bed by expenses of the house. At the
age of fifty, prematurely worn by excessive labour, he was alarmed to
find his income steadily diminishing, with no corresponding
diminution--but rather the opposite--in the demands made upon him by
wife and daughters. In a moment of courage, prompted by desperation, he
obtained the consent of Dora and Gerda to this unwelcome change of
abode. It caused so much unpleasantness between himself and Mrs. Leach,
that he was glad to fit up a sleeping-room at his office and go home
only once a week; whereby he saved time, and had the opportunity of
starving himself as well as of working himself to death.

Dora and Gerda, having grown up in such domestic circumstances,
accepted them with equanimity. When their father spoke nervously of
retrenchment, saying that he grew old and must save money to provide
for their future, they made no objection, but were as far as ever from
perceiving the sordid tragedy of his lot. Dora lived for her music;
Gerda sang a little, but was stronger on the social side, delighting in
festivities and open-air amusements. They were amiable and intelligent
girls, and would have been amazed had anyone charged them with
selfishness; no less if it had been suggested to them that they
personally might rectify the domestic disorder of which at times they
were moved to complain. They had no beauty, and knew it; neither had
received an offer of marriage, and they looked for nothing of the kind.
That their dresses cost a great deal, was taken as a matter of course;
also that they should go abroad when other people did, and have the
best places at concert or theatre, and be expansively 'at home'. With
all sincerity they said of themselves that they lived a quiet life. How
could it be quieter?--unless one followed the example of Alma Rolfe;
but Alma was quite an exceptional person--to be admired and liked, not
to be imitated.

Yet even Alma, it seemed, had got tired of her extraordinary freak. She
was back again within the circle of civilisation; or, as she put it in
her original, amusing way, 'on the outer edge of the whirlpool'. She
had a very nice little house, beautifully furnished; everyone knew
Alma's excellent taste. She came frequently to Kingsbury-Neasden, and
ran up to town at least as often as they (Dora and Gerda) did. Like
them she found it an annoyance to have to rush to the station before
midnight; but, being married, she could allow herself more freedom of
move