The Young Wife CHAPTER 14.
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"You will have to wait a few weeks for this bill," Mrs. Baillie said to the landlord's agent, who had been prompt in his visit on the day of the expiration of the third quarter.
"A few weeks, Ma'am! I cannot wait a few weeks. The rent is due today!"
"I know that it is due today. But still, I haven't got the money, and therefore cannot give it to you. But I hope to have it soon."
"Hope to have it soon?"
The insolence of the collector's tone and manner excited the mind of Mrs. Baillie, already fretted in consequence of fearing his visit, and she turned upon him a steady, indignant glance, and said —
"I have already told you, sir, that you cannot get your money today. And now, be pleased to leave!"
The collector made an effort to reply, in terms more insulting, but he was instantly met by a calm, dignified, command to be silent, the moral force of which he could not resist. But after he had withdrawn from her presence, and the subduing sphere of her influence, his own selfish and resentful feelings came back upon him with a power increased by accumulation.
"She shall suffer for that!" he muttered between his teeth, as he strode hastily along the street, in the direction of his employer's residence.
Arrived there, he entered without pausing to knock or ring for admission, and in a few moments stood before a hard-featured old man, who sat at a low desk poring over an old and much worn legal document. He raised his head, and as he pushed back his spectacles, displayed a pair of small, keen eyes, deeply sunk, restless, and flashing.
"Well?" was his brief interrogatory.
"There is a quarter's rent on the old house in Broome Street, and the tenant can't pay."
"How much is it?
"Two hundred and fifty dollars."
"Will the furniture bring the amount?"
"Yes."
"Seize it, then."
And the old man replaced his spectacles on his nose, and bent again over the paper he had been examining.
The agent did not reply, but turned and left the house.
Just as Mr. Lawton was about leaving his room to return to his business after dinner of the same day, Anna appeared at the door in tears, and asked him to step downstairs; that her mother wanted to see him. Descending to the parlor, he found two men seated there, and Mrs. Baillie weeping bitterly.
"We have an unpleasant task to perform," said one of the men in a feeling tone, rising as Mr. Lawton entered. "It is our duty to take possession of the furniture in this house, under a landlord's warrant."
"I am sorry to hear you say that, gentlemen. What is the amount of your warrant?"
"Two hundred and fifty dollars," was the reply.
"A single quarter's rent. How long has it been due, Mrs. Baillie?"
"It is only due today, Mr. Lawton," Mrs. Baillie replied.
"And the goods seized already? That is a singular proceeding, gentlemen!"
"We are but agents in the case, you know, sir; mere instruments of the law," one of the officers replied, in a mild tone. "We cannot be governed by the merits of the case; and never have any feeling, in the performance of our duty, unless it be pity for the victims."
"Thank you for your consideration, gentlemen, to a distressed family," Mr. Lawton said. "It is hardly necessary, I suppose, to trouble them further, by going over the house for the purpose of taking an inventory. I will give you security that nothing shall be moved, until arrangements are made to pay the debt."
"O no, sir. Your security will be all-sufficient; and if you will give it to us now, we will at once retire, and relieve the ladies from our necessarily unwelcome presence."
Mr. Lawton sat down to write a form of security. He half finished it, when he paused a moment, thoughtfully, and then wrote out a check for the amount of the rent. For this, the officers passed their receipt, and then bowing, withdrew.
"Do not distress yourselves," he then said, turning to Mrs. Baillie and her two daughters, who were still weeping bitterly. "I have paid the quarter's rent for you, and so that trouble is past."
This intelligence did not appear to quiet their feelings so much as Mr. Lawton expected that it would. Although Mrs. Baillie thanked him fervently for his unexpected act of kindness, yet her mind seemed in no way relieved, and she continued to weep, as if her spirits were completely broken down. And so they really were; for she saw nothing ahead to encourage her, and the present incidents were of a most distressing and mortifying character.
