“You know, sister, that he never thought of me, nor I of him.”
“I know that I am not in the confidence of either party,” said Mrs. Ricketts, bridling; “and I also know I am sincerely happy that my head is not crammed with such fiddle-faddle. Before the great event comes off, however, you will have time to attend to something else, and therefore I beg you will keep in mind what I am about to say to you. We are here, Martha,” resumed she, with all the solemnity of a judicial charge,—“we are here by no claims of relationship or previous friendship. No secret ties of congenial tastes bind us up together. No common attachment to some other dear creature forms a link between us. We are here as much by chance as one can venture to call anything in this unhappy world. Let us, then, show Fortune that we are not unworthy of her goodness, by neglecting nothing which may strengthen our position and secure our permanence. In a word, Martha, throw over all your selfishness'——forget the miserable egotism that besets you, and study that young girl's character and wishes. She has never been courted in life—flatter her; she has never been even thought of——show her every consideration; she is evidently of a thoughtful turn, and nobody can mope better than yourself. Insinuate yourself day by day into little household affairs, mingling counsels here and warnings there,—always on the side of economy,—so that while affecting only to play with the reins, you'll end by driving the coach.”
“I 'm afraid I 've no head for all this, sister.”
“Of course you have n't, nor for anything else without me to guide you. I 'm perfectly aware of that. But you can learn. You can at least obey!”
“My sister means that you can st-st-struggle against the natural w-w-wilfulness of your d-disposition,” cackled in Purvis.
“I'll do my best,” murmured Martha, in a voice of humility.
“Women are so fond of sa-saving,” cried Scroope, “You'll always be safe when you c-c-cut down the estimates.”
“Attend to that, Martha,” remarked Mrs. Ricketts.
“Find out the price of ch-chickens, and always buy them a kreutzer cheaper than she has done.”
“There is nothing gives such an ascendency in a house as showing that you can maintain the establishment for fourpence less per quarter,” said Zoe, gravely. “I have known connubial happiness, that has stood the test of temper and illness for years, wrecked on the small rock of a cook's bill. Like all wasteful men, you may be sure that this Dalton has many miserly habits. Learn these, and indulge them. There was that poor Marquis of Binchley, that never dined without a hundred wax candles in the room, left all his fortune to a nephew he once found collecting the sealing-wax from old letters and making it up for fresh use. Reflect upon this, Martha; and always bear in mind that the vices of mankind are comparatively uninstructive. It is their foibles, their small weaknesses, that teach everything.”