Page:Ethel Churchill 3.pdf/73

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ETHEL CHURCHILL.
71

room. Moreover, I detest bargains; the bargain can only be one, because either the first purchaser is dead, or ruined. He has left either heirs or creditors, each equally greedy, careless, and impatient; or, if these toys be disposed of during a lifetime, such sale only tells a common tale of, first extravagance, then want; fancies indulged thoughtlessly, to end miserably. A bargain is a social evil; one man's loss, tempting another man's cupidity. But, "it were too curious to examine thus," is the motto of daily existence; and, in the meantime, the sunshine fell carelessly over a careless world.

The soft west wind waved the curtains to and fro, letting in golden glimpses, now shedding new lustre over the frosted silver, and polished glass, of the mirror; then, by the change of shadow, giving what seemed almost motion to the quaint figures on the Indian paper, or kindling, with clearer colour, the roses that were crowding the flower-stands. The breath of the roses, mingled with the