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room one of several drawing rooms where there was a on the outside of a golden cage holding on by its with its legs in the air and putting itself into many strange down this peculiarity has been observed in birds of quite another feather climbing upon golden wires the room was far more splendid than anything little had ever imagined and would have been splendid and costly in any eyes she looked in amazement at her sister and have asked a question but that with a warning frown pointed to a doorway of communication with another room the curtain shook next moment and a lady raising it with a heavily hand dropped it behind her again as she entered the lady was not young and fresh from the hand of nature but was young and fresh from the hand of her maid she had large eyes and dark handsome hair and a broad handsome bosom and was made the most of in every particular either because she had a cold or because it suited her face she wore a rich white tied over her head and under her chin and if ever there were an handsome chin that looked as if for certain it had never been in familiar by the hand of man it was the chin up so tight and close by that bridle mrs said my sister ma am i am glad to see your sister miss i did not remember that you had a sister i did not mention that i had said aye mrs curved the little finger of her left hand as who should say i have caught you i know you didn t all her action was usually with her left hand because her hands were not a pair the left being much the and of the two then she added sit down and composed herself in a nest of crimson and gold cushions on an near the also professional said mrs looking at little through an eye glass answered s o said mrs dropping her glass has not a professional air very pleasant but not professional my sister ma am said in whom there was a singular mixture of deference and has been asking me to tell her as between sisters how i came to have the honor of knowing you and as i had engaged to call upon you once more i thought i might take the liberty of bringing her with me when perhaps you would tell her i wish her to know and perhaps you will tell her do you think at your sister s age hinted mrs little she is much older than she looks said almost as old as i am society said mrs with another curve of her little finger is so difficult to explain to young persons indeed is so difficult to explain to most persons that i am glad to hear that i wish society was not so arbitrary i wish it was not so bird be quiet the had given a most piercing shriek as if its name were society and it asserted its right to its but resumed mrs we must take it as we find it we know it is hollow and conventional and worldly and very shocking but unless we are savages in the tropical seas i should have been charmed to be one myself most delightful life and perfect climate i am told we must consult it it is the common lot mr is a most extensive merchant his transactions are on the scale his wealth and influence are very great but even he bird be quiet the had shrieked another shriek and it filled up the sentence so that mrs was under no necessity to end it since your sister that i would our personal acquaintance she began again addressing little by relating the circumstances that are much to her credit i cannot object to r with her request i am sure i have a son first married extremely young of two or three and twenty set her lips and her eyes looked half triumphantly at her sister a son of two or three and twenty he is a little gay a thing society is accustomed to in young men and he is very perhaps he that misfortune i am very myself by nature the of creatures my feelings arc touched in a moment she said all this and everything else as coldly as a woman of snow quite forgetting the sisters except at odd times and apparently addressing some abstraction of society for whose too she occasionally arranged her dress or the composition of her figure upon the so he is very not a misfortune in our natural state i dare say but we are not in a natural state much to be lamented no doubt particularly by myself who am a child of nature if i could but show it but so it is society us and us bird be quiet the had broken into a violent fit of laughter after twisting divers bars of his cage with his crooked bill and them with his black tongue it is quite unnecessary to say to a person of your good sense wide range of experience and cultivated feelings said mrs from her nest of crimson and gold and there put up her glass to refresh her memory as to whom she was addressing that the stage sometimes has a fascination for young men of that class of character in saying the stage i mean the people on it of the female sex therefore when i heard that my son was supposed to be fascinated by a i knew what that usually meant in society and confided in her being a at the opera where young men moving in society are usually fascinated little she passed her white hands over one another observant of the sisters now and the rings npon | 8 |
her fingers against each other with a hard as your sister will tell you when i found what the theatre was i was much surprised and much distressed but when i found that your sister by my son s advances i must add in an unexpected manner had brought him to the point of proposing marriage my feelings were of the anguish acute she traced the outline of her left and put it right in a distracted condition which only a mother moving in society can be susceptible of i determined to go myself to the theatre and represent my state of mind to the i made myself known to your sister i found her to my in many respects different from my expectations and certainly in none more so than in meeting me with what shall i say a sort of family assertion on her own part mrs smiled i told you ma am said with a color that although you found me in that situation i was so far above the rest that i considered my family as good as your son s and that i had a brother who knowing the circumstances would be of the same opinion and would not consider such a connection any honor miss said mrs after looking at her through her glass precisely what i was on the point of telling your sister in of your request much obliged to you for recalling it so accurately and me i immediately addressing little for i am the creature of impulse took a from my arm and begged your sister to let me clasp it on hers in token of the delight i had in our being able to approach the subject so far on a common footing this was perfectly true the lady having bought a cheap and article on her way to the interview with a general eye to and i told you mrs said that we might be unfortunate but were not common i think the very words miss assented mrs and i told you mrs said that if you spoke to me of the superiority of your son s standing in society it was barely possible that you rather deceived yourself in your about my origin and that my father s standing even in the society in which he now moved what that was was best known to myself was eminently superior and was acknowledged by every one quite accurate rejoined mrs a most admirable memory thank you ma am perhaps you will be so kind as to tell my sister the rest there is very little to tell said mrs the breadth of bosom which seemed essential to her having room enough to be in but it is to your sister s credit i pointed out to your sister the plain state of the case the impossibility of the society in which we moved the society in which she moved though charming i have no doubt the immense disadvantage at which she would consequently place the family she had so high little d an opinion of upon which we should find ourselves compelled to look down with contempt and from which speaking we should feel obliged to with in short i made an appeal to that pride in your sister let my sister know if you please mrs with a toss of her bonnet that i had already had the honor of telling our son that i wished to have nothing whatever to say to him well miss assented mrs perhaps i might have mentioned that before if i did not think of it perhaps it was because my mind to the apprehensions i had at the time that he might and you might have something to say to him i also mentioned to your sister i again address the non professional miss that my son would have nothing in the event of such a marriage and would be an absolute beggar i mention that merely as a fact which is part of the narrative and not as supposing it to have influenced your sister except in the prudent and legitimate way in which constituted as our artificial system is we must all be influenced by such considerations finally after some high words and high spirit on the part of your sister we came to the complete understanding that there was no danger and your sister was so obliging as to allow me to present her with a mark or two of my appreciation at my s little looked sorry and glanced at with a troubled face also said mrs as to promise to give me the present pleasure of a closing interview and of parting with her on the best of terms on which occasion added mrs her nest and putting something in s hand miss will permit me to say farewell with best wishes in my own dull manner the sisters rose at the same time and they all stood near the cage of the as he tore at a full of and it out seemed to mock them with a dance of his body without moving his feet and suddenly turned himself down and himself all over the outside of his golden cage with the aid of his cruel and his black tongue adieu miss with best wishes said mrs if we could come to a or something of that sort i for one might have the pleasure of knowing a number of charming and persons from whom i am at present excluded a more primitive state of society would be delicious to me there used to be a poem when i learnt lessons something about lo the poor indian whose something mind if a few thousand persons moving in society could only go and be indians i would put my name down directly but as moving in we can t be indians unfortunately good morning they | 8 |
came down stairs with powder before them and powder behind the elder sister haughty and the younger sister and were shut out into street square well said when they had gone a little way without speaking have you nothing to say oh i don t know what to say she answered distressed you didn t like this young man little like him he is almost an idiot i am so sorry don t be hurt but since you ask me what i have to say i am so very sorry that you suffered this lady to give you anything you little fool returned her sister shaking her with the sharp pull she gave her arm have you no spirit at all but that s just the way you have no self respect you have no becoming pride just as you allow yourself to be followed about by a contemptible little of a thing with the emphasis you would let your family be trodden on and never turn don t say that dear i do i can for them you do what you can for them repeated walking her on very fast would you let a woman like this whom you could see if you had any experience of anything to be as false and insolent as a woman can be would you let her put her foot upon your family and thank her for it no i am sure then make her pay for it you mean little thing what else can you make her do make her pay for it you stupid child and do your family some credit with the money they spoke no more all the way back to the lodging where and her uncle lived when they arrived there they found the old man his in the manner in a corner of the room had a meal to make of and porter and tea and indignantly pretended to prepare it for herself though her sister did all that in quiet reality when at last sat down to eat and drink she threw the table implements about and was angry with her bread much as her father had been last night if you despise me she said bursting into vehement tears because i am a why did you put me in the way of being one it was your doing you would have me stoop as low as the ground before this mrs and let her say what she liked and do what she liked and hold us all in contempt and tell me so to my face because i am a and tip too poor fellow she is to him just as much as she likes without any check i suppose because he has been in the law and the and different things why it was your doing you might at least approve of his being defended all this time the uncle was blowing his in the corner sometimes taking it an inch or so from his mouth for a moment while he stopped to gaze at them with a vague impression that somebody had said something and your father your poor father because he is not free to show himself and to speak for himself you would let such people insult him with if you don t feel for yourself because you go out to work you might at least feel for him i should think knowing what he has undergone so long poor little felt the injustice of this rather sharply the remembrance of last night added a point to it she said nothing in reply but turned her chair from the table towards the fire uncle little after making one more pause blew a dismal wail and went on again was passionate with the and the bread as long as her passion lasted and then protested that she was the girl in the world and she wished she was dead after that her crying became and she got up and put her round her sister little tried to stop her from saying anything but she answered that she would she must thereupon she said again and again i beg your pardon and forgive me almost as passionately as she had said what she regretted but indeed indeed she resumed when they were seated in accord side by side i hope and i think you would have seen this differently if you had known a little more of society perhaps i might said the mild little you see while you have been domestic and shut up there pursued her sister gradually beginning to i have been out moving more in society and may have been getting proud and spirited more than i ought to be perhaps little answered yes yes and while you have been thinking of the dinner or the clothes i may have been thinking you know of the family now may it not be so little again nodded yes with a more cheerful face than heart especially as we know said that there certainly is a tone in the place to which you have been so true which does belong to it and which does make it different from other aspects of society so kiss me once again dear and we will agree that we may both be right and that you arc a tranquil domestic home loving good girl the had been most during this dialogue but was cut short now by s announcement that it was time to go which she conveyed to her uncle by shutting up his scrap of music and taking the out of his mouth little parted from them at the door and hastened back to the it fell dark there sooner than elsewhere and going into it that evening was like going into a deep the shadow of the wall was on every object least upon the figure in the old grey gown and the black velvet cap as | 8 |
