From all this it had come to pass that that dabbling in literature which had been commenced partly perhaps from a sense of pleasure in the work, partly as a passport into society, had been converted into hard work by which money if possible might be earned.  So that Lady Carbury when she wrote to her friends, the editors, of her struggles was speaking the truth.  Tidings had reached her of this and the other man’s success, and,—­coming near to her still,—­of this and that other woman’s earnings in literature.  And it had seemed to her that, within moderate limits, she might give a wide field to her hopes.  Why should she not add a thousand a year to her income, so that Felix might again live like a gentleman and marry that heiress...