Mainwarings.




CHAPTER V.

THE CONTENTS OF THE CABINET.


The uneasiness Miss Martineau felt was by no means shared by the
girls. Primrose had in reality a very practical nature; she could
housekeep well, and no baker or butcher who ventured to show his face
in Rosebury would dream of cheating this bright young lady. No one
could make half-a-crown, or even a shilling, go farther than Primrose
could. No one could more cleverly convert an old dress into a new, but
her little experiences ended here. She had kept the house for her
mother, and been both thrifty and saving, but real responsibility had
never been hers. The overpowering sensation of knowing that she must
make so much money meet so many absolute necessities had never touched
her young life. Miss Martineau's words had made her a little
thoughtful, but by no means anxious. If she and her sisters could not
live on thirty pounds a year there was still the money in the bank.

Primrose thought two hundred pounds, if not a large, at least a very
comfortable sum. The only real effect that her old governess's words
had on her was to make her a little extra saving.

Jasmine never liked Primrose when she was in a saving mood, and she
grumbled audibly when, the morning after Miss Martineau's visit, her