It seemed to her as if each object were a part
of herself, and when the man turned and twisted a chair or a table
she almost considered it a personal affront.
The rich, who are accustomed from birth to the luxury that
surrounds them, are ignorant of the terrible sufferings which
attend such cases as these. The persons who do suffer are those
of the middle classes, not the parvenus, but those who bid fair to
become parvenus when misfortune overtook them. Their hearts bleed
when inexorable necessity deprives them of all the little comforts
with which they had gradually surrounded themselves, for there is
not an object that does not recall a long ungratified desire, and
the almost infantile joy of possession. What happiness they felt
on the day when they purchased that large arm-chair! How many
times they had gone to admire those velvet curtains in the shop
windows before buying them! Those carpets represented months of
self-denial. And that pretty clock--ah! they had fancied it would
only herald the flight of prosperous and pleasant hours. And all
these things the dealer handles, and shakes, and jeers at, and
depreciates. He will scarcely condescend to purchase. Who would
care to buy such trash? He knows that the owner is in need of
money, and he profits by this knowledge. It is his business.
"How much did this cost you?" he asks, as he inspects one piece of
furniture after another.
"So much.
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