mistress did not
live to see the confusion."

"The young lady!" said Mrs. Adair; "other affairs I have not any thing
to do with."

"My young lady, madam! Ah, from a child she knew the right from wrong;
but sorrowful was her life, after her mamma's death. She was no
squanderer of her father's money--she knew the value of every thing; no
waste, no scantiness was her mode. But it was a sad day when she ceased
to rule in her father's house. O, Madam, I have seen her so treated! But
it will come home at last to those who have triumphed in their
wickedness; justice overtakes sinners in the long-run."

Mrs. Adair now inquired if Miss Damer had heard from her father.

"No, Madam; nor dare he return to England; he is too profligate to think
of any person but himself, and the painted, gaudy creature and her
children who are gone with him. But I hope my young lady will find a
friend with you, Madam, for I am sure you are Mrs. Adair."

Mrs. Adair told her to make herself easy respecting Miss Damer, and
desired she would go down and spend a day at her house. "It will be a
satisfaction to the young lady to see you," she added.

Scarcely was Mrs. Adair seated, on the evening she returned home, when
Elizabeth, in a tone of fretful impatience, asked "why her letter had
not been answered?"

"I pass over your question," said Mrs. Adair, "to ask why you did not
consult me, respecting a provision for Miss Damer?"

"It was impossible! I could not keep her in a state of suspense."

"But do you consider, that bills must be discharged, and that servants'
wages and taxes must be paid, before we make even an ideal division of
the sums we are to receive from parents? And for Miss Damer, we shall
not receive sixpence! And who is to pay for the harp, the pelisse, the
bonnet, and the books that her father requested us to purchase? Likewise
her washing bills, and many other extras, which of course add to the
account."

"O, my dear mother," said Elizabeth with astonishment, "I could not have
supposed that you would have thought of these petty things."

"I have more than thought, for they have dwelt upon my mind. Great
affairs women seldom have anything to do with; it is in the petty,
every-day concerns of life, that we are called upon to be prudent. How
many men date their troubles to the thoughtless extravagance and want
of economy in a wife! But, for the sake of bringing the subject home to
your own bosom, we will suppose that you are a