that she was a fine well educated too with no nonsense about her a son in law with these limited talents might have been a upon another man but mr did not want a son in law for himself he wanted a son in law for society mr having been in the guards and being in the habit of all the races and all the and all the parties and being well known society was little satisfied with its son in law this happy result mr would have considered well attained though mr had been a more expensive article and he did not get mr by any means cheap for society even as it was there was a dinner giving in the street establishment while little was at her father s new shirts by his side that night and there were from the court and from the city from the and from the lords from the bench and from the bar bishop treasury horse guards all the that keep us going and sometimes trip us up i am told said bishop to horse guards that mr has made another enormous hit they say a hundred thousand pounds horse guards had heard two treasury had heard three bar handling his double e e glass was by no means clear but that it might be four it was one of those happy strokes of calculation and combination the result of which it was difficult to estimate it was one of those instances of a comprehensive grasp associated with habitual luck and characteristic boldness of which an age presented us but few but here was brother who had been in the great bank case and who could probably tell us more what did brother put this new success at brother was on his way to make his bow to the bosom and could only tell them in passing that he had heard it stated with great appearance of truth as being worth from first to last half a million of money said mr was a wonderful man treasury said he was a new power in the country and would be able to buy up the whole house of bishop said he was glad to think that this wealth flowed into the of a gentleman who was always disposed to maintain the best interests of society mr himself was usually late on these occasions as a man still detained in the clutch of giant when other men had shaken off their for the day on this occasion he was the last arrival treasury said s work punished him a little bishop said he was glad to think that this wealth flowed into the of a gentleman who accepted it with powder there was so much powder in waiting that it the dinner got into the dishes and society s had a of first rate mr took down a who was secluded somewhere in the core of an immense dress to which she was in the proportion of the heart to the overgrown if so low a may be admitted the dress went down the staircase like a richly jack in the green and nobody knew what sort of small person carried it society had everything it could want and could not want for dinner it had everything to look at and everything to eat and thing to drink it is to be hoped it enjoyed itself for mr s own share of the might have been paid for with mrs was the chief butler was little the next magnificent institution of the day he was the man in company he did nothing but he looked on as few other men could have done he was mr s last gift to society mr didn t want him and was out of countenance when the great creature looked at him but society would have him and had got him the invisible carried out the green at the usual stage of the entertainment and the file of beauty was closed up by the bosom treasury said bishop said ear fell into discussion with horse guards concerning courts martial brother and bench struck in other off mr sat silent and looked at the table cloth sometimes a addressed him to turn the stream of his own particular discussion towards him but mr seldom gave much attention to it or did more than rouse himself from his calculations and pass the wine when they rose so many of the had something to say to mr that he held little by the and checked them off as they went out at the door treasury hoped he might venture to congratulate one of england s world and merchant princes he had turned that original sentiment in the house a few times and it came easy to him on a new achievement to extend the triumphs of such men was to extend the triumphs and resources of the nation and treasury felt he gave mr to understand patriotic on the subject thank you my lord said mr thank you i accept your congratulations with pride and i am glad you approve why i don t approve my dear mr because smiling treasury turned him by the arm towards the and spoke it never can be worth your while to come among us and help us mr felt honored by the no no said treasury that is not the light in which one so distinguished for practical knowledge and great foresight can be expected to regard it if we should ever be happily enabled by accidentally possessing the control over circumstances to propose to one so eminent to to come among us and give us the weight of his influence knowledge and character we could only propose it to him as a duty in fact as a duty that he owed to society mr intimated that society was the apple of his eye and that its | 8 |
claims were to every other consideration treasury moved on and bar came up bar with his little jury and his double eye glass hoped he might be excused if he mentioned to one of the greatest of the root of all evil into the root of all good who had for a long time reflected a shining lustre on the annals even of our commercial country if he mentioned and as what we lawyers called in our way a fact that had come by accident within his knowledge he had been required to look over the title of a very considerable estate in one of the eastern lying in fact for mr knew we lawyers loved to be particular on the borders of two of the eastern now the title was little d t perfectly sound and the estate was to be purchased by one who had the command of money jury and eye glass on remarkably advantageous terms this had come to ear s knowledge only that day and it had occurred to him i shall have the honor of dining with my esteemed friend mr this evening and strictly between ourselves i will mention the opportunity such a purchase involve not only great legitimate political influence but some half dozen church of considerable annual value now that mr was already at no loss to discover means of occupying even his capital and of fully even his active and vigorous intellect bar well knew but he would venture to suggest that the question arose in his mind whether one who had gained so high a position and so european a reputation did not owe it we would not say to himself but we would say to society to possess himself of such influences as these and to exercise them we would not say for his own or for his party s but we would say for society s benefit mr again expressed himself as wholly devoted to that object of his constant consideration and ear took his eye glass up the grand staircase bishop then came sliding in the direction of the surely the goods of this world it occurred in an accidental way to bishop to remark could scarcely be directed into happier channels than when they accumulated under the magic touch of the wise and sagacious who while they knew the just value of riches bishop tried here to look as if he were rather poor himself were aware of their importance governed and rightly distributed to the welfare of our brethren at large mr with humility expressed his conviction that bishop couldn t mean him and with expressed his high gratification in bishop s good opinion bishop then stepping out a little with his well shaped right leg as though he said to mr don t mind the apron a mere form put this case to his good friend whether it had occurred to his good friend that society might not hope that one so in his and whose example on his was so influential with it would shed a little money in the direction of a mission or so to africa mr that the idea should have his best attention bishop put another case whether his good friend had at all interested himself in the pro of our combined additional endowed committee and whether it had occurred to him that to shed a little money in that direction might be a great conception finely executed mr made a similar reply and bishop explained his reason for society looked to such men as his good friend to do such things it was not that he looked to them but that society looked to them just as it was not our committee who wanted the additional endowed but it was society that was in a state of the most uneasiness of mind until it got them he begged to assure his good friend that he was extremely sensible of his good friend s regard on all occasions for the best interests of society and he considered that he little was at consulting those interests and expressing the feeling of society when he wished him continued prosperity continued increase of riches and continued things in general bishop then himself up stairs and the other gradually floated up after him until there was no one left below but mr that gentleman after looking at the table cloth until the soul of the chief butler glowed with a noble resentment went slowly up after the rest and became of no account in the stream of people on the grand staircase mrs was at home the best of the jewels were hung out to be seen society got what it came for mr drank worth of tea in a corner and got more than he wanted among the evening was a famous physician who knew everybody and whom everybody knew on entering at the door he came upon mr drinking his tea in a comer and touched him on the arm mr started oh it s you any better to day no said mr i am no better a pity i didn t see you this morning pray come to me to morrow or let me come to you well he replied i will come to morrow as i drive by bar and bishop had both been during this short dialogue and as mr was swept away by the crowd they made their remarks upon it to the physician bar said there was a certain point of mental strain beyond which no man could go that the point varied with various of brain and peculiarities of constitution as he had had occasion to notice in several of his learned brothers but the point of endurance passed by a line s breadth depression and ensued not to intrude on the sacred mysteries of medicine he took it now with the jury and eye glass | 8 |
