Knowing that Miss Vanderpoel had already gained influence among the
village people, Mrs. Brent said, she had come to ask her if she would
see old Mrs. Welden and argue with her in such a manner as would
convince her that the workhouse was the best place for her. It was, of
course, so much pleasanter if these old people could be induced to go to
Brexley willingly.
"Shall I be undermining the whole Political Economy of Stornham if I
take care of her myself?" suggested Betty.
"You--you will lead others to expect the same thing will be done for
them."
"When one has resources to draw on," Miss Vanderpoel commented, "in
the case of a woman who has lived eighty-three years and brought up ten
children until they were old and strong enough to leave her to take care
of herself, it is difficult for the weak of mind to apply the laws of
Political Economics. I will go and see old Mrs. Welden."
If the Vanderpoels would provide for all the obstinate old men and women
in the parish, the Political Economics of Stornham would proffer no
marked objections. "A good many Americans," Mrs. Brent reflected,
"seemed to have those odd, lavish ways," as witness Lady Anstruthers
herself, on her first introduction to village life.
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