'
'But in those days I hadn't to think of money. I could look
forward and see provision for my needs. I never asked myself what
I should get for the book; I assure you, that never came into my
head--never. The work was done for its own sake. No hurry to
finish it; if I felt that I wasn't up to the mark, I just waited
till the better mood returned. "On Neutral Ground" took me seven
months; now I have to write three volumes in nine weeks, with the
lash stinging on my back if I miss a day.'
He brooded for a little.
'I suppose there must be some rich man somewhere who has read one
or two of my books with a certain interest. If only I could
encounter him and tell him plainly what a cursed state I am in,
perhaps he would help me to some means of earning a couple of
pounds a week. One has heard of such things.'
'In the old days.'
'Yes. I doubt if it ever happens now. Coleridge wouldn't so
easily meet with his Gillman nowadays. Well, I am not a
Coleridge, and I don't ask to be lodged under any man's roof; but
if I could earn money enough to leave me good long evenings
unspoilt by fear of the workhouse--'
Amy turned away, and presently went to look after her little boy.
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