These people live in very different houses, with very
different "advantages," as the world says. Haliburton
has grown very rich in the rag and paper business, rich
enough to discard rag money and believe in gold. He even
spits at silver, which I am glad to get when I can.
Frederic Ingham will never be rich. His regular income
consists in his half-pay as a retired brevet officer in
the patriot service of Garibaldi of the year 1859. For
the rest, he invested his money in the Brick Moon, and,
as I need hardly add, insured his life in the late
Continental Insurance Company. But the Inghams find just
as much in life as the Haliburtons, and Anna Haliburton
consults Polly Ingham about the shade of a flounce just
as readily and as eagerly as Polly consults her about the
children's dentistry. They are all very fond of each
other.
They get a great deal out of life, these eight,
partly because they are so closely allied together. Just
two whist-parties, you see; or, if they go to ride, they
just fill two carriages. Eight is such a good number--
makes such a nice dinner-party. Perhaps they see a
little too much of each other. That we shall never know.
They got a great deal of life, and yet they were not
satisfied. They found that out very queerly. They have
not many standards. Ingham does take the "Spectator;"
Hackmatack condescends to read the "Evening Post;"
Haliburton, who used to be in the insurance business, and
keeps his old extravagant habits, reads the "Advertiser"
and the "Transcript;" all of them have the
"Christian Union," and all of them buy "Harper's Weekly.
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