Woman's Trials; Or, Tales and Sketches from the Life around Us

e family. Up to this time, not a word had come from her husband,

ving nothing for future rent bills, the cost of clothing, and education for the younger children. With all this, Mrs. Darlington's duties had been growing daily more and more severe. Nothing could be trusted to servants that was not, in some way, defectively done, causing repeated complaints from the boarders. What proved most annoying was the bad cooking, to remedy whic

became impatient, and Mr. Scragg, in particular, never let an oc

ne morning, about this time, a

nd manner, that he meant to be rude, though she

with some dignity of m

o lazy to bring it out of the cellar. If she'll send for me to-morrow morning, I'll

k as thought, the blood rushed

and felt towards him such utter disgu

gnation, "when a gentleman has any compl

threat in his voice, while his c

does it as a gentleman," repeated Mrs. Darlingto

said Scragg, dropping his hands fro

if you cannot understand, I will try to make them

rther explanation. Starting from the

om

ose and followed h

bending a little towards Miriam, who sat near him.

and soon retired. Ere dinner time, Mr. and Mrs. Scragg, with their whole brood, had left the ho

onviction that, in parting with the Scraggs, insufferable as they were, she had parted with the very means of sustaining herself, compl

silence which had continued for many minutes. "We have an income of on

d, but did

eek," repeated Mrs. Darli

remain vacant long,

t I can see," murmured Mrs. Darlington. "If a

s think that our expenses are too great for us to make any thing, even if

lars in six months. That is c

red to an extent almost equi

us a hundred and fifty dollars, is completely ruined. Half of the plates are broken, and there is sca

ragg's room to-d

of it?" aske

ook in there. You know the beautiful bo

es

d spout are off

di

om the edge of one of the drawers, and the whole surface marked over in a thousand lines. It looks as if the children had amused themselves by the hour in scratching it with pins

airly groaned at

using herself from a kind of stupor into which her m

e our expenses

educe them? We canno

f cour

r chamb

we dispense wi

to market, and do the dozen oth

our marketin

oh the table. W

to the chambermaid will se

esides waiting on the table

than we have yet done. Three dollars a week and

sighed heavily

if we were only their servants! I could bear his insolence no longer. Ah, to what mortifications are we not subjected in our present position! How little dreamed I of all this, when I decided to open a boarding-hou

rs. M

at was in her mind. Mrs. Darlington was s

pense of keeping Mrs. Marion.

laim of humanit

pay that claim," rem

ru

e case, are we justified in an

go? What will sh

o, unless there is a change in ou

e expense of keeping Mrs. Marion and her two children is not very great. Stil

bute it to others," replied Mrs. Darlington,

er state of dependence, and tries so in every possible way to make the pressure of her presence in our f

st sensibly. Ah me! into wh

!" said Edith. "It has brought us nothing but trouble from the beginnin

hat k

ome until after two o

d the mother in

, I could not go to bed. I said nothing to Miriam, but sat up alone. It was nearly half past two when he came home in com

icken mother, hiding her face

se of their trouble. Little was said to her then; but Edith, when she was alone with her soon after, fully explained the desperate condition

y poor mother! What pain she must suffer! No wonder that her co

en the troubles of others were mentioned to

sist through the house, so that the chambermaid can attend the door

let h

es

"But, if mother has lost so much already, will she not los

ms; then she thinks that she w

hope from the fir

far it has be

end? Uncle Hiram was right when he objected to mother's taking boarders, and said that it was the worst thing she could attempt to do. I wish we had take

er than replying to her sister, "now that all our money is gone

aid fifty

can we p

am. "What are we to do

, "by the close of another six months, ev

aculated Miria

r, but no gleam of light arose in their minds