"Vegetables—tenpence!"
"To be sure," said I, nodding my head, "tenpence, certainly."
"And bread, Peter" (this in a voice of tragedy) "—eightpence."
"Excellent!" said I recklessly, whereat Charmian immediately frowned at me.
"Oh, Peter!" said she, with a sigh of resignation, "you possess absolutely no idea of proportion. Here we pay four shillings for meat, and only eightpence for bread; had we spent less on luxuries and more on necessaries we should have had money in hand instead of—let me see!" and she began adding up the various items before her with soft, quick little pats of her fingers on the table. Presently, having found the total, she leaned back in her chair and, summoning my attention with a tap of her pen, announced:
"We have spent nine shillings and tenpence, Peter!"
"Good, indeed!" said I.
"Leaving exactly—twopence over."
"A penny for you, and a penny for me."
"I fear I am a very bad housekeeper, Peter."