There will come a day when
you will wish that you could hear of me by a note to Chaffey's, but
such will not be. Before it's too late I take up the pen to say
these few words, which is this: I have always been a respectable and
a saving man, which I hope to be until I am no more. What I mean to
say is this, Chaffey's is not what it used to be. But I have laid
by, and when it comes to the solemn hour then Mr. Walker has
promised to make my will. All I want to say is that there may be
more than you think for and if you are respectable I think it most
likely all will be yours. But listen to this, if you disgrace
yourself, my girl, not one halfpenny nor yet one sixpenny piece will
you receive from
"Your affectionate father
"EBENEZER SPARKES
"P.S.--This is wrote in a very serious mind."
This epistle at once pleased and angered Polly. Though a greedy she
was not a mercenary young woman; she had little cunning, and her
vulgar ambitions were consistent with a good deal of honest feeling.
To do her justice, she had never considered the possibility that her
father might have money to bequeath; his disclosure surprised her,
and caused her to reflect for the first time that Chaffey's head
waiter had long held a tolerably lucrative position, whilst his
expenses must have been trivial; so much the better for her.
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