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his sister; and while the ladies talked of parish matters, the
curate or the new bonnet of Mrs. Wilson—Mr. Wilson was
the richest man in Blackstable, he was thought to have at
least five hundred a year, and he had married his cook—
Philip sat demurely in the stiff parlour, used only to receive
visitors, and busied himself with the restless movements of
goldfish in a bowl. The windows were never opened except
to air the room for a few minutes in the morning, and it had
a stuffy smell which seemed to Philip to have a mysterious
connection with banking.
Then Mrs. Carey remembered that she had to go to the
grocer, and they continued their way. When the shopping
was done they often went down a side street of little houses,
mostly of wood, in which fishermen dwelt (and here and
there a fisherman sat on his doorstep mending his nets, and
nets hung to dry upon the doors), till they came to a small
beach, shut in on each side by warehouses, but with a view
of the sea. Mrs. Carey stood for a few minutes and looked at
it, it was turbid and yellow, [and who knows what thoughts
passed through her mind?] while Philip searched for flat
stones to play ducks and drakes. Then they walked slowly
back. They looked into the post office to get the right time,
nodded to Mrs. Wigram the doctor’s wife, who sat at her
window sewing, and so got home.
Dinner was at one o’clock; and on Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday it consisted of beef, roast, hashed, and minced,
and on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of mutton. On Sun-
day they ate one of their own chickens. In the afternoon
Philip did his lessons, He was taught Latin and mathemat-

0 Of Human Bondage