But she was practical.

Money would be needed if they were to move to one of the cities, and although trade was good, gathering dollars was slow work when one had an extravagant husband.

While she had been ill Bob was left in charge of the business, and on recovering her first task had been to find out how he had managed.

Now she had found out and got something of a shock.
The room got colder, but Bob had made some entries in a cash-book she could not understand, and opening the book again, she spent some time in calculations that threw no fresh light on the matter.

Then she heard steps and turned as Charnock came in.
He took off his fur-coat and Sadie frowned as he dropped it into a dusty corner.