Her fortune consisted, as I have said, of 5000 pounds, which had come to
her by her mother's marriage settlements, and 15,000 pounds left her by
her father, over both which sums she had now absolute control. These
brought her in about 900 pounds a year, and the money being invested in
none but the soundest securities, she had no anxiety about her income.
She meant to be rich, so she formed a scheme of expenditure which
involved an annual outlay of about 500 pounds, and determined to put the
rest by. "If I do this," she said laughingly, "I shall probably just
succeed in living comfortably within my income." In accordance with this
scheme she took unfurnished apartments in a house in Gower Street, of
which the lower floors were let out as offices. John Pontifex tried to
get her to take a house to herself, but Alethea told him to mind his own
business so plainly that he had to beat a retreat. She had never liked
him, and from that time dropped him almost entirely.
Without going much into society she yet became acquainted with most of
the men and women who had attained a position in the literary, artistic
and scientific worlds, and it was singular how highly her opinion was
valued in spite of her never having attempted in any way to distinguish
herself.
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