness and prettiness of our house ; besides which our estimates of necessaries proved a very inadequate one when innumerable etceteras were declared absolutely indispensable by the attendant shopkeeper. We made apparently endless purchases, which we could hardly remember until tliey were deposited in Amberley villas, where, witli my newly engaged domestics, I awaited them with immense delight. Bilt vast as the ilüportation appeared, I had yet to leam of the legior of wants undi'eamed of by tis. scarcely a day passed without some new deniaud being made, which appaïently it Was perfectly impossible to do without. But at last I was thoroughly satisfied with our possessions, and the servants seenied to have come to the end of their requiretaents ; so the only thing that We had to think of was the bill, which had not yet been sent in to us. I was frightened to think about it ; luit Heiiry was quite prepared for its being considerably over the L200. Judge of our dismay when we did l'eceive it to find it more than twice that sum - L456 odd ! There were frightful entries for " Time," which in theniselves represented a seiious item, and upon which we had never calculated ; and our small sundries, which we had hardly at all taken into account, came to something quite appalling. But the first shock over, the offending document was thrust aside - it would be paid all in good time ; and for the present we both resolved to dismiss it from our minds. Friends were rapidly ! ering around us ; we must receive and pay visits ; so it was not very difficult to banish disagreeables, and to enter with the greatest enjoyment into the new life which lay V)efore us. I had fancied our house was very complete and perfect until I saw some of the elegant drawingrooms of some of our new acquaintances ; after that ïnany deficiencies were plainly visible ; and in order to supply them we went to different shops, making various purchases, which, as usual, were put do"wn to our account. Then came our first entertainment with its attendant expenses, which it was absolutely impossible to avoid ; for in Henry's position it was, as we thought, most necessary for us to maintain a good appearance ; and, as his wife, it was iucumbent upon me to dress as well and as fashionably as I could. So things went on ; and before we had been married two years I need hardly say we were hopelessly and horribly in debt. To retrench seemed utterly impossible. I hardly knew where our extravagance ! lay ; but the fact remained, we were j ing far beyond our income ; our bilis were never-ending, and every day we were sinking deeper and deeper into the mire. To add to our difficultïes, a nursery had been established, and, though one might imagine so small an addition was not a serious one, it cost us no trifling sum. I could not have endured to see my baby badly dressed. How could I j have seen it go outexceptin the sweetest and freshest of garments ? So it was j duly adorned in the wldtest and prettiest things, which insured a satisfactory amonut of patronage for our laundress, and most appalling bilis for me. j ever, we managed to keep afloat in some wouderful manner ; but Henry was beginning to have a strangely carewom ! look, to which I could not blind myself. j He was worried and harassed. His business was all right ; but there were bilis to be met, difficulties to be disposed of which he could not quite see tho end, of. To ontward appearance, however, we seemed n. very prosperous pair. Our i house was now as elegant as our neighbors'. I had a thousand costly little triiles lying about the drawing-room, got from time to time, and, as ustial, not paid for, some of which the gtoreieepers themselves had pressed me into purchaHing. Sometimes a sharp pang shot through me when I thought over our position, and I wished when we liad first H(1 up that I had had sufïioient sense to persuade Henry to do so more in accordHU36 with our income than wc lnul ilonc; but it was Ido late nbw; w lirnst hustjo some good fortune turiiiiig np. Btenry had hopes that liis partners meant to promote him, and if they were realized we should be much betteroff. This idba was buoying us both up, and we were feeling partioularly sanguine when Mr. Trcvor, the senior partner, a peculiar man, who never almost left Iiíb own house in Bedfohl srjuare, except the pfilce, annotinced hits ihtentionof coming tb Amberly Villas to dine, if we would have him. In out anxiety to impresa him favorably we launched out into further expenses. He must be lmndsomely entertained, so mueli might depend upon his visit. Accordingly, I arranged a moet recherche little dinner, and had the table luid out a la JSusse to my entire satisfaction; when everything was eompleted, surveying tho preparation with the uitoost cohfidence ih Mr. TreVor's Verdict, feüt alas ! for Henry's hopes and my dinner. Mr. Treyor carne, partook Very sparingly and silently of our hospitality, and departed without having dropped oiie syllable on the subject which we were so hoping he would discuss. Some ten days aiterward the advance in the business was bestowed upon one of Henry's júniora who had never dreamt of getting it. We were terribly disappointed, having counted so surely upon an addition to our means; and, when our wrathful feelings were at their height, who should suddenly walk in but Unole Jocelyn ! He had never been in our house sinee we were married. It was, in fact, a great event for him to leave Conington, but the freak hadseizedhim, He wauted to