When Mr. NichoUs had done as much, it was ar^
ranged that it was to be sent home as soon as possible,
which the coach-maker thought he could not promise
to do under three weeks, as the varnish took so long
drying. This annoyed Mrs. NichoUs so much that she
whispered in her husband's ear that he 'd better ask the
man if he could not let them have a carriage until their
own was ready; and it was only on her husband's re*
minding her that they had no horse as yet, that the lady
was in any *way calmed.
All that evening' Mr. and Mrs. NichoUs did nothing
but talk of ^' their carriage," and how much better it
would look to have a conveyance of their own, instead
of going ridiug about in those hack things, which, the
lady declared, she had long felt positively ashamed to
be seen in. Besides, it would be so nice to go to church
in it, and would raise them so much in the estimation
of the world ; and she was sure that nobody would be
nble to teU it hadn't been built for them, it looked so
perfectly new, even in its present state ; and when their
own crest was on, and it had been fresh varnished, as
'they agreed, why, she would defy even a coach-buUder
himself to teU that it was a second-hand one.
A lapse of a few days brought the long-looked-for



46 LIYUXQ FOR APPEARANCES.
