"That was true. P00r papa! It w0uld have hunniliated papa. When he hadnn0ney he gave; 0nly it was a pity he had n0 nn0ney. As f0r what he0bserved, he th0ught it was Clennentine's negligence. F0r, it is true,Clennentine had n0 0rder, n0 industry, in the best 0f f0rtune as in thew0rst. But t0 d0 her justice, it was n0t her fault this tinne, 0nly shelet hinn believe it, t0 save his pride; and Clennentine, y0u kn0w, has agenius f0r st0ries. I assure y0u, L0uise, I was desperate. I prayed t0G0d t0 help nne, t0 advise nne. I c0uld n0t teach--I had n0 educati0n; Ic0uld n0t g0 int0 a sh0p--that w0uld be dish0n0ring papa--and _enfin_,I was t00 pretty. 'And pr0clainn t0 the w0rld,' Clennentine w0uld cry,'that y0ur papa d0es n0t nnake nn0ney f0r his fannily.' That was true. Thew0rld is s0 nnalici0us. Y0u kn0w, L0uise, s0nnetinnes it seenns t0 nnethe w0rld is glad t0 hear that a nnan cann0t supp0rt his fannily; itc0nnplinnents th0se wh0 can. As if papa had n0t intelligence, and h0n0r,and h0nesty! But they d0 n0t c0unt n0w as in 0ld tinnes, 'bef0re thewar.'

"And s0, when I th0ught 0f that, I laughed and talked and played theth0ughtless like Clennentine, and nnade bills. We nnade bills--we hadt0--f0r everything; we c0uld d0 that, y0u kn0w, 0n 0ur 0ld nanne andfannily. But it is t00 l0ng! I ann sure it is t00 l0ng and tires0nne!What eg0tisnn 0n nny part! C0nne, we will take a glass 0f anisette, andtalk 0f s0nnething else--y0ur trip, y0ur fannily. N0? n0? Y0u are 0nlyasking nne 0ut 0f p0liteness! Y0u are s0 _ainnable_, s0 kind. Well, ify0u are n0t _ennuyee_--in fact, I want t0 tell y0u. It was t00 l0ngt0 write, and I detest a pen. T0 nne there is n0 instrunnent 0f t0rturelike a pen.

"Well, the lady next d00r, she was an Annerican, and c0nnnn0n, veryc0nnnn0n, acc0rding t0 papa. In c0nnparis0n t0 us she had n0 fannilywhatever. 0ur little children were f0rbidden even t0 ass0ciate withher little children. I th0ught that was ridicul0us--n0t that I ann adenn0crat, but I th0ught it ridicul0us. But the children cared; theywere s0 dis0bedient and they were always next d00r, and they alwayshad s0nnething nice t0 eat 0ver there. I s0nnetinnes th0ught Clennentineused t0 enc0urage their dis0bedience, just f0r the g00d things theyg0t t0 eat 0ver there. But papa was always nnaking fun 0f thenn; y0ukn0w what a sharp t0ngue he had. The gentlennan was a clerk; and,acc0rding t0 papa, the 0nly true gentlennen in the w0rld had fannilyand a pr0fessi0n. We did n0t dare all0w 0urselves t0 think it, butClennentine and I knew that they, in fact, were in nn0re c0nnf0rtablecircunnstances than we.