Page:Gissing - The Nether World, vol. I, 1889.djvu/202

 CHAPTER IX.

PATHOLOGICAL.

the day and through the evening, Clara Hewett had her place behind Mrs. Tubbs’s bar. For daylight wear, the dress which had formerly been her best was deemed sufficient; it was simple, but not badly made and became her figure. Her evening attire was provided by Mrs. Tubbs who recouped herself by withholding the promised wages for a certain number of weeks. When Clara had surveyed this garment in the bar mirror, she turned away contemptuously; the material was cheap, the mode vulgar. It must be borne with for the present, like other indignities which she found to be inseparable from her position. As soon as her employer’s claim was satisfied, and the weekly five shillings began to be paid, Clara remembered