Maldon had for so long kept the Chesterfield where so
obviously the sideboard ought to have been, and the sideboard where so
obviously the Chesterfield ought to have been.
And still graver matters had come to light. The house had an attic
floor, which was unused and the scene of no activity except spring
cleaning. A previous owner, infected by the virus of modernity, had
put a bath into one of the attics. Now Mrs. Maldon, as experiments
disclosed, had actually had the water cut off from the bath. Eyebrows
were lifted at the revelation of this caprice. The restoration of
the supply of water and the installing of a geyser were the only
expenditures which thrifty Rachel had sanctioned in the way of
rejuvenating the house. Rachel had decided that the house must, at any
rate for the present, be "made to do." That such a decision should be
necessary astonished Rachel; and Mrs. Maldon would have been more
than astonished to learn that the lady help, by fortitude and
determination, was making her perfect house "do." As regards the
household inventory, Rachel had been obliged to admit exceptions to
her rule of endurance. Perhaps her main reason for agreeing to live in
the house had been that there would be no linen to buy.
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