and when she was at Liverpool, and on her twentieth birthday, that Jackie had news of the death of Lady Perrin. She had been corresponding with the old lady a week before this, and it was a great blow, and sickened her very much. From Lady Perrin’s death she received the sum of seven hundred and eighty pounds; and she was, at first, delighted and intrigued by this amount, which she played about with mentally and brooded and speculated deliciously on every kind of imaginary expenditure. Ultimately, however, it was this bequest which brought her to an understanding of her true situation, and caused her to take stock of her affairs. For with the death of Lady Perrin her last ship had been burnt, and she had herself and her own exertions alone to rely upon. There was now no turning back. And in some measure she was scared by this, and in some measure she was braced. For although Jackie had undergone multitudinous and varying emotions since she had left Brighton, her primary ambition remained as clear as it ever had been.
