Shall I put these on your account?
Credit is hardly a modern invention and in fact most people, except the very poor, bought on credit during Georgian times. There were no credit cards, of course, but if you put something on your account, the shopkeeper would take note and periodically ask for payment. They might keep their accounts in a ledger or a publican might keep a tally in chalk by the door.
“And did Colonel Forster appear to think well of Wickham himself? Does he know his real character?”
“I must confess that he did not speak so well of Wickham as he formerly did. He believed him to be imprudent and extravagant. And since this sad affair has taken place, it is said that he left Meryton greatly in debt; but I hope this may be false.’
Lucy Worsley found a very extreme example of how far credit was extended in the Prince Regent’s purchases with his tailor: