I have been at tea with my dear pupils, the Misses Mainwaring.

You may bring the lamp presently, Susan, but not quite yet; it is a pity to waste the daylight, and there is quite another quarter of an hour in which I can see to knit.
Yes, give me my knitting-basket; I can get on with Widow Joseph's mittens." "And, if you please, ma'am," asked Susan, lingering for a moment at the door, "may I ask how, all things considering, the dear young ladies is ?" "On the whole, tranquil, Susan--yes, I may say it with confidence; my dear pupils may be considered in a resigned state of mind." Susan closed the door after her, and Miss Martineau took up her knitting.

Knitting woollen mittens is an occupation which harmonizes very well with reflection and while the old lady's active fingers moved her thoughts were busy.
"Thirty pounds a year," she said softly to herself, "thirty pounds certain, and a lump sum of two hundred in the bank.

Doubtless they owe some of that for their mother's funeral and their own mourning.

They probably owe quite thirty pounds of that, and to make it safe, I had better say forty.