er what
had become of his money. He did not gamble. He had no little yacht,
costing him about six hundred a year. He kept one horse in London,
and one only. He had no house. And when he could spare time from his
work, he was generally entertained at the houses of his friends. And
yet from day to day his condition seemed to become worse and worse.
It was true that he never thought of half-a-sovereign; that in
calling for wine at his club he was never influenced by the cost;
that it seemed to him quite rational to keep a cab waiting for him
half the day; that in going or coming he never calculated expense;
that in giving an order to a tailor he never dreamed of anything
beyond his own comfort. Nevertheless, when he recounted with pride
his great economies, reminding himself that he, a successful man,
with a large income and no family, kept neither hunters, nor yacht,
nor moor, and that he did not gamble, he did think it very hard
that he should be embarrassed. But he was embarrassed, and in that
condition could it be right for him to marry a girl without a
shilling?

In these days Mrs. Carbuncle was very urgent with her friend not
to leave London till after the marriage. Lizzie had given no
promise,--had only been induced to promise that the loan of one
hundred and fifty pounds should not be held to have any bearing on
the wedding present to be made to Lucinda. That could be got on
credit from Messrs. Harter and Benjamin; for though Mr. Benjamin was
absent,--on a little tour through Europe in search of precious stones
in the cheap markets, old Mr. Harter suggested,--the business went
on the same as ever. There was a good deal of consultation about
the present, and Mrs. Carbuncle at last decided, no doubt with the
concurrence of Miss Roanoke, that it should consist simply of silver
forks and spoons,--real silver as far as the money would go. Mrs.
Carbuncle herself went with her friend to select the articles,--as to
which, perhaps, we shall do her no injustice in saying that a ready
sale, should such a lamentable occurrence ever become necessary,
was one of the objects which she had in view. Mrs. Carbuncle's
investigations as to the quality of the metal quite won Mr. Harter's
respect; and it will probably be thought that she exacted no
more than justice,--seeing that the thing had become a matter
of bargain,--in demanding that the thirty-five pounds should be
stretched to fifty, because the things were bought on long cred