But
about the banker's (he was also a churchwarden, and his wife never smiled
at anything less than a joke by the bishop) there was an atmosphere of
solid respectability that I felt would be comforting to my nature. My
dear child, you will come across cynics who will sneer at respectability:
don't you listen to them. Respectability is its own reward--and a very
real and practical reward. It may not bring you dainty dishes and soft
beds, but it brings you something better and more lasting. It brings you
the consciousness that you are living the right life, that you are doing
the right thing, that, so far as earthly ingenuity can fix it, you are
going to the right place, and that other folks ain't. Don't you ever let
any one set you against respectability. It's the most satisfying thing I
know of in this world--and about the cheapest.
"'I was nearly three years with this family, and was sorry when I had to
go. I should never have left if I could have helped it, but one day
something happened at the bank which necessitated the banker's taking a
sudden journey to Spain, and, after that, the house became a somewhat
unpleasant place to live in. Noisy, disagreeable people were continually
knocking at the door and making rows in the passage; and at night folks
threw bricks at the windows.
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