“And what do people who can get it say?”
“That it’s the most important thing of all,” she answered earnestly. “That it will buy all the other things.”
“It will buy you free of your indenture,” I admitted, “but you have to get it first.”
“Get it first? I never let it go. I still have the contract payment.”
“Then what was the point of indenting at all?”
She looked at me wonderingly. “Havent you ever thought about serious things? Only books and politics and all that? How could I get opportunities without indenting? I doubt if the Vames are much of a cut above the Backmakers; well, youre a general drudge and I’m a governess and tutor and even in a way a sort of distant friend to Mrs Smythe.”
“That sounds suspiciously like snobbery to me.”
“Does it? Well, I’m a snob; Ive never denied it. I want to live like a lady, to have a good house with servants and carriages and minibiles, to travel to civilized countries, with a place in Paris or Rome or Vienna. You can love the poor and cheer for the Populists; I love the rich and the Whigs.”
“That’s all very well,” I objected, “but even though you have your indenting money and can buy back your freedom any moment you want it, how does this help you get rich?”
“Do you think I keep my money in my pocket? It’s invested, every cent. People who come to this house give me tips; not just money, though there’s enough of that to add a bit to my original capital, but tips on what to buy and sell. By the time I’m thirty I should be well off. Of course I may marry a rich man sooner.”