by going into industrial concerns the four
hundred a year could quite safely be made into six. Eileen agreed that
this would be a good thing to do, but nothing definite was decided. Now
that they had come into money they did not feel so inclined to move
their residence, though both felt that they might increase their scale
of living, which had lately been at a distressingly low ebb. They spoke,
too, about the advisability of a small car. Ralph knew of one--a
second-hand Ford--to be had for a song. They ought not--he thought--to
miss the chance. He would take occasion to meet the owner casually and
throw out a feeler. It would not do to let the fellow know that there
was any money coming to them, or he would put the price up for a
certainty. In fact it would be better to secure the car before the news
got about. He secured it a few days later for eighty pounds, including
repairs, which would take about a month. A letter from the lawyer next
day informed them that he was attending to matters with all speed; and
the next five weeks passed in slowly realising that at last they had
turned the corner of their lives, and were in smooth water. They ordered
among other things the materials for a fowl-house long desired, which
Ralph helped to put up; and a considerable number of fowls, for feeding
which he had a design which would enable them to lay a great many more
eggs in the future than could reasonably be expected from the amount of
food put into the fowls. He also caused an old stable to be converted
into a garage. He still went to London two or three times a week, to
attend to business, which was not, as a rule, there. On his way from
St. Pancras to Red Lion Square, where his office was, he had long been
attracted by an emerald pendant with pearl clasp, in a jeweller's shop
window. He went in now to ask its price. Fifty-eight pounds--emeralds
were a rising market. The expression rankled in him, and going to Hatton
Garden to enquire into its truth, he found the statement confirmed. 'The
chief advantage of having money,' he thought, 'is to be able to buy at
the right moment.' He had not given Eileen anything for a long time, and
this was an occasion which could hardly be passed over. He bought the
pendant on his way back to St. Pancras, the draft in payment absorbing
practically all his balance. Eileen was delighted with it. They spent
that evening in the nearest approach to festivity that they had known
for several years. It