I can't do more. My
means are only sufficient to support my own family."
The patient required chickens which he bought himself at the market,
and wine at six crowns the bottle. It had to be the very best.
The midwife expected a hundred crowns.
"Why should we pay her less than others? Hasn't she just received a
cheque for a hundred crowns from the captain?"
Very soon the young wife was up again. She looked like a girl, as
slender as a willow, a little pale, it was true, but the pallor suited
her.
The old man called and had a private conversation with his son-in-law.
"No more children, for the present," he said, "or you'll be ruined."
"What language from a father! Aren't we married! Don't we love one
another? Aren't we to have a family?"
"Yes, but not until you can provide for them. It's all very fine to
love one another, but you musn't forget that you have responsibilities."
His father-in-law, too, had become a materialist. Oh! what a miserable
world it was! A world without ideals!
The home was undermined, but love survived, for love was strong, and
the hearts of the young couple were soft. The bailiff, on the contrary,
was anything but soft. Distraint was imminent, and bankruptcy threatened.
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