The rent was L60 for the
month, the servants' wages were extra, and he wanted references--he
wanted assurances that the second half of his rent would be paid, the
first half being paid in advance, and he wanted assurances of
respectability from a solicitor, or a doctor, or a clergyman. He was
very polite in his letter, explaining that his desire for references
was what was usual and should be regarded as a mere formality.
Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins had not thought of references,
and they had not dreamed a rent could be so high. In their minds had
floated sums like three guineas a week; or less, seeing that the place
was small and old.
Sixty pounds for a single month.
It staggered them.
Before Mrs. Arbuthnot's eyes rose up boots: endless vistas, all the
stout boots that sixty pounds would buy; and besides the rent there
would be the servants' wages and the food, and the railway journeys
out and home. While as for references, these did indeed seem a
stumbling-block; it did seem impossible to give any without making
their plan more public than they had intended.
They had both--even Mrs. Arbuthnot, lured for once away from
perfect candour by the realization of the great saving of trouble and
criticism an imperfect explanation would produce--they had both thought
it would be a good plan to give out, each to her own circle, their
circles being luckily distinct, that each was going to stay with a
friend who had a house in Italy.
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