"Now, Alice," she began, "let's be sensible." Alice looked appealingly at Stowe, but Persis objected. "Don't look at him—look at me. First, who's going to support you children when you are married?"
They answered like a chorus: "Why, he is (I am), of course."
"Alice, dear, how much has your mother been allowing you for pin-money—say, five thousand a year?"
"Oh, she claims it's more than that. We had an awful row the first of last month."
Persis looked very innocent and school-girlish as she said: "And Mr. Webb gets twelve hundred?"
"Yes."
"Now, Alice, I'm very backward in mathematics, so you'll have to tell me: if one person cannot live on five thousand a year, do you think two persons will be perfectly comfortable on twelve hundred?"
"Oh, but I'll economize!" Alice protested. "It will be a pleasure to do without things—if I have Stowe."
"Yes," Persis sniffed, "almost anything we're not used to is pleasant for a novelty; but in time I should fancy that even economy would cease to be a luxury. And where in Paris do you plan to live on your twelve hundred?"