"Undesirable kind of people indeed! Were Beethoven and Mendelssohn, or are Patti and Neilson, undesirable persons? You know nothing at all about it, you absurd little mother!"
But Juliet hardly knew more. Though she still dreamed of herself as a future prima donna, she was becoming very careless and irregular in her music practice. On one day she would practise her scales till the nerves of everyone in the house were distracted, and on the next she would not sing at all. It was now the Christmas vacation, so that these lapses did not immediately bring on her the wrath of Signor Lombardi.
With the suspension of her weekly lessons, her opportunities of seeing Algernon Chalcombe had ceased. Juliet did not regret this. She did not want to see him again. Her cheeks would burn with shame whenever she recalled Mrs. Hayes' remarks.
But the turn of Fortune's wheel which had made her an heiress had opened so many new channels for her imagination to work in, that she gave but few thoughts either to Algernon Chalcombe or to his sister. It was delightful to plan how she would spend the income which seemed to her so ample. She was not without a sense of duty in the matter. She felt that it would be wrong to spend it all upon herself; nor had she any wish do so. No, she would provide every possible comfort for her mother, and, as far as they would let her, increase the happiness of Hannah and Salome; she meant too to be charitable towards the poor, and to give liberally to the collections in church. But, whilst cherishing these intentions, she repelled so decidedly certain suggestions made by Salome that it was little wonder her sisters did not give her credit for such good impulses.
"I hope, Juliet, that now you have so much money you will give me a subscription towards our soup kitchen," said Salome one day. "Our blanket club too is sadly in want of funds. And our poor people are suffering terribly this cold weather. The possession of money is a serious responsibility when there is so much destitution about us."
"Is it?" said Juliet. "You must be thankful to be spared that responsibility."
Salome's colour deepened at this impertinence.
"I know what I should do if I had money," she said; "I give to my poor people all that I can. No one can say I spend much on myself. I buy no clothes that are not absolutely necessary."
"Most certainly you do not. But you need not think that I am going to spend all my money on myself. I mean to help the poor; but I like to be my own almoner. I don't believe in those societies. I think they are too hard on the poor, with their red-tapeism and over-strict regulations," said Juliet, who was rather fond of giving opinions on matters of which she knew nothing.
"Red-tapeism! Really, Juliet, what will you say next?" Salome exclaimed.