Her kingdom

THE family lawyer had left her; she had listened with tightened lips, as through a labyrinth of legal phrases, he had informed her that she could only count upon five-and-twenty pounds per annum to feed, clothe, and provide for herself a roof to shelter her. She found herself smiling at the very absurdity of it. For six-and-twenty years she had lived in ease and comfort, almost in luxury. She had read in books about these reverses, but never had she imagined that they would come to her. She had not been educated for adversity, and she knew that not for a moment could she compete with the hundreds of trained certificated women who were flooding the labour markets throughout the country.