Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. This week we started book 3, which is rather ominously titled 'Waiting for Death'.

Summary:

We revisit Fred Vincy and learn that he is in debt for 160 pounds. The debt began when he bought a horse from the local horse dealer, Mr. Bambridge and grew due to Fred’s interest in billiards. Over the course of this time, Fred sold on the original horse and bought a cheaper one. When the time came to pay his debt back to Bambridge, he went to Mary's father, Caleb Garth. Caleb took on Fred’s debt for him, out of the kindness of his heart. Fred saved some of the money Mr. Featherstone gifted him in his last chapter, but it is not enough to cover the debt fully. In chapter 23, the time has come for Fred to pay Caleb back the money. He goes to a horse fair, hoping to sell his current horse on for a profit. At the end of the chapter it looks like Fred has come into some good luck; he has traded his horse and some money for a horse of higher quality and hopes to sell it on to a local lord.

In chapter 24 we find out that this deal has fallen through. Fred comes to the Garths with only 50 pounds ready to pay back. He makes no effort to get his father's help with paying the debt and is too ashamed to go to any of his wealthier friends. We see that the Garths come from a very different background than the Vincys; Mrs. Garth is a busy mother and housewife who manages to do some teaching on the side. She is trying to save up enough money to get her son apprenticed and annouces in this chapter that she has done so. The news of Fred brings ruins this ambition, as the money now must go towards paying off Fred's debt. Fred leaves, contrite and embarrassed. The Garths seem disappointed, but start making plans for dealing with the situation.

References:

Chapter 23:

• Lindley Murray and Magnall’s ‘Questions’ – the two main school books used at the time. This sentence suggests that Mrs. Vincy looked down upon Mrs. Garth for being a working woman/schoolteacher.
• ‘Cute jockies’ – this was slang for horse-dealers at the time.
• ‘Blacklegs’ – slang for turf swindlers. This is a hard phrase to track down – it appears that it was a term used for fraudsters who targeted betting agencies ( 09 Oct 1923 - TURF SWINDLERS - Trove (nla.gov.au)) Within the context of the story, it seems that turf swindlers were perhaps horses who didn’t look exceptionally well bred.
• ‘Roarer’ – slang for a horse that breathes too loudly. Bambridge is commenting on this habit in the horse Fred first attends the horse fair with.

Chapter 24:

• Chapter 24 opens with a quote from Shakespeare's Sonnets.
• Cincinnatus was a statesman and general for the Roman Republic. In 456 bce he was recalled from disgrace to lead the Roman Republic against the Aequians Cincinnatus - World History Encyclopedia