that this was s case bishop said that when he was a young man and had fallen for a brief space into the habit of writing sermons on a habit which all young sons of the church should avoid he had frequently been sensible of a depression arising as he supposed from an intellect upon which the of a new laid egg beaten up by the good woman in whose house he at that time lodged with a glass of sound and powdered sugar acted like a charm without to offer so simple a remedy to the consideration of so profound a professor of the great healing art lie would venture to whether the strain being by way of intricate calculations the spirits might not speaking be restored to their tone by a gentle and yet generous yes said the physician yes you arc both right but i may as well tell you that i can find nothing the matter with mr he has the constitution of a the of an and the of an as to nerves mr is of a cool temperament and not a sensitive man is about as i should say as how such a man should suppose himself without reason you may think strange but i have found nothing the matter with him he may have some deep seated complaint i can t say i only say that at present i have not found it out little there was no shadow of mr s complaint on the bosom now displaying stones in with many similar superb jewel stands there was no shadow of mr s complaint on young hovering about the rooms seeking any sufficiently young lady with no nonsense about her there was no shadow of mr s complaint on the and of whom whole colonies were present or on any of the company even on himself its shadow was faint enough as he moved about among the throng receiving homage mr s complaint society and he had so much to do with one another in all things else that it is hard to imagine his complaint if he had one being solely his own affair had he that deep seated complaint and did any doctor find it out patience in the meantime the shadow of the wall was a real darkening influence and could be seen on the family at any stage of the sun s course xxii a puzzle me did not increase in favor with the father of the in the of his increasing visits his on the great question was not calculated to awaken admiration in the paternal breast but had rather a tendency to give offence in that sensitive quarter and to be regarded as a positive in point of gentlemanly feeling an impression of disappointment occasioned by the discovery that mr scarcely possessed that delicacy for which in the confidence of his nature he had been inclined to give him credit began to the mind in connection with that gentleman the father went so far as to say in his private family circle that he feared mr was not a man of high instincts he was happy he observed in his public capacity as leader and representative of the college to receive mr when he called to pay his respects but he didn t find that he got on with him personally there appeared to be something he didn t know what it was wanting in him the father did not fail in any outward show of politeness but on the contrary honored him with much attention perhaps the hope that although not a man of a sufficiently brilliant and spontaneous turn of mind to repeat his former it might still be within the compass of his nature to bear the part of a gentleman in any correspondence that way tending in the capacity of the gentleman from outside who had been accidentally locked in on the night of his first appearance of the gentleman from outside who had into the affairs of the father of the with the idea of getting him out and of the gentleman from outside who took an interest in the child of the soon became a visitor of mark he was not sur little by the attentions he received from mr when that officer was on the lock for he made little distinction between mr s politeness and that of the other it was on one particular afternoon that mr surprised him all at once and stood forth from his companions in bold relief mr by some artful exercise of his power of clearing the lodge had contrived to rid it of all so that coming out of the prison should find him on duty alone private i ask your pardon sir said mr in a secret manner but which way might you be going i am going over the bridge he saw in mr with some astonishment quite an of silence as he stood with his key on his lips private i ask your pardon again said mr but could you go round by lane could you by any means find time to look in at that address handing him a little card printed for circulation among the connection of and co of pure cigars and fine in fancy c c private it an t tobacco business said mr the truth is it s my wife she s to say a word to you sir upon a point respecting yes said mr answering s look of apprehension with a nod respecting or i will make a point of seeing your wife directly thank you sir much obliged it an t above ten minutes out of your way please to ask for mrs these instructions mr who had already let him out cautiously called through a little slide in the outer door which he could draw back from within for the inspection of visitors when it pleased him arthur with the | 8 |
s heart here the good woman pointed to the little window whence her son might be seen sitting in the groves and again shook her head and wiped her eyes and him for the united of both the young people to exercise his influence towards the bright of these dismal events she was so confident in her of the case and it was so founded on correct premises in so far as the relative positions of little and her family were concerned that could not feel positive on the other side he had come to attach to little an interest so peculiar an interest that removed her from while it grew out of the common and coarse things surrounding her that he found it disagreeable almost painful to suppose her in love with young mr in the back yard or any such person on the other hand he reasoned with himself that she was just as good and just as time in love with him as not in love with him and that to make a kind of fairy of her on the penalty of at heart from the only people she knew would be but a weakness of his own fancy and not a kind one still her youthful and ethereal appearance her timid manner the charm of her sensitive voice and eyes the very many respects in which she had interested him out of her own individuality and the strong difference between herself and those about her were not in and determined not to be in with this newly presented idea he told the worthy mrs after turning these things over in his mind he did that indeed while she was yet speaking that he might be relied upon to do his utmost at all times to promote the happiness of miss and to further the wishes of her heart if it were in his power to do so and if he could discover what they were at the same time he her against and appearances strict silence and lest miss should be made unhappy and particularly advised her to endeavour to win her son s confidence and so to make quite sure of the state of the case mrs considered the latter precaution superfluous but said she would try she shook her head as if she had not derived all the comfort she had fondly expected from this interview but thanked him nevertheless for the trouble he had kindly taken they then parted good friends and arthur walked away the crowd in the street the crowd in his mind and little the two crowds making a confusion he avoided london bridge and turned off in the direction of the iron bridge he had scarcely set foot upon it when he saw little walking on before him it was a pleasant day with a light breeze blowing and she seemed to have that minute come there for air he had left her in her father s room within an hour it was a chance favorable to his wish of observing her face and manner when no one else was by he quickened his pace but before he reached her she turned her head have i startled you he asked i thought i knew the step she answered hesitating and did you know it little you could hardly have expected mine i did not expect any but when i heard a step i thought it sounded like yours are you going further no sir i am only walking here for a little change they walked together and she recovered her confiding manner with him and looked up in his face as she said after glancing around it is so strange perhaps you can hardly understand it i sometimes have a sensation as if it was almost to walk here to see the river and so much sky and so many objects and such change and motion then to go back you know and find him in the same cramped place ah yes but going back you must remember that you take with you the spirit and influence of such things to cheer him do i i hope i may i am afraid you fancy too much sir and make me out too powerful if you were in prison could i bring such comfort to you yes little i am sure of it he gathered from a tremor on her lip and a passing shadow of great agitation on her face that her mind was with her father he remained silent for a few moments that she might regain her composure the little trembling on his arm was less in than ever with mrs s theory and yet was not with a new fancy which sprung up within him that there might be some one else in the hopeless fancy still in the hopeless distance they turned and said here was coming little looked up surprised and they confronted who brought herself at sight of them to a dead stop she had been trotting along so and busy that she had not recognised them until they turned upon her she was now in a moment so conscience stricken that her very basket partook of the change you promised me to stop near father so i would little mother only he wouldn t let me if he takes and sends me out i must go if he takes and says you hurry away and back with that letter and you shall have a sixpence if the answer s a good un i must take it lor little mother s a poor thing of ten year old to do and if mr tip if he happens to be a coming in as i come out and if he says where are you a going and if i says i m a going so and so and if he says i ll have a try | 8 |
little too and if he goes into the george and writes a letter and if he gives it me and says take that one to the same place and if the answer s a good un i ll give yon a shilling it ain t my fault mother arthur read in little s downcast eyes to whom she foresaw that the letters were addressed i m a going so and so there that s where i am a going to said u i m a going so and so it an t you little mother that s got anything to do with it it s you you know said addressing arthur you d better come so and so and let me take and give em to you we will not be so particular as that give them me here said in a low voice well then come across the road answered in a very loud whisper little mother wasn t to know nothing of it and she would never have known nothing of it if you had only gone so and so instead of and about it ain t my fault i must do what i am told they ought to be ashamed of themselves for telling me crossed to the other side and hurriedly opened the letters that from the father mentioned that most unexpectedly finding himself in the novel position of having been disappointed of a from the city on which he had confidently counted he took up his pen being restrained by the unhappy circumstance of his during three and twenty years doubly from coming himself as he would otherwise certainly have done took up his pen to entreat mr to advance him the sum of three pounds ten shillings upon his i u which he begged to that from the son set forth that mr would he knew be gratified to hear that he had at length obtained permanent employment of a highly satisfactory nature accompanied with every prospect of complete success in life but that the temporary inability of his employer to pay him his of salary to that date in which condition said employer had appealed to that generous forbearance in which he trusted he should never be wanting towards a fellow creature combined with the conduct of a false friend and the present high price of provisions had reduced him to the verge of ruin unless he could by a quarter before six that evening raise the sum of eight pounds this sum mr would be happy to learn he had through the of several friends who had a r confidence in his already raised with the exception of a trifling balance of one pound seventeen and the loan of balance for the period of one month would be with the usual beneficent these letters answered with the aid of his pencil and pocket book on the spot sending the father what he asked for and himself from compliance with the demand of the son he then to return with his replies and gave her the shilling of which the failure of her enterprise would have disappointed her otherwise when he rejoined little and they had begun walking as before she said all at once i think i had better go i had better go home little d r ut don t be distressed said i have answered the letters they were nothing you know what they were they were nothing but i am afraid she returned to leave him i am afraid to leave any of them when i am gone they but they don t mean it even it was a very innocent commission that she undertook poor thing and in keeping it secret from you she supposed no doubt that she w t as only saving you uneasiness yes i hope so i hope so but i had better go home it was but the other day that my sister told me i had become so used to the prison that i had its tone and character it must be so i am sure it must be when i see these things my place is there i am better there it is in me to be here when i can do the least thing there good bye i had far better stay at home the way in which she poured this out as if it burst of itself from her suppressed heart made it difficult for to keep the tears from his eyes as he saw and heard her don t call it home my child he entreated it is always painful to me to hear you call it home but it is home what else can i call home why should i ever forget it for a single moment you never do dear little in any good and true service i hope not hope not but it is better for me to stay there much better much more dutiful much happier please don t go with me let me go by myself good bye god bless you thank you thank you he felt that it was better to respect her entreaty and did not move while her slight form went quickly away from him when it had fluttered out of sight he turned his face towards the water and stood thinking she would have been distressed at time by this discovery of the letters but so much so and in that way when she had seen her father begging with his disguise on when she had entreated him not to give her father money she had been distressed but not like this something had made her keenly and sensitive just now now was there some one in the hopeless distance or had the suspicion been brought into his mind by his own associations of the troubled river running beneath the bridge with the same river higher up its tune upon the of the boat so many | 8 |
