England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
Julia nodded; this was bad, but it might have been worse. Mr.
Rawson-Clew was not a personal friend of the Polkingtons, and he was
not a man in an inferior position who might presume upon his loan to
the Captain to establish a friendly footing. On the contrary, he was
in a superior position, so much so that for a moment Julia was at a
loss to understand how he came to accommodate her father. Then she
recalled his face--he had been pointed out to her--he looked a
good-natured fool; probably he had met the Captain somewhere and been
sorry for him, or perhaps he did not like to say "no." In any case he
had lent the money and, so Julia fancied, would have to wait a very
long time before he saw it again. She dismissed the young man from her
mind and fell to working out plans to meet the more pressing
difficulties.
The relations would have to help; not with money; they would not do
that to a useful extent, but with invitations. Cherie was easily
provided for; Aunt Louise had before offered to take her abroad for
the winter; Cherie did not in the least want to go; it was likely to
be nothing nicer than acting as unpaid companion to a fidgety old
lady; but under the present circumstances she would have to go. For
Violet it was not quite so easy; it would look rather odd for her to
go visiting among obliging relatives, seeing that she was only just
engaged--how things looked was a point the Polkingtons always
considered. But it would have to be managed; Julia fancied something
might be arranged at Bath, a place which was a cheap fare from
Marbridge. Mrs. Polkington would probably go somewhere for part of the
time, then there could be some real retrenchments not otherwise
possible. Mary might be dismissed; Mr. Gillat even might come to board
with them for a little; the outside world need not know he was a guest
that paid.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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