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Updated: May 25, 2025
Ludgate with triumph announced to her husband, upon his return home, that she had brought affairs to a crisis with Allen; and that he would come to settle his accounts this evening. The surprise and consternation which appeared in Mr. Ludgate's countenance, convinced the lady that her interference was highly disagreeable. Allen came punctually in the evening to settle his accounts.
From the time that Allen heard her conversation, when Belle came to view the house in Cranbourne-alley, he had been of opinion that she would make an excellent wife: and the circumstances which sunk Lucy below Mrs. Ludgate's notice raised her in the esteem and affection of this prudent and sensible young man.
Ludgate's promised payment of the upholsterer's bill, Lucy resolved to call again upon Mrs. Ludgate. Lucy had now a particular occasion for the money: she was going to be married to Allen, and she wished to put into her husband's hands the little fortune which she had so hardly earned by her own industry.
The next morning bills came showering in upon Leonard whilst he was at breakfast, and amongst them came sundry bills of Mrs. Ludgate's. They could not possibly have come at a more inauspicious moment. People bespeak goods with one species of enthusiasm, and look over their bills with another.
Yet there was a reason that counterbalanced their objection in Mrs. Ludgate's mind: "Mrs. Pimlico was going to Messrs. Run and Raffle's and what would she think, if I wasn't to be there? She'd think, to be sure, that we were as poor as Job." So, to demonstrate that she had ready money to throw away, Mrs. Ludgate must go on the cheap days.
A confused report of what had passed the preceding night was spread the next morning in Cranbourne-alley, by a young lady, who had been at Mrs. Ludgate's rout. The moment the news reached Allen's shop, he and Lucy set out immediately to offer their assistance to the unfortunate family.
We shall not weary our readers with the history of all the petty difficulties into which Mr. and Mrs. Ludgate's foolish extravagance led them. The life of the shabby genteel is most miserable. Servants' wages unpaid, duns continually besieging the door, perpetual excuses, falsehoods to be invented, melancholy at home, and forced gaiety abroad! Who would live such a life? Yet all this Mr. and Mrs.
But the greater number were occupied in tucking up their white gowns, finding their clogs, or calling for hackney coaches. In less than a quarter of an hour the house was clear of all Mrs. Ludgate's friends. And it is to please such friends that whole families ruin themselves by unsuitable expense. Lucy and Allen were not, however, of this class of friends.
Whilst she was ill, an execution was brought against Mr. Ludgate's goods. Threatened with a jail, and incapable of taking any vigorous measures to avoid distress, he went to consult his friend, Tom Lewis. How this Mr. Lewis lived was matter of astonishment to all his acquaintance: he had neither estate, business, or any obvious means of supporting the expense in which he indulged.
Each believed, and indeed pretty plainly asserted, that they could live more handsomely asunder: but, alas! they were united for better and for worse. Mrs. Ludgate's illness terminated in another eruption on her face. She was extremely mortified by the loss of her beauty, especially as Mrs. Pimlico frequently contrasted her face with that of Mrs. Pimlico's acquaintance.
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