Page 570 - of-human-bondage-

ity.
‘After all, I’m not the first one to have a baby, am I? And
the doctor says I shan’t have any trouble. You see, it isn’t as
if I wasn’t well made.’
Mrs. Owen, the owner of the house she was going to when
her time came, had recommended a doctor, and Mildred
saw him once a week. He was to charge fifteen guineas.
‘Of course I could have got it done cheaper, but Mrs.
Owen strongly recommended him, and I thought it wasn’t
worth while to spoil the ship for a coat of tar.’
‘If you feel happy and comfortable I don’t mind a bit
about the expense,’ said Philip.
She accepted all that Philip did for her as if it were the
most natural thing in the world, and on his side he loved
to spend money on her: each five-pound note he gave her
caused him a little thrill of happiness and pride; he gave her
a good many, for she was not economical.
‘I don’t know where the money goes to,’ she said herself,
‘it seems to slip through my fingers like water.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Philip. ‘I’m so glad to be able to do
anything I can for you.’
She could not sew well and so did not make the neces-
sary things for the baby; she told Philip it was much cheaper
in the end to buy them. Philip had lately sold one of the
mortgages in which his money had been put; and now, with
five hundred pounds in the bank waiting to be invested in
something that could be more easily realised, he felt himself
uncommonly well-to-do. They talked often of the future.
Philip was anxious that Mildred should keep the child with