"It will be a splendid thing for her; she will have enough to live
on when we are gone," Sophia said.
She had promptly decided what was to be done. The small house was
to be sold, and they were to move into the old Ackley house and
take boarders to pay for its keeping. She scouted the idea of
selling it. She had an enormous family pride. She had always held
her head high when she had walked past that fine old mansion, the
cradle of her race, which she was forbidden to enter. She was
unmoved when the lawyer who was advising her disclosed to her the
fact that Harriet Ackley had used every cent of the Ackley money.
"I realize that we have to work," said she, "but my sister and I
have determined to keep the place."
That was the end of the discussion. Sophia and Amanda Gill had
been living in the old Ackley house a fortnight, and they had three
boarders: an elderly widow with a comfortable income, a young
congregationalist clergyman, and the middle-aged single woman who
had charge of the village library. Now the school-teacher from
Acton, Miss Louisa Stark, was expected for the summer, and would
make four.
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