At this moment Mrs. Livingstone came in, and immediately Carrie gave
a detailed account of her brother's conduct, at the same time
referring her mother for proof to Mabel's red eyes and swollen face.

"I never interfere between husband and wife," said Mrs. Livingstone
coolly, "but as a friend, I will give Mabel a bit of advice. Without
being at all personal, I would say that few women have beauty enough
to afford to impair it by eternally crying, while fewer men have
patience enough to bear with a woman who is forever whining and
complaining, first of this and then of that. I don't suppose that
John is so much worse than other people, and I think he bears up
wonderfully, considering his disappointment."

Here the lady flounced out of the room, leaving the girls to stare at
each other in silence, wondering what she meant. Since her marriage,
Mabel had occupied the parlor chamber, which connected with a cozy
little bedroom and dressing-room adjoining. These had at the time
been fitted up and furnished in a style which Mrs. Livingstone
thought worthy of Mabel's wealth, but now that she was poor, the case
was altered, and she had long contemplated removing her to more
inferior quarters. "She wasn't going to give her the very best room
in the house. No, indeed, she wasn't--wearing out the carpets,
soiling the furniture, and keeping everything topsy-turvy."

She understood John Jr. well enough to know that it would not do to
approach him on the subject, so she waited, determining to carry out
her plans the very first time he should be absent, thinking when it
was once done, he would submit quietly. On hearing that he had gone
off on a hunting excursion, she thought, "Now is my time," and
summoning to her assistance three or four servants, she removed
everything belonging to John Jr. and Mabel, to the small and not
remarkably convenient room which the former had occupied previous to
his marriage.

"What are you about?" asked Anna, who chanced to pass by and looked
in.

"About my business," answered Mrs. Livingstone. I'm not going to
have my best things all worn out, and if this was once good enough
for John to sleep in, it is now."

"But will Mabel like it?" asked Anna, a little suspicious that her
sister-in-law's rights were being infringed.

"Nobody cares whether she is pleased or not," said Mrs. Livingstone.
"If she don't like it, all she has to do is to go away."

"Lasted jest about as long as I thought '