His mind, trained
from infancy to a decent respect for the pence, had not yet adjusted
itself to the possession of large means; and the open-handed role
forced upon him by the family appalled him.
When the Coppins wanted anything, they asked for it; and it seemed to
Roland that they wanted pretty nearly everything. If Mr. Coppin had
reached his present age without the assistance of a gold watch, he
might surely have struggled along to the end on gun-metal. In any case,
a man of his years should have been thinking of higher things than mere
gauds and trinkets. A like criticism applied to Mrs. Coppin's demand
for a silk petticoat, which struck Roland as simply indecent. Frank and
Percy took theirs mostly in specie. It was Muriel who struck the worst
blow by insisting on a hired motor-car.
Roland hated motor-cars, especially when they were driven by Albert
Potter, as this one was. Albert, that strong, silent man, had but one
way of expressing his emotions, namely to open the throttle and shave
the paint off trolley-cars. Disappointed love was giving Albert a good
deal of discomfort at this time, and he found it made him feel better
to go round corners on two wheels.
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