William shows Caroline how to balance
the household accounts. She adds the money
he receives for conducting and teaching music,
and now making telescopes to sell. She subtracts
what they spend and sends some to their mother.
There’s not enough, so she folds and stitches
lace, silk, and velvet into hats.
She measures the circumference of a head,
cuts a diagonal line across felt, and calculates brims.
She sets hats for sale on the windowsill facing the street.
For the first time in her life, she has money
of her own. She reminds herself it’s vain
to want more than her mother had.