When they were married seventy-five hundred
a year had seemed ample for a young couple, especially when augmented by
the expectation of many millions. Gloria had failed to realize that it
was decreasing not only in amount but in purchasing power until the
payment of Mr. Haight's retaining fee of fifteen thousand dollars made
the fact suddenly and startlingly obvious. When Anthony was drafted they
had calculated their income at over four hundred a month, with the
dollar even then decreasing in value, but on his return to New York they
discovered an even more alarming condition of affairs. They were
receiving only forty-five hundred a year from their investments. And
though the suit over the will moved ahead of them like a persistent
mirage and the financial danger-mark loomed up in the near distance they
found, nevertheless, that living within their income was impossible.
So Gloria went without the squirrel coat and every day upon Fifth Avenue
she was a little conscious of her well-worn, half-length leopard skin,
now hopelessly old-fashioned. Every other month they sold a bond, yet
when the bills were paid it left only enough to be gulped down hungrily
by their current expenses.
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