I imagine it went something like this

Scene: Rooms at Oxford

JT: Coming out for a drink at The Pub?

JM: I’m a bit strapped for cash until the next quarter.

JT: Your father is stingy with the purse strings then?

JM: Oh, no. He has plenty of the ready and my allowance is generous enough, had some unexpected expenses come up, that’s all.

JT only heard the bolded words and in typical Thorpe fashion, he begins to exaggerate the amount to himself and most likely to his family.

(Morland gets £10 allowance; You should see Morland for that -- he gets £50 per quarter; I tell you Izzy, Morland’s a catch – he must get £100 to fritter away as he pleases every month.)