Not many people knew that Mr Tulliver had problems with money. Most people thought he was a rich man. Usually he felt rich, too. He had almost forgotten that he owed £2000. He had borrowed money, and now there was a mortgage on the mill. He paid interest on the mortgage each year. If he stopped paying, the mill would belong to the lender of the money. This was not all Mr Tulliver's fault. He had had to give his sister £1000 when she married Mr Moss, and then he had lent Mr Moss £300.
Mrs Gritty Moss was a tall woman with black hair and eyes, who had once been pretty. Now she looked old and tired. She held a baby in her arms, and several other children were playing nearby. 'Welcome, brother,' she said. 'How are your children?'
'Very well. Tom's going to an expensive new teacher at the end of the summer.'
'I wish you'd bring them to visit their cousins,' said Mrs Moss. 'And I'd love to see Maggie. She's so clever and so loving, too!'
Not many people praised Maggie. The kind words pleased Mr Tulliver. 'Yes, she likes you more than her other aunts. She's like you, Gritty. She's not at all like her mother.'
'Moss says she's exactly like me when I was young --but I was never as clever as Maggie . . . Well, I hope her brother is as good to her as you are to me.'
After that Mr Tulliver felt unable to ask Gritty for the £300. He kissed his sister, and rode away deep in thought.
More of this story in
The Mill on the Floss
Oxford Progressive English Readers
Grade 2
ISBN 0 19 586 303 8
This text is copyright Oxford University Press 1995.
If you can read this sample easily, you can enjoy any Oxford Progressive English Reader in Grade1 and Grade 2.