The million pound banknote

'You wicked flatterer! There isn't a word of truth in what you say, but still I'll go with you. Maybe it will teach you not to expect other people to see things the way you do.'

Were my doubts dissipated? Was my confidence restored? You may judge by this fact: privately I raised my salary to twelve hundred for the first year on the spot. But I didn't tell her; I saved it for a surprise. All the way home I was in the clouds, Hastings talking, I not hearing a word. When he and I entered my parlor, he brought me to myself with his fervent appreciation of my many comforts and luxuries.

'Let me just stand here a little and look my fill. Dear me! it's a palace - it's just a palace! And in it everything a body could desire, including cosy coal fire and supper standing ready. Henry, it doesn't merely make me realize how rich you are; it makes me realize, to the bone, to the marrow, how poor I am - how poor I am, and how miserable, how defeated, annihilated!'

This language gave me the cold shudders. It scared me broad awake, and made me comprehend that I was standing on a half-inch crust, with a volcano underneath.

Vocabulary:

Flatterer: Someone who says nice things about other people to get his way
Dissipated: Grow thinner until disappearing
On the spot: Right then and there
Parlor: Room in the house for meeting guests
Fervent: With strong emotion
Marrow: The soft stuff inside a bone
Annihilated: Wiped out, destroyed
Shudders: Shiver with the whole body
Crust: The hard, fragile layer on something soft