"No-o, I don't see any necessity for that," the older woman said, after
a second's pause.
"But Lewis & Sons is a very expensive place," Justine pursued; "they
never have sales, never special prices. Their cheapest tomatoes are
fifteen cents a can, and their peaches twenty-five--"
"Never mind," Mrs. Salisbury interrupted her briskly. "We'll manage
somehow. I always did trade there, and never had any trouble. Begin
with him to-morrow. And, while, of course, I understand that I was ill
and couldn't be bothered in this case, I want to ask you not to make
any more changes without consulting me, if you please."
Justine, still standing, her troubled eyes on her employer, the last
glass, polished to diamond brightness, in her hand, frowned mutinously.
"You understand that if you do any ordering whatever, Mrs. Salisbury, I
will have to give up my budget. You see, in that case, I wouldn't know
where I stood at all."
"You would get the bill at the end of the month," Mrs. Salisbury said,
displeased.
"Yes, but I don't run bills," the girl persisted.
"I don't care to discuss it, Justine," the mistress said pleasantly;
"just do as I ask you, if you please, and we'll settle everything at
the end of the month. You shall not be held responsible, I assure you."
She went out of the kitchen, and the next morning had a pleasant half
hour in the big grocery, and left a large order.
"Just a little kitchen misunderstanding," she told the affable Mr.
Lewis, "but when one is ill--However, I am rapidly getting the reins
back into my own hands now."
After that, Mrs. Salisbury ordered in person, or by telephone, every
day, and Justine's responsibilities were confined to the meat market
and greengrocer. Everything went along very smoothly until the end of
the month, when Justine submitted her usual weekly account and a bill
from Lewis & Sons which was some three times larger in amount than was
the margin of money supposed to pay it.
This was annoying. Mrs. Salisbury could not very well rebuke her, nor
could she pay the bill out of her own purse. She determined to put it
aside until her husband seemed in a mood for financial advances, and,
wrapping it firmly about the inadequate notes and silver given her by
Justine, she shut it in a desk drawer. There the bill remained,
although the money was taken out for one thing or another; change that
must be made, a small bill that must be paid at the door.
Another fortnight went by, and Lewis & Sons submitted another bimonthly
bill. Justine also gave her mistress another inadequate sum, what was
left from her week's expenditures.
The two grocery bills were for rather a formidable sum. The thought of
them, in their desk drawer, rather worried Mrs. Salisbury. One evening
she bravely told her husband about them, and laid them before him.
Mr. Salisbury was annoyed. He had been free from these petty worries
for some months, and he disliked their introduction again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account