the edition I'm reading (B&N Classics) has a footnote for this line in Ch. 28 that "translates" curate to curacy; the obligations of a clergyman in charge of a parish. The implication here is that he does not, in fact, have a curate, but that these two words are interchangeable. That struck me as strange, and I'm wondering if it's a realistically possible alternative explanation, or if the editor is just stup- uh ...misinformed.