t to anyone who did not wish to be _bothered_ with his wife
and children. In the evening I was again with Mr. O---- alone in the
strange bare wooden-walled sort of shanty which is our sitting-room, and
revolving in my mind the means of rescuing Psyche from her miserable
suspense, a long chain of all my possessions, in the shape of bracelets,
necklaces, brooches, ear-rings, &c., wound in glittering procession
through my brain, with many hypothetical calculations of the value of
each separate ornament, and the very doubtful probability of the amount
of the whole being equal to the price of this poor creature and her
children; and then the great power and privilege I had foregone of
earning money by my own labour occurred to me; and I think, for the first
time in my life, my past profession assumed an aspect that arrested my
thoughts most seriously. For the last four years of my life that preceded
my marriage, I literally coined money; and never until this moment, I
think, did I reflect on the great means of good, to myself and others,
that I so gladly agreed to give up for ever, for a maintenance by the
unpaid labour of slaves--people toiling not only unpaid, but under the
bitter conditions the bare contemplation of which was then wringing my
heart. You will not wonder that, when in the midst of such cogitations I
suddenly accosted Mr. O----, it was to this effect. 'Mr. O----, I have a
particular favour to beg of you. Promise me that you will never sell
Psyche and her children without first letting me know of your intention
to do so, and giving me the option of buying them.' Mr. O---- is a
remarkably deliberate man, and squints, so that, when he has taken a
little time in directing his eyes to you, you are still unpleasantly
unaware of any result in which you are concerned; he laid down a book he
was reading, and directed his head and one of his eyes towards me and
answered, 'Dear me, ma'am, I am very sorry--I have sold them.' My work
fell down on the ground, and my mouth opened wide, but I could utter no
sound, I was so dismayed and surprised; and he deliberately proceeded: 'I
didn't know, ma'am, you see, at all, that you entertained any idea of
making an investment of that nature; for I'm sure, if I had, I would
willingly have sold the woman to you; but I sold her and her children
this morning to Mr. ----.' My dear E----, though ---- had resented my
unmeasured upbraidings, you see they had not been without some good
effec