miles an hour the peaceful flowing of the stream here the rushes there the lilies nothing uncertain or he thought of his poor child little for a long time there he thought of her going home he thought of her in the night he thought of her when the day came round again and the poor child little thought of him too faithfully ah too faithfully in the shadow of the wall little machinery in motion mr himself with such prompt activity in the matter of the with daniel which had to him that he soon brought it into business train and called on at nine o clock one morning to make his report is highly gratified by your good opinion he opened the business by saying and desires nothing so much as that you should examine the affairs of the works for yourself and entirely understand them he has handed me the keys of all his books and papers here they are in this pocket and the only charge he has given me is let mr have the means of putting himself on a perfect equality with me as to knowing whatever i know if it should come to nothing after all he will respect my confidence unless i was sure of that to begin with i should have nothing to do with him and there you sec said mr you have daniel all over a very honorable character oh yes to be sure not a doubt of it odd but very honorable yery odd though now would you said mr with a hearty enjoyment of his friend s that i had a whole morning in what s his yard bleeding heart a whole morning in bleeding heart yard before i could induce him to pursue the subject at all how was that how was that my friend i no sooner mentioned your name in connection with it than he declared off declared off on my account i no sooner mentioned name than he said that will never do what did he mean by that i asked him no matter that would never do why would it never do you ll hardly believe it said mr laughing within himself but it came out that it would never do because you and he walking down to together had glided into a in the course of which he had referred to his intention of taking a partner supposing at the time that you were as firmly and finally settled as saint paul s cathedral whereas says he mr might now believe if i entertained his proposition that i had a sinister and motive in what was open free speech which i can t bear says he which i really am too proud to bear i should as soon suspect of course you would interrupted mr and so i told him but it took a morning to scale that wall and i doubt if any little other man than myself he likes me of old could have got his it well this business like obstacle surmounted he then that before with you i should look over the form my own opinion i looked over the books and formed my own opinion is it on the whole for or against says he for says i then says he you may now my good friend give mr the means of forming his opinion to enable him to do which without bias and with perfect freedom i shall go out of town for a week and he s gone said mr that s the rich conclusion of the thing leaving me said with a high sense i must say of his and his mr struck in i should think so it was not exactly the word on s lips but he to interrupt his good humoured friend and now added mr you can begin to look into matters as soon as you think proper i have undertaken to explain where you may want explanation but to be strictly impartial and to do nothing more they began their in bleeding heart yard that same little peculiarities were easily to be detected by experienced eyes in mr s way of managing his affairs but they almost always involved some ingenious of a difficulty and some plain road to the desired end that his papers were in and that he stood in need of assistance to develop the capacity of his business was clear enough but all the results of his during many years were distinctly set forth and were with ease nothing had been done for the purposes of the investigation everything was in its genuine working dress and in a certain honest rugged order the calculations and in his own hand of which there were many were written and with no very neat precision but were always plain and directed straight to the purpose it occurred to arthur that a far more elaborate and taking show of business such as the records of the office made perhaps might be far less serviceable as being meant to be far less intelligible three or four days of steady application rendered him master of all the facts it was essential to become acquainted with mr was at hand the whole time always ready to any dim place with the bright little safety lamp belonging to the scales and between them they agreed upon the sum it would be fair to offer for the purchase of a half share in the business and then mr a paper in which daniel had noted the amount at which he valued it which was even something less thus when daniel came back he found the affair as good as concluded and i may now mr said he with a cordial shake of the hand that if i had looked high and low for a partner i believe i could not have found one more to my mind | 8 |
i say the same said and i say of both of you added mr that you are well matched you keep him in check with your common sense and you stick to the works dan with your v little uncommon sense suggested daniel with his quiet smile you may call it so if you like and each of you will be a right hand to the other here s my own right hand upon it as a practical man to both of you the purchase was completed within a month it left arthur in possession of private personal means not exceeding a few hundred pounds but it opened to him an active and promising career the three friends dined together on the occasion the factory and the factory wives and children made holiday and dined too even bleeding heart yard dined and was full of meat two months had barely gone by in all when bleeding heart yard had become so familiar with short again that the treat was forgotten there when nothing seemed new in the but the paint of the inscription on the door posts and when it appeared even to himself that he had had the affairs of the firm in his mind for years the little counting house reserved for his own occupation was a room of wood and glass at the end of a long low filled with benches and vices and tools and and wheels which when they were in gear with the steam engine went tearing round as though they had a mission to grind the business to dust and tear the factory to pieces a communication of great in the floor and roof with the above and the below made a shaft of light in this perspective which brought to s mind the child s old picture book where similar rays were the witnesses of s murder the noises were sufficiently removed and shut out from the counting house to into a busy hum with and the patient figures at work were with the of iron and steel that danced on every bench and up through every in the the was arrived at by a step ladder from the outer yard below where it served as a shelter for the large where tools were sharpened the whole had at once a fanciful and practical air in s eyes which was a welcome change and as often as he raised them from his first work of getting the array of business documents into perfect order he glanced at these things with a feeling of pleasure in his pursuit that was new to him his eyes thus one day he was surprised to see a bonnet laboring up the step ladder the unusual apparition was followed by another bonnet he then perceived that the first bonnet was on the head of mr p s aunt and that the second bonnet was on the head of who seemed to have her up the steep ascent with considerable difficulty though not altogether at the sight of these visitors lost no time in opening the counting house door and them from the a rescue which was rendered the more necessary by mr i s aunt already stumbling over some and menacing steam power as an institution with a stony she carried good gracious arthur i should say mr far more proper the climb we have had to get up here and how ever to get o little down again without a fire escape and mr f s aunt slipping through the steps and bruised all over and you in the machinery and way too only think and never told us thus out of breath meanwhile f s aunt rubbed her esteemed with her umbrella and glared most unkind never to have come back to see us since that day though naturally it was not to be expected that there should be any attraction at our house and you were much more pleasantly engaged that s pretty certain and is she fair or dark blue eyes or black i wonder not that i expect that she should be anything but a perfect contrast to me in all particulars for i am a as i very well know and you are quite right to be devoted no doubt though what i am saying arthur never mind i hardly know myself good gracious by this time he had placed chairs for them in the counting house as dropped into hers she bestowed the old look upon him and to think of and and who do r ce can be said delightful man no doubt and married perhaps or perhaps a daughter now has he really then one understands the and sees it all don t tell me anything about it for i know i have no claim to ask the question the golden chain that once was being snapped and very proper put her hand tenderly on his and gave him another of the youthful glances dear arthur force of habit mr every way more delicate and adapted to existing circumstances i must beg to be excused for taking the liberty of this intrusion but i thought i might so far presume upon old times for ever faded never more to bloom as to call with mr f s aunt to congratulate and offer best wishes a great deal superior to china not to be denied and much nearer though higher up i am very happy to see you said and i thank you very much for your kind remembrance more than i can say myself at any rate returned for i might have been dead and buried twenty distinct times over and no doubt whatever should have been before you had remembered me or anything like it in spite of which one last remark i wish to make one last explanation i wish to offer my dear mrs arthur remonstrated in alarm oh not | 8 |
that disagreeable name say is it worth troubling yourself afresh to enter into explanations i assure you none are needed i am satisfied i am perfectly satisfied a diversion was occasioned here by mr f s aunt making the following inexorable and awful statement there s mile stones on the road with such mortal hostility towards the human race did she discharge this that was quite at a loss how to defend himself the rather as he had been already perplexed in his mind by the honor of a visit from this venerable lady when it was plain she held him in the utmost he could not but little look at her with as she sat breathing bitterness and scorn and staring away however received the remark as if it had been of a most and agreeable nature observing aloud that mr f s aunt had a great deal of spirit stimulated either by this compliment or by her burning indignation that illustrious woman then added let him meet it if he can and with a rigid movement of her stony an of great size and of a appearance indicated that was the unfortunate person at whom the challenge was hurled one last remark resumed i was going to say i wish to make one last explanation i wish to mr f s aunt and myself would not have on business hours mr f having been in business and though the wine trade still business is equally business call it what you will and business habits are just the same as witness mr f himself who had his slippers always on the mat at ten minutes before six in the afternoon and his boots inside the at ten minutes before eight in the morning to the moment in all light or dark would not therefore have without a motive which being kindly meant it may be hoped will be kindly taken arthur mr far more proper even and probably more pray say nothing in the way of apology arthur entreated you are always welcome very polite of you to say so arthur cannot remember mr until the word is out such is the habit of times for ever fled and so true it is that oft in the night ere slumber s chain has bound people fond memory brings the light of other days around people very polite but more polite than true i am afraid for to go into the machinery business without so much as sending a line or a card to papa i don t say me though there was a time but that is past and stern reality has now my gracious never mind does not look like it you must confess even s seemed to have fled on this occasion she was so much more and than in the preceding interview though indeed she hurried on nothing else is to be expected and why should it be expected and if it s not to be expected why should it be and i am far from you or any one when your and my papa worried us to death and severed the golden bowl i mean bond but i dare say you i mean and if you don t you don t lose much and care just as little i will venture to add when they severed the golden bond that bound us and threw us into fits of crying on the sofa nearly choked at least myself thing was changed and in giving my hand to mr f i know i did so with my eyes open but he was so very unsettled and in such low spirits that he had alluded to the river if not oil of something from the s and l did it for the best my good we settled that before it was all quite right it s perfectly clear you think so returned for you take it very coolly if i hadn t known it to be china i should have guessed the regions dear mr you are right however and little i cannot blame you but as to and papa s property being about here we heard it from and but for him we never should have heard one word about it i am satisfied to no don t say that what nonsense not to say it arthur and easier and less trying to me than mr when i know it and you know it too and can t deny it but i do deny it i should soon have made you a friendly visit ah said tossing her head i dare say and she gave him another of the old looks however when told us i made up my mind that mr f s aunt and i would come and call because when papa which was before that happened to mention her name to me and to say that you were interested in her i said at the moment good gracious why not have her here then when there s anything to do instead of putting it out when you say her observed by this time pretty well bewildered do you mean mr f s my goodness arthur and really easier to me with old who ever heard of mr f s aunt doing and going out by the day going out by the day do you speak of little why yes of course returned and of all the strangest names i ever heard the strangest like a place down in the country with a or a favorite pony or a or a bird or something from a seed shop to be put in a garden or a flower pot and come up then said arthur with a sudden interest in the conversation mr was so kind as to mention little to you was he what did he say oh you | 8 |
