"Just as may suit you, madam."
"Now, as to your terms, Miss Beaufort?"
"I charge two dollars per lesson," answered Rose, as boldly as she could.
"Isn't that high?" asked Mrs. Tilton. "Most lady teachers do not charge as much."
"I am quite aware of that," said Rose.
"I think some charge only a dollar per lesson."
"I presume you are right," said Rose; but, obedient to Miss Wilmot's suggestions, she didn't offer to reduce her own price. "I hope to make my services worth the amount I ask."
"Then you won't accept a less price?"
"I should prefer not to do so."
Mrs. Tilton was not a generous woman. She was disposed to haggle about prices, and had Rose applied to her for work as a seamstress she would have driven a hard bargain with her, but, as the friend and protégé of Miss Jane Wilmot, a lady of the highest social consideration, she did not venture to follow her own economical inclinations. In fact, Mrs. Tilton was not of an old family. Her husband had recently become rich, and though she aspired to be fashionable, there were circles to which she could not obtain admission. She plumed herself on her acquaintance with Miss Wilmot, and would not, on any account, have had Rose report to that lady that she had been unwilling to pay her price. Two dollars an hour seemed high, but she knew very well that she must buy social recognition, and that she valued above money.