Do you, not see this clearly ?" "I do, mother," was replied by Edith in a more rational tone of voice than that in which she had yet spoken.
"To open a store of any kind would involve five times the exposure of a boarding-house; and, moreover, I know nothing of business." "Keeping a store?
Oh, no! we couldn't do that.

Think of the dreadful exposure!" "But in taking boarders we only increase our family, and all goes on as usual.

To my mind, it is the most genteel thing that we can do.

Our style of living will be the same; our waiter and all our servants will be retained.

In fact, to the eye there will be little change, and the world need never know how greatly reduced our circumstances have become." This mode of argument tended to reconcile Edith to taking boarders.
Something, she saw, had to be done.