But this did not matter much now, for he seldom wore gloves at all.

He was glad that the fashion suffered him to spare in that direction, for he was obliged to look somewhat carefully after the out-goes.

The insurance business was not what it had been, and though Basil had comfortably established himself in it, he had not made money.

He sometimes thought that he might have done quite as well if he had gone into literature; but it was now too late.

They had not a very large family: they had a boy of eleven, who took after his father, and a girl of nine, who took after the boy; but with the American feeling that their children must have the best of everything, they made it an expensive family, and they spent nearly all Basil earned.
The narrowness of their means, as well as their household cares, had kept them from taking many long journeys.