I called upon Smith, and paid the bill. I did not venture to suggest that it was more than I had expected it would be. With so much money in my pocket I felt rich again, and did not bother my head to consider how I had obtained it. I went home in better spirits than for a week. I talked pleasantly and magnificently to Lilian. I had even forgotten my good resolution to practise a rigid economy, for with three hundred dollars in cash in my pocket, it no longer seemed necessary.
Lilian, too, was in excellent spirits. She was very affectionate, and when I sat down on the sofa after supper, she seated herself beside me, and told me how happy she was in her new home, and how glad she was that I had compelled her to move into it. With my head upon her shoulder and her arm around my neck she told me how kind and indulgent, how tender and affectionate I had always been, and then—added that she had not had a new dress since we were married! Mrs. Gordon Grahame had just come out in a splendid black silk; Lilian had never had a black silk, and she wanted one just like it.
“How much will it cost, Lilian?” I asked, rather startled by this ultra-affectionate turn in the conversation.
“You won’t be angry with me, Paley—will you?”
“Of course I won’t be angry with you, Lilian,” I laughed.
“But I have been very economical with clothes.”
“I know you have, my dear; and I haven’t a word of fault to find. I only asked how much the black silk would cost.”
“I can’t tell exactly what it will cost,” she answered, biting her finger nails, as though she feared even to express an opinion.
“Will it cost fifty dollars?” I asked, thinking I was placing it high.
“Fifty dollars! Why, what an ignoramus you are, Paley!” tinkled she, in the most silvery of tones. “You don’t think I can buy a black silk such as a lady would wear for fifty dollars, do you?”