know what papa is rejoined and how he sits looking beautiful and turning his over and over one another till he makes one giddy if one keeps one s eyes upon him he said when we were talking of you i don t know who began the subject arthur and but i am sure it wasn t me at least i hope not but you really must excuse my more on that point certainly said arthur by all means you are very ready coming to a sudden stop in a that i must admit papa said you had spoken of her in an earnest way and i said what i have told you and that s all that s all said arthur a little disappointed except that when told us of your having embarked in this business and with difficulty persuaded us that it was really you i said to mr f s aunt then we would come and ask you if it would be agreeable to all parties that she should be engaged at our house when required for i know she often goes to your s and i know that your has a very temper arthur and or i never might have married mr f and might have been at this hour but i am running into nonsense little it was very kind of you to think of this poor rejoined with a plain sincerity which became her better than her youngest glances that she was glad he thought so she said it with so much heart that would have given a great deal to buy his old character of her on the spot and throw it and the away for ever i think he said that the employment you can give little and the kindness you can show her yes and i will said quickly i am sure of it will be a great assistance and support to her i do not feel that i have the right to tell you what i know of her for i acquired the knowledge and under circumstances that bind me to silence but i have an interest in the little creature and a respect for her that i cannot express to you her life has been one of such trial and devotion and such quiet goodness as you can scarcely imagine i can hardly think of her far less speak of her without feeling moved let that feeling represent what i could tell you and commit her to your friendliness with my thanks once more he put out his hand frankly to poor once more poor couldn t accept it frankly found it worth nothing openly must make the old and mystery of it as much to her own enjoyment as to his dismay she covered it with a corner of her shawl as she took it then looking towards the glass front of the and seeing two figures approaching she cried with infinite relish papa hush arthur for mercy s sake and back to her chair with an amazing imitation of being in danger of in the dread surprise and flutter of her spirits the meanwhile came beaming towards the counting house in the wake of opened the door for him him in and retired to his own in a corner i heard from said the with his benevolent smile that she was coming to call coming to call and being out i thought i d come also thought i d come also the wisdom he into this declaration not of itself profound by means of his blue eyes his shining head and his long white hair was most impressive it seemed worth putting down among the noblest sentiments by the best of men also when he said to himself in the proffered chair and you are in a new business mr i wish you well sir i wish you well he seemed to have done benevolent wonders mrs has been telling me sir said arthur after making his the of the late mr f meanwhile protesting with a gesture against his use of that respectable name that she hopes occasionally to employ the young you recommended to my mother for which i have been thanking her the turning his head in a way towards that assistant put up the note book in which he had been absorbed and took him in tow you didn t recommend her you know said how could you you knew nothing about her you didn t the name was mentioned to you and you passed it on that s what you did little well said as she any recommendation it is much the same thing you are glad she turns out well said but it wouldn t have been your fault if she had turned out ill the credit s not yours as it is and the blame wouldn t have been yours as it might have been you gave no you knew nothing about her you are not acquainted then said arthur a random question with any of her family acquainted with any of her family returned how should you be acquainted with any of her family you never heard of em you can t be acquainted with people you never heard of can you you should think not all this time the sat serenely smiling nodding or shaking his head as the case required as to being a reference said you know in a general way what being a reference means it s all your eye that is look at your tenants down the yard here they d all be for one another if you d let em what would be the good of letting em it s no satisfaction to be done by two men instead of one one s enough a person who can t pay get s another person who can t pay to that he can pay like a person with two wooden | 8 |
legs getting another person with two wooden legs to that he has got two natural legs it don t make either of them able to do a walking match and four wooden legs are more troublesome to you than two when you don t want any mr concluded by blowing off that steam of his a momentary silence that ensued was broken by mr f s aunt who had been sitting upright in a state since her last public remark she now a violent calculated to produce a startling effect on the nerves of the and with the observed you can t make a head and brains out of a brass with nothing in it you couldn t do it when your uncle george was living much less when he s dead mr was not slow to reply with his usual calmness indeed ma am bless my soul i m surprised to hear it despite his presence of mind however the speech of mr f s aunt produced a effect on the little assembly because it was impossible to disguise that s head was the particular temple of reason and secondly because nobody ever knew on these occasions whose uncle george was referred to or what presence might be under that therefore said though still not without a certain triumph in her that mr f s aunt was very lively today and she thought they had better go but mr f s aunt proved so lively as to take the suggestion in unexpected and declare that she would not go adding with several injurious expressions that if he too evidently meaning wanted to get rid of her let him her out of and expressing her desire to see him perform that ceremony little in this mr whose resources appeared equal to any emergency in the waters slipped on his hat slipped out at the counting house door and slipped in again a moment afterwards with an artificial freshness upon him as if ho had been in the country for some weeks why bless my heart ma am said mr rubbing up his hair in great astonishment is that you how do you do ma am you are looking charming to day i am delighted to see you favor me with your arm ma am we ll have a little walk together you and me if you ll honor me with your company and so escorted mr f s aunt down the private staircase of the with great gallantry and success the mr then rose with the air of having done it himself and followed leaving his daughter as she followed in her turn to remark to her former lover in a distracted whisper which she very much enjoyed that they had drained the cup of life to the and further to hint mysteriously that the late mr f was at the bottom of it alone again became a prey to his old doubts in reference to his mother and little and the old thoughts and suspicions they were all in his mind themselves with the duties he was mechanically when a shadow on his papers caused him to look up for the cause the cause was mr with his hat thrown back upon his ears as if his of hair had darted up like springs and cast it off with his jet black beads of eyes sharp with the of his right hand in his mouth that he might bite the nails and with the fingers of his left hand in reserve in his pocket for another course mr cast his shadow through the glass upon the books and papers mr asked with a little inquiring twist of his head if he might come in again replied with a nod of his head in the affirmative mr worked his way in came alongside the desk made himself fast by leaning his arms upon it and started conversation with a puff and a mr p s aunt is appeased i hope said all right sir said i am so unfortunate as to have awakened a strong in the breast of that lady said do you know why does she know why said i suppose not suppose not said he took out his note book opened it shut it dropped it into his hat which was beside him on the desk and looked in at it as it lay at the bottom of the hat all with a great appearance of consideration mr he then began i am in want of information sir connected with this firm asked no said with what then mr that is to say assuming that you want it of me yes sir yes i want it of you said if i can persuade you to furnish it a b c d da de di do dictionary order that s the name sir mr blew off his peculiar noise again and fell to at his little right hand nails arthur looked at him he returned the look i don t understand you mr that s the name that i want to know about and what do you want to know whatever you can and will tell me this comprehensive summary of his desires was not discharged without some heavy laboring on the part of mr s machinery this is a singular visit mr it strikes me as rather extraordinary that you should come with such an object to me it may be all extraordinary together returned m it may be out of the ordinary course and yet be business in short it is business i am a man of business what business have i in this present world except to stick to business no business with his former doubt whether this dry hard personage were quite in earnest again turned his eyes attentively upon his face it was as and dingy as ever and as eager and quick as ever and he could see nothing lurking | 8 |
