"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Mrs. Grimes.
"Lovely. That little annex on the side would make a snug den for me; and imagine the prospect from that south bedroom window! You would enjoy every look at it."
"George?"
"What?"
"George, dear, tell me frankly, do you really feel in your heart as generous as you did yesterday?"
"Now, my dear, why press that matter? Call it meaner or narrower or what you will; maybe I am a little more so than I was; but there is nothing to be ashamed of. It is the conservative instinct asserting itself; the very same faculty in man that holds society together. I will be liberal enough when the time comes, never fear. I am not going to disregard what one may call the pledges of a lifetime. We will treat everybody right, the Presbyterian Church and Mr. Borrow included. His salary is a thousand, I think you said?"
"Yes."
"Well, I am willing to make it fifteen hundred right now, if you are."
"We said, you remember, it ought to be two thousand."
"Who said so?"