“I must tell him about them,” said Cara to herself, about a week after her act of folly, as she sat, towards the close of day, brooding over what she had done.  “To be forewarned is to be forearmed.  In a few days the carpets will be sent home, and then”—­

A slight inward shudder was felt by Cara, as she paused, with the sentence unfinished.

“But I’m foolish,” she added, recovering herself, “very foolish.  Why need I be so afraid of Henry?  I have some freedom of action left—­some right of choice.  These were not all yielded in our marriage.  His will was not made the imperative law of all my actions.  No—­no.  And here lies the ground of difference between us.  The fact is, he is to blame for this very thing, for he drove me to it.”

But such thoughts did not satisfy the mind of Mrs. Ellis, nor remove the sense of wrong that oppressed her spirit.  So, in a little while, she came back to her resolution to tell her husband, on that very evening, all about what she had done.  This was her state of mind, when her friend Mrs. Claxton called in.  After the first pleasant greeting, the lady, assuming a slight gravity of manner, said—­

“Do you know, Mrs. Ellis, that I’ve thought a good deal about the matter we talked of the last time I saw you?”

“To what do you allude?” asked Cara.

“To running up bills without your husband’s knowledge.  All men are not alike, and Mr. Ellis might not take it so easily as Mr. Claxton has done.  The fact is, I have been checked off a little, so to speak, within a day or two, and it has rather set me to thinking”

“In what way?” inquired Mrs. Ellis.

“I will tell you—­but, remember, this is in the strictest confidence.  It might injure my husband’s business if it got out.  In fact, I don’t think I have any right to tell you; but, as I advised you to follow my example, I must give you convincing proof that this example is a bad one.  Last evening, when Mr. Claxton came home, he looked unusually serious.  ‘Is any thing wrong?’ I asked of him, manifesting in my voice and manner the concern I really felt.  ‘Yes,’ said he, looking me fixedly in the eyes—­’there is something wrong.  I came within an ace of being protested to-day.’  ‘Indeed!  How?’ I exclaimed.  ‘Listen,’ said he, ’and you shall hear; and while you hear, believe, for I solemnly declare that every word I utter is the truth, and nothing but the truth.  I could not spare the cash when your new carpet and upholstery bill came in, so I gave a note for the amount, which was over two hundred dollars.  The note was for six months, and fell due to-day.  I also gave a note for your new sofa, chairs, and French bedstead, because I had no cash with which to pay the bill.  It was two hundred and fifty dollars, and the note given at four months.  That also fell due to-day.  Now, apart from these, I had more than my hands full to take up business paper, this being an unusually heavy day.