in it that was at all expressive of a latent mockery that had seemed to strike upon his ear in the voice now said to put this business on its own footing it s not my proprietor s do you refer to mr as your proprietor nodded my proprietor put a case say at my proprietor s i hear name name of young person mr wants to serve say name first mentioned to my proprietor by in the yard say i go to say i ask as a matter of business for information say though six weeks in to my proprietor say mrs say both refer to mr put the case well well sir returned say i come to him say here i am with those of hair sticking up all over his head and his breath coming and going very hard and short the busy fell back a step in took half a turn as if to show his dingy complete then ahead again and directed his quick glance by turns into his hat where his note book was and into s face mr not to on your ground of mystery i will be as plain with you as i can let me ask two questions all right said holding up his dirty forefinger with its broken nail i see what s your motive exactly motive said good nothing to do with my proprietor not at present ridiculous to state at present but good desiring to serve young person name of said with his forefinger still up as a caution better admit motive to be good secondly and lastly what do you to know mr up his note book before the question was put and it with care in an inner breast pocket and looking straight at all the time replied with a pause and a puff i want information of any sort little d t could not withhold a smile as the panting little steam so useful to that ship the waited on and watched him as if it were seeking an opportunity of running in and him of all it wanted before he could resist its though there was that in mr s eagerness too which awakened many wondering speculations in his mind after a little consideration he resolved to supply mr with such leading information as it was in his power to impart to him well knowing that mr if he failed in his present was pretty sure to find other means of getting it he therefore first mr to remember his voluntary declaration that his proprietor had no part in the disclosure and that his own intentions were good two which that little gentleman with the greatest repeated openly told him that as to the or former place of habitation he had no information to communicate and that his knowledge of the family did not extend beyond the fact that it appeared to be now reduced to five members namely to two brothers of whom one was single and one a with three children the ages of the whole family he made known to mr as nearly as he could guess at them and finally he described to him the position of the of the and the course of time and events through which he had become invested with that character to all this mr and blowing in a more and more manner as he became more interested listened with great attention appearing to derive the most agreeable sensations from the parts of the narrative and particularly to be quite charmed by the account of william s long imprisonment in conclusion mr said arthur i have but to say this i have reasons beyond a personal regard for speaking as little as i can of the family particularly at my mother s house mr nodded and for as much as i can so devoted a man of business as you are eh for mr had suddenly made that blowing effort with unusual force it s nothing said so devoted a man of business as yourself has a perfect understanding of a fair bargain i wish to make a fair bargain with you that you shall me concerning the family when you have it in your power as i have enlightened you it may not give you a very flattering idea of my business habits that i failed to make my terms beforehand continued but i prefer to make them a point of honor i have seen so much business done on sharp principles that to tell you the truth mr i am tired of them mr laughed it s a bargain sir said he you shall find me stick to it after that he stood a little while looking at and biting his ten nails all round evidently while he fixed in his mind what he had been told and went over it carefully before the means of supplying a gap in his memory should be no longer at hand it s little it all right he said at last and now i ll wish yon good day as it s collecting day in the yard the bye though a lame foreigner with a stick aye aye you do take a reference sometimes i sec said when he can pay sir replied take all you can get and keep back all you can t be forced to give up that s business the lame foreigner with the stick wants a top room down the yard is he good for it i am said and i will answer for him that s enough what i must have of bleeding heart yard said making a note of the case in his book is my bond i want my bond you see pay up or produce your property that s the down the yard the lame foreigner with the stick represented that you sent him but he could represent as far as that goes that the | 8 |
great sent him he has been in the hospital i believe yes through having met with an accident he is only just now discharged it s a man sir i have been shown to let him into a hospital said and again blew off that remarkable sound i have been shown so too said coldly mr being by that time quite ready for a start got under steam in a moment and without any other signal or ceremony was down the step ladder and working into bleeding heart yard before he seemed to be well out of the counting house throughout the remainder of the day bleeding heart yard was in consternation as the grim in it the inhabitants on their in respect of payment demanding his bond breathing notices to quit and running down sending a swell of terror on before him and leaving it in his wake knots of people impelled by a fatal attraction outside any house in which he was known to be listening for fragments of his to the inmates and when he was to be coming down the stairs often could not so quickly but that he would be in among them demanding their own and them to the spot throughout the remainder of the day mr s what were they up to and what did they mean by it sounded all over the yard mr wouldn t hear of excuses wouldn t hear of complaints wouldn t hear of wouldn t hear of anything but money down and puffing and darting about in eccentric directions and becoming and every moment he lashed the tide of the yard into a most agitated and state it had not settled down into calm water again full two hours after he had been seen away on the horizon at the top of the steps there were several small of the bleeding hearts at the popular points of meeting in the yard that night among whom it was universally agreed that mr was a hard man to have to do with and that it was much to be regretted so it was that a gentleman like mr should put his rents in his hands and never know him in his true light for said the bleeding hearts if a gentleman with that head of hair and them eyes took his rents into his own hands little ma am there would be none of this and wearing and things would be very different at which identical evening hour and minute the who had floated serenely through the yard in the before the began with the express design of getting up this in his shining and silken locks at which identical hour and minute that first rate of a thousand guns was heavily in the little dock of his exhausted at home and was saying as he turned his a very bad day s work very bad day s work it seems to me sir and i must insist on making the observation forcibly in justice to myself that you ought to have got much more money much more money fortune telling little received a call that same evening from mr who having intimated that he wished to speak to her privately in a series of so very noticeable as to favor the idea that her father as regarded her occupation was an illustration of the that there are no such stone blind men as those who will not see obtained an audience with her on the common staircase outside the door there s been a lady at our place to day miss growled and another one along with her as is a old if ever i met with such the way she snapped a person s head off dear me the mild was at first quite unable to get his mind away from mr p s aunt said he to excuse himself she is i do assure you the party at length by a great effort he detached himself from the subject sufficiently to observe put she s neither here nor there just at present the other lady she s mr s daughter and if mr an t well off none better it an t through any fault of as to he does he really does he indeed mr after his usual manner was a little obscure but emphatic and what she come to our place for he pursued was to leave word that if miss would step up to that card which it s mr s house that is and he has a office at the back where he really does beyond belief she would be glad for to engage her she was a old and a dear friend she said particular of mr and hoped for to prove herself a useful friend to his friend them was her words wishing to know whether miss could come little to morrow morning i said i would see you miss and inquire and look round there to night to say yes or if you was engaged tomorrow when i can go to morrow thank you said little this is very kind of you but you are always kind mr with a modest of his merits opened the room door for her re admission and followed her in with such an exceedingly bald pretence of not having been out at all that her father might have it without being very suspicious in his however he took no heed after a little conversation in which he blended his former duty as a with his present privilege as a humble outside friend qualified again by his low estate as a took his leave making the tour of the prison before he left and looking on at a game of with the mixed feelings of an old who had his private reasons for believing that it might be his destiny to come back again early in the morning little leaving | 8 |
make a good breakfast while i go in with the tray she disappeared leaving little to over the meaning of her scattered words she soon came back again and at last began to take her own breakfast talking all the while you see my dear said measuring out a or two of some brown liquid that smelt like brandy and putting it into her tea i am obliged to be careful to follow the directions of my medical man though the flavor is anything but agreeable being a poor creature and it may be have never recovered the shock received in youth from too much giving way to crying in the next room when separated from arthur have you known him ion as soon as little comprehended that she had been asked this question for which time was necessary the galloping pace of her new having left her far behind she answered that she had known mr ever since his return to be sure you couldn t have known him before unless you had been in china or had neither of which is likely returned for travelling people usually get more or less mahogany and you are not at all so and as to corresponding what about that s very true unless tea so it was at his mother s was it really that you knew him first highly sensible and firm but dreadfully severe ought to be the mother of the man in the iron mask mrs has been kind to me said little really i am sure i am glad to hear it because as arthur s mother it s naturally pleasant to my feelings to have a better opinion of her than i had before though what she thinks of me when i run on as i am certain to do and she sits at me like fate in a shocking comparison really invalid and not her fault i never know or can imagine shall i find my work anywhere ma am asked little looking timidly about can i get it you industrious little fairy returned taking in another cup of tea another of the prescribed by her medical man there s not the slightest hurry and it s better that we should begin by being confidential about our mutual friend too cold a word for me at least i don t mean that very proper expression mutual friend than become through mere not you but me like the boy with the fox biting him which i hope you ll excuse my bringing up for of all the tiresome boys that will go tumbling into every sort of company that boy s the little her face very pale sat down again to listen hadn t i better work the while she asked i can work and attend toe i would rather if i may her earnestness was so expressive of her being uneasy without her work that answered well my dear whatever you like best and produced a basket of white handkerchiefs little gladly put it by her side took out her little pocket her needle and began to hem what fingers you have said but are you sure you are well little oh yes indeed put her feet upon the and settled herself for a thorough good romantic disclosure she started off at score tossing her head sighing in the most manner making a great deal of use of her eyebrows and occasionally but not often glancing at the quiet face that bent over the work you must know my dear said but that i have no doubt you know already not only because i have already thrown it out in a general way but because i feel i carry it stamped in burning what s his names upon my brow that before i was introduced to the late mr f i had been engaged to arthur mr in public where reserve is necessary arthur here we were all in all to one another it was the morning of life it was bliss it was it was everything else of that sort in the highest degree when rent asunder we turned to stone in which capacity arthur went to china and i became the statue bride of the late mr e uttering these words in a deep voice enjoyed herself immensely to paint said she the emotions of that morning when all was marble within and mr f s aunt followed in a glass coach which it stands to reason must have been in shameful repair or it never could have broken down two streets from the house and mr f s aunt brought home like the fifth of november in a rush chair i will not attempt suffice it to say that the hollow form of breakfast took place in the dining room down stairs that papa too freely of salmon was ill for weeks and that mr f and myself went upon a continental tour to where the people fought for us on the pier until they separated us though not for ever that was not yet to be the statue bride hardly pausing for breath went on with the greatest complacency in a rambling manner sometimes to flesh and blood i will draw a veil over that dreamy life mr f was in good spirits his appetite was good he liked the he considered the wine weak but and all was well we returned to the immediate neighbourhood of number thirty little street london and settled down ere we had yet fully detected the in selling the feathers out of the spare bed flying upwards with mr f to another sphere his with a glance at his portrait shook her head and wiped her eyes i the memory of mr f as an man and most indulgent husband only necessary to mention and it appeared or to hint at any little delicate thing | 8 |
