Occasionally he would
enclose money; this she always returned, saying that, as she was now
in employment, she had more than enough for her simple needs. Once,
after sending back a five-pound note he had sent her, she received a
letter by return of post--a letter which gave a death blow to
certain hopes she had cherished. She had long debated in her mind if
she should apply the gold-mounted dressing case which Windebank had
sent her for a wedding present to a purchase very near to her heart.
She knew that, if he could know of the purpose to which she
contemplated devoting it, and of her straightened circumstances, he
would wish her to do as she desired. Having no other money
available, she was tempted to sell or pawn the dressing case, to buy
with the proceeds a handsome outfit for the expected little life,
one that should not be unworthy of a gentlewoman's child. She felt
that, as, owing to the unconventional circumstances of its birth,
the little one might presently be deprived of many of life's
advantages, it should at least be appropriately clad in the early
days of its existence. She had already selected the intended
purchase, and was rejoicing in its richness and variety, when the
reply came to her letter to Perigal that returned the five-pound
note.
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