148 MY fortune's made. 
with that of the other ladies who were present; 
and I could not help suggesting to her that she was 
wrong in being so indifferent about her dress. 
But she laughingly replied to me, " You know my 
fortune's made now, Mrs. Smith. I can afford to 
be negligent in these matters^ It's a great waste 
of time to dress so much." 
I tried to argue against this, but could make no 
impression upon her. 
About an hour after tea, and while we were 
all engaged in pleasant conversation, the door of 
the parlor opened, and in walked Mr. Douglass. 
At first glance I thought I must be mistaken. 
But no, it was Edward himself. But what a 
figure he did cut! His uncombed hair was stand- 
ing up, in stiff spikes, in a hundred different ways. 
His face could not have felt the touch of a razor 
for two or three days ; and he wag guiltless of 
clean linen for at least the same length of time. 
His vest was soiled, his boots unblacked, and 
there was an unmistakable hole in one of his 
elbows. 
" Why, Edward ! " exclaimed his wife, with a 
look of mortification and distress, as her husband 
came across the room, with a face in which no 
consciousness of the figure he cut could be detected. 
" Why, my dear fellow, what is the matter ? " 
said my husband, frankly ; for he perceived that 
the ladies were beginning to titter, and the 
gentlemen were looking at each other, trying 
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