It was not only that he had to do so much household work, for even
the cooking, cleaning up slops, bed-making, and fire-fighting ere long
devolved upon him, but his business no longer prospered. He could
buy as hitherto, but Ellen seemed unable to sell as she had sold at
first. The fact was that she sold as well as ever, but kept back
part of the proceeds in order to buy gin, and she did this more and
more till even the unsuspecting Ernest ought to have seen that she was
not telling the truth. When she sold better- that is to say when she
did not think it safe to keep back more than a certain amount, she got
money out of him on the plea that she had a longing for this or
that, and that it would perhaps irreparably damage the baby if her
longing was denied her. All seemed right, reasonable, and unavoidable,
nevertheless Ernest saw that until the confinement was over he was
likely to have a hard time of it. All, however, would then come
right again.
CHAPTER LXXV
IN the month of September, 1860, a girl was born, and Ernest was
proud and happy. The birth of the child, and a rather alarming talk
which the doctor had given to Ellen sobered her for a few weeks, and
it really seemed as though his hopes were about to be fulfilled.
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