After a silence of some minutes, Mr. Lawton said —
"I am afraid, Mrs. Baillie, that you are going behindhand very fast."
"I know I am, Mr. Lawton," the widow replied, raising her head, and endeavoring to dry her tears. "But, then, what can I do?"
"You have but three boarders now, besides my family, which makes your whole income only twenty-seven dollars a week, and your rent alone amounts to twenty dollars. Your other expenses will more than double that sum. How is it possible, then, for you to get along?"
"What, then, ought I to do?" Mrs. Baillie asked, in an earnest tone.
"You ought to give up keeping boarders at once, Mrs. Baillie."
"I have thought so myself. But if I give up, I know not what to do."
"In three months, mother, I shall be done learning my trade," spoke up Anna, "and then we shall be able to do something."
"But what shall we do in the three months?" asked the mother.
"I'll tell you what I have been thinking," Anna resumed. "I have been thinking, that the best thing we could do would be to give up this house, sell off the most of our furniture, and rent a single room somewhere, at the lowest possible rent for which we could obtain one. How much more comfortably could we all live in a single room, than we now live in this large house! We have no inducement to make a show. Our former friends and associates have long since forgotten us. We could get a room somewhere up town, no doubt, for five dollars a month. I have heard of rooms renting for that. And it would not cost us much to live, for we would need no servant. The money we obtained from the sale of our furniture would be all sufficient to support us under the small expense until I was through with learning my trade; and then, I trust, a brighter day will dawn upon us. What do you think of my plan, Mr. Lawton?"
"I think it excellent, Anna, and would earnestly advise its immediate adoption."
"And how does it strike you, mother?"
"I like it much better than the idea of continuing as we are," Mrs. Baillie replied.
"Then do not hesitate a moment to adopt it. And in the mean time, I will not only look out for a new boarding-house, but will endeavor to find a good room for you; and also will assist in every way that I can in the removal and disposition of your furniture."
Under this advice, Mrs. Baillie at once acted. Her boarders were given up, and an immediate sale of a large portion of her furniture advertised. But so much that was really valuable had already been parted with, that the proceeds of this sale was only about three hundred dollars; and then, all that was left to her were two beds, with their furniture, and plain furniture for two rooms. Of this sum, two hundred and fifty were offered to Mr. Lawton, in repayment of his settlement of the last quarter's rent. But he declined receiving it.
"I fear, Mrs. Baillie," he said, "that Mrs. Lawton and I were to blame in inducing you to rent this house. If we had not encouraged you to do so, you would, probably, never have tried this ruinous experiment; and therefore it is but right that I should bear a part of the loss, especially as I am more able to do so than you are. I will not, therefore, take one cent from you. You will need it all, and more too."
Words were too feeble to express Mrs. Baillie's sense of Mr. Lawton's kindness to her, and she did not attempt to give it utterance; but she bowed her head upon her bosom, and wept.
In the course of a week, she retired with her children to a comfortable room that Mr. Lawton had procured for them, at a rent of six dollars a month. And thus ended the first experiment in boarding, and in taking boarders.
Mr. Lawton lost two hundred and fifty dollars by that experiment; but poor Mrs. Baillie lost three times as much, and gained a world of trouble. Nor had Mr. Lawton, or any member of his family, been so comfortable and contented as they were while under their own roof, not even Mrs. Lawton herself; although she, perhaps, was a gainer over the rest, as the chapter immediately preceding this has indicated. Still, even the widow and her daughters were really benefitted "in the long run," as it is said. For they were now able to fall back, without pain of mind, to a position in which there were no artificial needs to supply; in which their little fund was more than sufficient to support them until Anna had finished learning her trade. In fact, they had over two hundred dollars, as a little capital on which to set up business after Anna had completed her term at Mrs. Laclerc's, for both Mrs. Baillie and Josephine had employed their time in sewing, and thus earned nearly enough to meet all their expenses.
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