to drink and it came like magic in a pint bottle it was not but it was comfort i returned to papa s roof and lived secluded if not happy during some years until one day papa came smoothly in and said that arthur awaited me below i went below and found him ask me not what i found him except that he was still unmarried still unchanged the dark mystery with which now herself might have stopped other fingers than the fingers that worked near her they worked on without pause and the busy head bent over them watching the little ask me not said if i love him still or if he still loves me or what the end is to be or when we are surrounded by watchful eyes and it may be that we are destined to pine asunder it may be never more to be not a word not a breath not a look to betray us all must be secret as the tomb wonder not therefore that even if i should seem comparatively cold to arthur or arthur should seem comparatively cold to me we have fatal reasons it is enough if we understand them hush all of which said with so much headlong vehemence as if she really believed it there is not much doubt that when she worked herself into full condition she did actually believe whatever she said in it hush repeated i have now told you all confidence is established between us hush for arthur s sake i will always be a friend to you my dear girl and in arthur s name you may always rely upon me the fingers laid aside the work and the little figure rose and kissed her hand u you are very cold said changing to her own natural kind hearted manner and gaining greatly by the change don t work to day i am sure you are not well i am sure you are not strong it is only that i feel a little overcome by j our kindness and by mr s kindness in confiding me to one he has known and loved so long well really my dear said who had a decided tendency to be always honest when she gave herself time to think about it it s as well to leave that alone now for i couldn t undertake to say after all but it doesn t signify lie down a little i have always been strong enough to do what i want to do and i shall be quite well directly returned little with a faint smile you have overpowered me with gratitude that s all if i keep near the window for a moment i shall be quite myself a window sat her in a chair and retired to her former place it was a windy day and the air stirring on little s face soon brightened it in a very few minutes she returned to her basket of work and her fingers were as as ever quietly pursuing her task she asked if mr had told her where she lived when replied in the negative little said that she understood why he had been so delicate but that she felt sure he would approve of her confiding her secret to and that she would therefore do so now with s permission an encouraging answer she the narrative of her life into a few scanty words about herself and a glowing upon her father and took it all in with a natural tenderness that quite understood it and in which there was no when dinner time came drew the arm of her new charge through hers led her stairs and presented her to the and mr who were already in the dining room waiting to begin mr f s aunt was for the time laid up in ordinary in her chamber by those gentlemen she was received according to their characters the appearing to do her some little service in saying that he was glad to see her glad to see her and mr blowing off his favorite as a in that new presence she would have been enough under any circumstances and particularly under s on her drinking a glass of wine and eating of the best that was there but her was greatly increased by mr the of that gentleman at first suggested to her mind that he might be a of so intently did he look at her and so frequently did he glance at the little note book by his side observing that he made no sketch however and that he talked about business only she began to have suspicions that he represented some of her father s the balance due to whom was noted in that from this point of view mr s expressed injury and impatience and each of his louder became a demand for payment but here again she was by and conduct on the part of mr himself she had left the table half an hour and was at work alone had gone to lie down in the next room with which retirement a smell of something to drink had broken out in the house the was fast asleep with his mouth open under a yellow pocket handkerchief in the dining room at this quiet time mr softly appeared before her nodding find it a little dull miss inquired in a low voice no thank you sir said little busy i see observed mr stealing into the room by inches what are those now miss handkerchiefs are they though said i shouldn t have thought it not in the least looking at them but looking at little perhaps you wonder who i am shall i tell you i am a fortune little now began to think he was mad i belong body and soul to my proprietor said you saw my proprietor having his dinner below but i do | 8 |
mysteries by making himself acquainted with tip in some unknown manner and taking a sunday into the college on that gentleman s arm throughout he never took any notice of little save once or twice when he happened to come close to her and there was no one very near on which occasions he said in passing with a friendly look and a puff of encouragement the fortune telling little worked and strove as usual wondering at all this but keeping her wonder as she had from her earliest years kept many heavier loads in her own breast a change had stolen and was stealing yet over the patient heart every day found her something more retiring than the day before to pass in and out of the prison unnoticed and elsewhere to be overlooked and forgotten were for herself her chief desires to her own room too strangely room for her delicate youth and character she was glad to retreat as often as she could without desertion of any duty there were afternoon times when she was when visitors dropped in to play a hand at cards with her father when she could be spared and was better away then she would along the yard climb the scores of stairs that led to her room and take her seat at the window many did those upon the wall assume many light shapes did the strong iron itself into many golden touches fell upon the while little sat there musing new sprung into the cruel pattern sometimes when she saw it through a burst of tears but or hardened still always over it and under it and through little it she was fain to look in her solitude seeing everything with that brand a garret and a garret without compromise was little s room beautifully kept it was ugly in itself and had little but cleanliness and air to set it off for what she had ever been able to buy had gone to her father s room for this poor place she showed an increasing love and to sit in it alone became her favorite rest that on a certain afternoon during the mysteries when she was seated at her window and heard s well known step coming up the stairs she was very much disturbed by the apprehension of being summoned away as s step came higher up and nearer she trembled and faltered and it was as much as she could do to speak when at length appeared please little mother said panting for breath you must come down and see him he s here who why o course mr he s in your father s room and he says to me will you be so kind as go and say it s only me i am not very well i had better not go i am going to lie down see i lie down now to ease my head say with my grateful regard that you left me so or i would have come well it an t very polite though little mother said the staring to turn your face away neither was very susceptible to personal and very ingenious in them putting both your hands afore your face too she went on if you can t bear the looks of a poor thing it would be better to tell her so at once and not go and shut her out like that her feelings and breaking her heart at ten year old poor thing it s to ease my head well and if you cry to ease your head little mother let me cry too don t go and have all the crying to yourself that an t not being greedy and immediately began to it was with some difficulty that she could be induced to go back with the excuse but the promise of being told a story of old her great delight on condition that she concentrated her faculties upon the errand and left her little mistress to herself for an hour longer combined with a on s part that she had left her good temper at the bottom of the staircase prevailed so away she went muttering her message all the way to keep it in her mind and at the appointed time came back he was very sorry i can tell you she announced and wanted to send a doctor and he s coming again to morrow he is and i don t think he ll have a good sleep to night along o hearing about your head little mother oh my ain t you been a crying i think i have a little a little oh but it s all over now all over for good and my head is much better and cooler and i am quite comfortable i am very glad i did not go down her great staring child tenderly embraced her and having e z e little smoothed her hair and bathed her forehead and eyes with cold water offices in which her awkward hands became skilful her again in her brighter looks and stationed her in her chair by the window over against this chair with exertions that were not at all required dragged the box which was her seat on story telling occasions sat down upon it her own knees and said with a appetite for stories and with eyes now little mother let s have a good un what shall it be about oh let s have a princess said and let her be a lar one beyond all belief you know little considered for a moment and with a rather sad smile upon her face which was flushed by the sunset began there was once upon a time a fine king and he had everything he could wish for and a great deal more he had gold and silver diamonds and riches of every kind he had palaces | 8 |
and he had interposed still nursing her knees let him have because they re so comfortable with lots of yes he had plenty of them and he had plenty of everything plenty of baked potatoes for instance said plenty of everything lor chuckled giving her knees a wasn t it prime this king had a daughter who was the wisest and most beautiful princess that ever was seen when she was a child she understood all her lessons before her masters taught them to her and when she was grown up she was the wonder of the world s t ow near the palace where this princess lived there was a cottage in which there was a poor little tiny woman who lived all alone by herself a old woman said with an of her lips no not an old woman quite a young one i wonder she warn t afraid said go on please the princess passed the cottage nearly every day and whenever she went by in her beautiful carriage she saw the poor tiny woman spinning at her wheel and she looked at the tiny woman and the tiny woman looked at her so one day she stopped the coachman a little way from the cottage and got out and walked on and peeped in at the door and there as usual was the tiny woman spinning at her wheel and she looked at the princess and the princess looked at her like trying to stare one another out said please go on little mother the princess was such a wonderful princess that she had the power of knowing secrets and she said to the tiny woman why do you keep it there this showed her directly that the princess knew why she lived all alone by herself spinning at her wheel and she down at the princess s feet and asked her never to betray her so the princess said i never will betray you let me see it so the tiny woman closed the of the cottage window and fastened the door and trembling from head to foot for fear that any one should little suspect her opened a very secret place and showed the princess a shadow lor said it was the shadow of some one who had gone hy long before of some one who had gone on far away quite out of reach never never to come back it was bright to look at and when the tiny woman showed it to the princess she was proud of it with all her heart as a great great treasure when the princess had considered it a little while she said to the tiny woman and you keep watch over this every day and she cast down her eyes and whispered yes then the princess said me why to which the other replied that no one so good and kind had ever passed that way and that was why in the beginning she said too that nobody missed it that nobody was the worse for it that some one had gone on to those who were expecting him some one was a man then interposed little timidly said yes she believed so and resumed had gone on to those who were expecting him and that this remembrance stolen or kept back from nobody the princess made answer ah but when the died it would be discovered there the tiny woman told her no when that time came it would sink quietly into her own grave and would never be found well to be sure said go on please the princess was very much astonished to hear this as you may suppose and well she might be said so she resolved to watch the tiny woman and see what came of it every day she drove in her beautiful carriage by the cottage door and there she saw the tiny woman always alone by herself spinning at her wheel and she looked at the tiny woman and the tiny woman looked at her at last one day the wheel was still and the tiny woman was not to be seen when the princess made inquiries why the wheel had stopped and where the tiny woman was she was informed that the wheel had stopped because there was nobody to turn it the tiny woman being dead they ought to have took her to the hospital said and then she d have got over it the princess after crying a very little for the loss of the tiny woman dried her eyes and got out of her carriage at the place where she had stopped it before and went to the cottage and peeped in at the door there was nobody to look at her now and nobody for her to look at so she went in at once to search for the shadow but there was no sign of it to be found anywhere and then she knew that the tiny woman had told her the truth and that it would never give any body any trouble and that it had sunk quietly into her own grave and that she and it were at rest together that s all the sunset flush was so bright on little s face when she came thus to the end of her story that she interposed her hand to shade it had she got to be old asked u the tiny woman little ah i don t know said little but it would have been just the same if she had been ever and ever so old would it said well i suppose it would though and sat staring and she sat so long with her eyes wide open that at length little to her from her box rose and looked out of window as she glanced down into the yard she saw come in and up with the corner of his eye as he went by who | 8 |
