“Ah! what indeed?”
“Actually shovelling snow from his own steps!”
“Oh, I thought you meant giving away a competence. Which act would she have thought the least self-respectful?”
“She would have had a great deal to say on his duty to his family in both cases. But it is all out of kindness that she grieves so much over his ‘enthusiasm,’ and lectures us for our disregard of appearances. If she loved us less, we should hear less of her concern, and it would be told to others behind our backs. So we will not mind it. You do not mind it, Margaret?”
“I rather enjoy it.”
“That is right. Now I wish my husband would come in. He has been gone very long; and I want to hear the whole truth about this fever.”