Bee hiS bid faVoi-ite atkd his new grandniece, so he had come. He only meant to stay for the day ; in the evenüig he intended to return home. In my inmost heart I was as fond of him as ever, but his tisit was iU;timed: I could not rally froül fiiy disappointiiiehi for Heliry, anti our cares were now assuming too serious an aspect to be easily set aside. "Yoli have a beautiful little house, Kate," he said. " I had no notiou Henry was such a rich man." " Hadn't yon, únele ?" I said, trying to langh unconstrainedly. "I am truly pleased to see you so comf ortable, " continued TJncle Jocelyn, kindly. " This room must have cost you a pretty penny, Kate ; and I daresay you have a nest-egg somewhere as well. " " Oh, it isn't very much," I answered, really referring to the room, but, as he thonglit, to the nest-egg ; and imagining I ïneant that the latter, though of sraall proportions, did exist, he responded Itlost cordially ! "itoesu't lnatter how sinall, Kate; there's plenty of time to inake it largor." ít was no use ühdeceiving hiih, though at that very moment an ominous envelope was delivered to me with the announcement that the person who brought it was waiting for an answer ; to which I retumed tlie usual formula, that Mr. Arden was out, but would cali in a day or two. I tried to look as indifferent as possible, but I feit Unele Jocelyn's eyes were upon me, and my face colored painfully, nor did my confusión escape the kind scrutiny. I feit thoroughly convinced he had drawn his own conclusions. Soon ftfterward htncli Waë ühnounced, aild We desceiided to the drawing-ïoom, where Sopliy, my parlor-maid, had, io my horror, arranged some of our best china on the table, with the best intentions I knew, meaning to impress my visitor with our grandeur, but little imagining the real effect such superfluities wollïd have upon my ühcle. Be noticed It directly, and adnlired it very mttcli. " Where did you get that figure?" he asked, ilidicatiiig a lovely chiila centerpiece. " I am not quite certain," I ïeplied, ! carelessly ; "we have had it for some ! time, " "Was it Very expeilsive?" pursiied Uucle Jocelyn. "O llo, not very; at least Í didn't I think so," I answered, recollecting with i a painful throb that it oertainly had not cost ub much as yet, considering that we had not paid for it. I need not give all the details of Uncle Jocelyn's visit. Suffice it to say that it was one of martyrdom that afternoon to me ; and it was a positive relief when his kind old face vanished and I found myself alone once more. He had gone awiiy no doubt thinking our lines were ir very pleasant places, feeling assured not only of our prosperity, but our liappineBs. Poor deceived Uncle Jocelyn ! He little knew that I was just longing to throw myself into his arms and make a clean breast of all our extravagance and consequent troubles. How I envied him going back to quiet, peaceful Oonington ! How I wished Henry and I were just one-half as happy as he was. However, our struggle then was just beginning, for we sank deeper and deeper. It was like a quicksand - the more we struggled the deeper we got. We daré not openly retrench - we lacked the moral courage ; and our private attempts were the merest drops in the ocean of that miglity sea into which we had drifted, simply and solely because we had at the outset ignored the golden rule, so impressed upon me by Únele Joeelyn, to live within our means and to pay ready money. And what liad all our extravagance done for us ? We liad a large visiting list, and I periodically paid host of visits, always hoping to fina my friends from home. We had a pretty house, and were able to entertain as elegantly as our neighbors. I liad heaps of fashionable dresses and useless finery ; and Henry was as perfect as ever in my eyes; bvit we were both miserable ; debt stared us iu the face whiohever wíy we turned ; and how long we could keep our oreditors at bay was beginning to be a source of considerable anxiety to us. Henry's position in his business depended solely upon the pleasure of the senior partners. There were curious conditioiis in their agreement with him ; and if they heard of his embarrassment no doubt it would injure him greatly,and might make them consider themselves justifted in perhaps something far more serious tlian a remonstrance. O that we had acted (u'ft'erently ! that the past could be lived over again with our present experience. Once or twice I thought of confiding our woes to my mother ; but I dared not; iutuitively I knew that, although in his prosperity Henry was a great favorito with her, slie would regard him very differently if misfortunes carne ; and i feit I could bear anything rather tlian hear him blamed, e'sjx'cially as in my most inmost heart I knew I was equally if not actually more to blame than he was ; for now I saw clearly how truc it was what Í Unele Jocelyn said, that a wife can make j or mar her husband. If I had quietly : set to work at tho outset, and advised ! him aright, all would have been well ; but now every day brought some hateful dun or threatening letter. A ring al the bell would cause me to si art , and tho aonnd cA :i mari's tojcp in the hall párley ; ing with Sophy was enougb to make me tremble all &ver, "Thé QMb ;-otild not be Kiavedoft' for long; a crisiK must ghortly come." So said Honry oiie lovely Jnne evenjügj whcn wc were sitting disconsolately discussing all manner of wild, impossible schetnes; It was an exquisite night; the heat of the day was over; not