was characteristic of Alfred that with the sum of one pound in his pocket, generously pressed upon him by Mr. Ladd, he should stay from work the following morning. To evade the reproaches of his busy young wife he urged slight indisposition; there came to him a rare suggestion of remorse when he observed her concern. She brought his breakfast to the bedside, made a soothing mixture from some old Devonshire recipe that sent him to sleep again, and having written a letter to the firm:
went about her duties in the sitting-room and kitchen quietly and deftly. The wife of the ex-cornet-player came upstairs in order to enjoy the luxury of reviewing a grievance against her deplorable partner, but Caroline sent her back instantly with urgent commands to keep the little boy silent. A gusty tempestuous German band began to play at the end of East Street, and Caroline, flying out, gave the trombone threepence to go away and murder its unhappy waltz in Park Street. When, later in the day, Alfred awoke to find an excellent chop and a pint of stout waiting him, the little woman felt happy because the afternoon would be embellished by his company. To do honour to the occasion Alfred dressed himself in his Sunday clothes, and for Caroline's amusement affected to be a titled personage dining at a costly restaurant, while she in her white apron pretended to be an extremely pert French waitress. The bill for the lunch made out by Caroline came to £12 8s. 6d., and Alfred laid on the table two shining half-sovereigns.
'Them's for yourself, mam'selle,' said the titled personage.
'Merci bieng!' said the French waitress, laughingly.
'I mean it,' said Alfred.
'Alf, I didn't see them at first. Where on earth did you get them from?'
'Earnt 'em.'
'But earnt 'm where?'
'Look 'ere, ma'mselle, are you forbidden to take tips in this restorong?'
'Don't be silly now,' said Caroline seriously. 'They're real half-sovereigns.'
'I should rather 'ope they was,' answered Alfred. 'Somebody'd suffer if they turned out not to be.'
'Tell me where'
'Caroline,' he said, '’ark to me. I had a stroke of luck yesterday. Someone paid me back some money what was—what was due to me. Them two 'alf quid are for you, and you are going out presently into the town—quietly, mind, because you mustn't walk fast—and you're going to buy yourself a new
'Alf!'
'A new hat,' persisted Alfred, 'and a new long brown cloak.'
'I do want a cloak.'
'In what you may call the latest fashion or thereabouts, and we're going to lord it about the place like two bloomin' toffs.'
'Alf,' said the young woman ecstatically, 'you're the best husband that ever was. I don't believe that in all Greenwich or Deptford
'Go and get ready,' he said.
The departure of the young couple arm in arm goaded Exmouth Terrace to the point of unintelligibility. What the? Who the? How the? said Exmouth Terrace. Arm in arm, indeed! Been married well over a year, too; and herWhy (spluttered Exmouth Terrace indignantly), anybody would think that they were still engaged! Exmouth Terrace gave information to Miss Ladd with a good deal of acerbity when that lady, determination in her [eyes, called; and Miss Ladd returned to Deptford Green half-disappointed and half relieved at not having seen Caroline. At a large shop in London. Street, which had an enormous window full of hats labelled 'Parisienne,' 'La Dernière Mode,' 'The Ne Plus Ultra of Fashion,' Caroline purchased, after due consideration, a hat which the tall, ingratiating lady behind the counter declared to be somewhat similar to those worn at that very moment by the Princess of Wales' daughters, thus giving the happy young woman a vague sense of close comradeship with the Royal Family. At another shop of lesser grandeur, where placards on the window shouted 'Frightful Bargains!' and 'Alarming Sacrifice in Summer Novelties!' as though it were really dazed at its own recklessness, a brown cloak was bought, and this smaller shop agreed to send home the old hat and the old cape to Exmouth Terrace, Caroline watching narrowly the deep-voiced youth who had served her, to see if she could detect the least suggestion of contempt when she gave the address. Fortunately the bass-voiced young man took the information with perfect calm, merely saying that it had been a wonderful summer; he ventured, with submission, to predict that we should suffer for it later on. When in the new cloak and the new hat, Caroline rejoined her husband, who had been waiting patiently without, she found herself in that state of delight that comes only from the wearing of new clothes.]