In England, one could hardly have bought so good an
instrument for less than forty. If you could choose one with a really
sweet tone, and have it shipped over here, I should be grateful."
"With pleasure, darling. I enjoy trying all sorts of instruments. But
why economise over the organ? If my wife fancied a hundred guinea organ,
I could give it her."
"No, you couldn't, Ronnie. You must not be extravagant."
"I am not extravagant, dear. Buying things one can afford is not
extravagance."
"Sometimes it is. Extravagance is not spending money. But it is paying a
higher price for a thing than the actual need demands, or than the
circumstances justify. I considered you extravagant last winter when you
paid five guineas for a box at Olympia, intended to hold eight people,
and sat in it, in solitary grandeur, alone with your wife."
"I know you did," said Ronnie. "You left me no possible loop-hole for
doubt in the matter. But your quite mistaken view, on that occasion,
arose from an incorrect estimate of values. I paid one pound, six
shillings and three-pence for the two seats, and three pounds, eighteen
and nine-pence for the pleasure of sitting alone with my wife, and
thought it cheap at that. It was a far lower price than the actual need
demanded; therefore, by your own showing, it was not extravagant."
"Oh, what a boy it is!" sighed Helen, with a little gesture of despair.
"Then, last Christmas, Ronnie, you insisted upon feting the old people
with all kinds of unnecessary luxuries.
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