The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, and Other TalesMore, Hannah
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The Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, and Other Tales
More, Hannah
Christian life -- Fiction; Conduct of life -- Fiction; Short stories
"You can't imagine, dear, mother, how charmingly we live. I lie
a-bed almost all day, and am up all night; but it is never dark,
for all that, for we burn such numbers of candles all at once,
that the sun would be of no use at all in London. Then I am so
happy; for we are never quiet a moment, Sundays or working-days;
nay, I should not know which was which, only that we have most
pleasure on a Sunday; because it is the only day on which people
have nothing to do but to divert themselves. Then the great
folks are all so kind, and so good; they have not a bit of
pride, for they will come and eat and drink, and win my money,
just as if I was their equal; and if I have got but a cold, they
are so very unhappy that they send to know how I do; and though
I suppose they can't rest till the footman has told them, yet
they are so polite, that if I have been dying they seem to have
forgotten it the next time we meet, and not to know but they
have seen me the day before. Oh! they are true friends; and for
ever smiling, and so fond of one another, that they like to meet
and enjoy one another's company by hundreds, and always think
the more the merrier. I shall never be tired of such a
delightful life.
"Your dutiful daughter,
"BETSY SQUEEZE."
The style of her letters, however, altered in a few months. She
owned that though things went on gayer and grander than ever, yet
she hardly ever saw her husband, except her house was full of
company, and cards or dancing was going on; that he was often so
busy abroad he could not come home all night; that he always
borrowed the money her mother sent her when he was going out on this
nightly business; and that the last time she had asked _him_ for
money he cursed and swore, and bid her apply to the old farmer and
his rib, who were made of money. This letter Mrs. Bragwell concealed
from her husband.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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