a breath of wind stiiïed the delichte bloBSoinB bf the plauts whioh adonied our balcony, and the moon was ïïsing in all her liquid lovelinees, casting a olear, cool light over the scène. Everything looked calm and quiet and peaceful; the pulses of the great city were lmshed; there was nothing to break the silence except poor Henry's hopeless tones repeating, "A crisis can't be far off, Kate. "What we are to do I küow iot I" Ve fahcied the aliiazemeiit öf oür friends - the nine days' wonder our misfortunes would cause, little dreaming that our ending had Jong been confidently predicted by them, and that our hospitality had been roundly censured and condemned by the very partakers of it. Still less did we imagine that Mr. ïrevor, so far from being favorably irnpressed with our surroundings, had gone away - fully aware as he was with tlie exact amount of Henry's income - shocked and sorry to see that Henry Arden had married a wife with so little sense and judgment; and no second glnnce from his keen eyes was wanting to prove to him how terribly beyond it we were living. His observations had satisfied him that serious embarrassments must ensue; conseriuently he and his partners had bestowed the desifed post and increased emoluments upon one who, if he needed it less tlian we did, certainly understood its value better. So not one except my mother and Uncle Jocelyn wouldbe surprised, though we imagined so difterehtly, as we sat on and on in our pretty dïawiiig-room talking over the weary subject and pondering what we could possibly do. We shonld have to sell off everything, to leave Ambeiiey Villas, and to begin life over again. Henry's prospects, of course, would be seriousiy damaged, and we could never hope to thoroughly regain the position our own folly had deprived us of. It was uot pleasant to think of; but thero could be no shuffling out of the question now; it must be met and answered immediately ; what were we to do ? Nothing very definite could be arrived at; but one thing was quite clear - the change could not be far off. I can never describe the anxiety of the days that followed, nor teil the agony it Cöst me to write and teil my mother that we were hopelessly, desperately involved, and that our difficulties were so great it was imposgible for ia ever to surmount them. What woúld she say? What would everybody say? Worst of all, what would Unole Jocelyn say ? For the worst had come to the worst- our house was our own no longer; a man - strange and to me most terrible - was comfortably making himself at home in our kitchen - in other words, he had taken possession ! How could Henry show his face at the office ! How could I ever venture out again ! I shall never forget the two days that followed after I wrote and told my mother ; tin the tliild, lyheh 1 Was aliiiost sthpefied with the magnitude of our misfortunes, and during Henry's (poor Henry certainly had the hardest part to bear, for he could not stay quietly at home) absence had shut myself up in my room, some one knocked at the door, and, in answer to my very subdued "Oome in," it was gently opened, and ilot Sophy, as Í had anticipated, appeared, biit the familia, friehdíy face of Uncle Jocelyn. "My poor child !" he exciaimed- " m.y little Kate !"■ - and he folded me in his arms with aÜ the tendel-ness of a fathei'. "I oüly heaïd of it this morning," he said, "and I started off imrnediiitely. Cheer up, Kate ; don't grieve yoür old itncle by tears. Things can't be past mending ; and I woüldn't be here if I hadn't come to help you. " Aud how he helped us ! Without a word of anger or reproach he listened to Henry's and my story ; we told it faithfully, not sparing or attempting to justify ourselves for our culpable conduct ; and when all was confessed he simply wrote a check for the full amomit of oxir liabilities. The total was a serious one, but we were saved not onlyfrom the disgrace b;it from Henry's dismissal from a partnership which afterward was the means of our posseBsing a fortune far beyond what we had ever in our. rosiest imaginings dreained of. By Uncle Jocelyn's advice we sublet Amberley Villas and ïetired to a more roomy house in a leas expensive and less fashionable locality ; we sold all our supcrfluities, which had become actually hateful to me, and we started once more with a sinall but certain income. How much happier we were, and how grateful to Uncle Jocelyn, it would require a far more eloquent pen than mine to describe. He often carne to see us, and never had cause to regret the generous help he hadso readily extended tous in our need, for he saw how thoroughly roprntant we were. My mother joiued in the general rejoicing over our regiiined happiness ; and out ot' gratitude her old prejudicc against Uncle Jocelyn faded away. She often goes to Conington now, where we all meet, a merry party, of which the generous old mn is the wellbeloved center. He was giving me some gentle hints as to the training of my sons the other day. "For it's a mother's influence that tells upon the man, Kate ; it's the lesson she teaohes in childhood that he remembers best." "Yes, Uncle Jocelyn," I answered ; " I know you are right. I hope amongst the many things I desire to teach them, oue especially mayn't be forgotten - you know what that is ?" "To fear God," replied Uncle Jocelyn, reverently. " That first'of all," I answered ; " but I meant something else. " " What?" quericd Uncle Jocelyn. " Never to buy what they can't aftbrd, :uk1 always to pay ready money. " -