There was sure to be some anecdote to enliven the home-keepers, or
some question to ask Cherry, whose grammar and arithmetic stood on
firmer foundations than any at Miss Pearson's, and who was always
pleased to help Wilmet. The evening hours were the happiest of the
day, only they always ended too soon for Cherry, who was ordered up
by Sibby as soon as her mother was put to bed, and had, in
consequence, a weary length of wakeful solitude and darkness--only
enlivened by the reflection from the gas below--while Felix and
Wilmet sat downstairs, she with her mending, and he either reading,
or talking to her.
On Saturday, which she always spent at home, and in very active
employment in the capacities of nurse, housemaid, or even a slight
taste of the cook and laundress, the evening topic was always the
accounts--the two young heads anxiously casting the balance--proud
and pleased if there were even a shilling below the mark, but serious
and sad under such a communication as, 'There's mutton gone up
another halfpenny;' or, 'Wilmet, I really am afraid those boots of
mine cannot be mended again;' or again, 'See what Lance has managed
to do to this jacket.
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