s he little mother said she had joined her at the window and was leaning on her shoulder i see him come in and out often i have heard him called a fortune said little but i doubt if he could tell many people even their past or present fortunes couldn t have told the princess hers said little looking down into the dark valley of the prison shook her head not the tiny woman hers said no said little with the sunset very bright upon her l but let us come away from the window chapter xxv and others the private residence of mr was in where he lodged on the second floor of a professional gentleman in an extremely small way who had an inner door within the street door poised on a spring and starting open with a click like a trap and who wrote up in the fan light general agent debts recovered this majestic in its severe simplicity illuminated a little slip of front garden on the thirsty high road where a few of the of leaves hung their dismal heads and led a life of choking a professor of writing occupied the first floor and the garden with glass cases containing choice examples of what his pupils had been before six lessons and while the whole of his young family shook the table and what they had become after six lessons when the young family was under restraint the of mr was limited to one airy bedroom he and agreeing with mr his landlord that in consideration of a certain scale of accurately defined and on certain verbal notice duly given he should be at liberty to elect to share the sunday breakfast dinner tea or supper or each or any or all of those or meals of mr and miss his daughter in the back parlor miss was a lady of a little property which she had acquired together with much distinction in the neighbourhood by having her heart severely and her feelings by a middle aged little d t baker resident in the vicinity against whom she had by the agency of mr found it necessary to proceed at law to recover for a breach of promise of marriage the baker having been by the counsel for miss on that occasion up to the full amount of twenty guineas at the rate of about an epithet and having been cast in corresponding still suffered occasional persecution from the youth of but miss by the majesty of the law and having her invested in the public was regarded with consideration in the society of mr who had a round white as if all his had been drawn out of him long ago and who had a ragged yellow head like a worn out hearth and in the society of miss who had little spots like shirt buttons all over her face and whose own yellow were rather than luxuriant mr had usually dined on sundays for some few years and had twice a week or so enjoyed an evening of bread dutch cheese and porter mr was one of the very few men for whom miss had no terrors the argument with which he re assured himself being that is to say that it wouldn t do twice and secondly that he wasn t worth it fortified within this double mr at miss on easy terms up to this time mr had little or no business at his quarters in except in the sleeping line but now that he had become a fortune he was often after midnight with mr in his little front parlor office and even after those hours burnt in his bedroom though his duties as his proprietor s were in no wise lessened and though that service bore no greater resemblance to a bed of roses than was to be discovered in its many thorns some new branch of industry made a constant demand upon him when he cast off the at night it was only to take an craft in tow and labor away afresh in other waters the advance from a personal acquaintance with the elder mr to an introduction to his amiable wife and son may have been easy but easy or not mr soon made it he in the bosom of the tobacco business within a week or two after his first appearance in the college and particularly addressed himself to the cultivation of a good understanding with young john in this endeavour he so as to that shepherd forth from the groves and tempt him to undertake mysterious on which he began to disappear at uncertain intervals for as long a space as two or three days together the prudent mrs who wondered greatly at this change would have protested against it as to the on the but for two forcible reasons one that her john was roused to take strong interest in the business which these starts were supposed to advance and this she held to be good for his drooping spirits the other that mr agreed to pay her for the occupation of her son s time at the handsome rate of seven and sixpence per day the proposal originated with himself and was in the terms little if your john is weak enough ma am not to take it that is no reason why you should be don t you see so quite between ourselves ma am business being business here it is what mr thought of these things or how much or how little he knew about them was never gathered from himself it has been already remarked that he was a man of few words and it may be here observed that he had a professional habit of everything up he locked himself up as carefully as he locked up the even his custom of his meals may have been a part of an uniform whole but | 8 |
there is no question that as to all other purposes he kept his mouth as he kept the door he never opened it without occasion when it was necessary to let anything out he opened it a little way held it open just as long as for the purpose and locked it again even as he would be of his trouble at the door and would keep a visitor who wanted to go out waiting for a few moments if he saw another visitor coming down the yard so that one turn of the key should suffice for both he would often reserve a remark if he perceived another on its way to his lips and would deliver himself of the two together as to any key to his inner knowledge being to be found in his face the key was as an index to the individual characters and histories upon which it was turned that mr should be moved to invite any one to dinner at was an fact in his but he invited young john to dinner and even brought him within range of the dangerous because expensive of miss the banquet was appointed for a sunday and miss with her own hands stuffed a leg of mutton with on the occasion and sent it to the baker s not the baker s but an opposition establishment provision of apples and nuts was also made and rum was brought home by mr on saturday night to the visitor s heart the store of creature comforts was not the chief part of the visitor s reception its special feature was a family confidence and sympathy when young john appeared at half past one without the ivory hand and waistcoat of golden the sun of his beams by disastrous clouds mr presented him to the yellow haired as the young man he had so often mentioned who loved miss i am glad said mr him specially in that character to have the distinguished gratification of making your acquaintance sir your feelings do you honor you are young may you never your feelings if i was to my own feelings sir said mr who was a man of many words and was considered to possess a remarkably good address if i was to my own feelings i d leave fifty pound in my will to the man who would put me out of existence miss heaved a sigh my daughter sir said mr you are no stranger to the state of this young man s affections my daughter has had her trials sir mr might have used the word more in the singular number and she can feel for you little young john almost overwhelmed by the touching nature of this greeting professed himself to that effect what i envy you sir is said mr allow me to take your hat we are rather short of i ll put it in the corner nobody will tread in it there what i envy you sir is the luxury of your own feelings i belong to a profession in which that luxury is sometimes denied us young john replied with that he only hoped he did what was right and what showed how entirely he was devoted to miss he wished to be unselfish and he hoped he was he wished to do anything as laid in his power to serve miss altogether putting himself out of sight and he hoped he did it was but little that he could do but he hoped he did it ri sir said mr taking him by the hand you are a young man that it does one good to come across you are a young man that i should like to put in the witness box to the minds of the legal profession i hope you have brought your appetite with you and intend to play a good knife and fork thank you sir returned young john i don t eat much at present mr drew him a little apart my daughter s case sir said he at the time when in of her outraged feelings and her sex she became the in and i suppose i could have put it in evidence mr if i had thought it worth my while that the amount of solid my daughter consumed at that period did not exceed ten per week i think i go a little beyond that sir returned the other hesitating as if he confessed it with some shame in your case there s no in human form said mr with smile and action of hand observe mr in human form no sir certainly young john added with simplicity i should be very sorry if there was the sentiment said mr is what i should have expected from your known principles it would affect my daughter greatly sir if she heard it as i perceive the mutton i am glad she didn t hear it mr on this occasion pray face me my dear face mr for what we are going to receive may we and miss be truly thankful but for a grave in mr s manner of delivering this introduction to the feast it might have appeared that miss was expected to be one of the company recognised the sally in his usual way and took in his in his usual way miss perhaps making up some of her likewise took very kindly to the mutton and it rapidly diminished to the bone a bread and butter entirely disappeared and a considerable amount of cheese and vanished by the same means then came the then also and before the of the rum and water came mr s note book the business proceedings were brief but curious and rather in the nature of a conspiracy mr looked little over his note book which was now getting full and picked out little which he wrote on separate slips of paper | 8 |
showed any ill humour still it was with a blunt instrument and that didn t count they believed that foreigners were always and though they had an occasional at home and now and then a divorce case or so that had nothing to do with it they believed that foreigners had no independent spirit as never being escorted to the in by lord little with colors flying and the tune of playing to be tedious they had many other of a similar kind against these obstacles the lame foreigner with the stick had to make head as well as he could not absolutely single handed because mr arthur had recommended him to the he lived at the top of the same house but still at heavy odds however the bleeding hearts were kind hearts and when they saw the little fellow cheerily about with a good humoured face doing no harm drawing no knives committing no outrageous living chiefly on and milk diet and playing with mrs pi s children of an evening they began to think that although he could never hope to be an englishman still it would be hard to visit that on his head they began to accommodate themselves to his level calling him mr but treating him like a baby and laughing at his lively gestures and his childish english more because he didn t mind it and laughed too they spoke to him in very loud voices as if he were stone deaf they constructed sentences by way of teaching him the language in its purity such as were addressed by the savages to captain cook or by friday to robinson mrs was particularly ingenious in this art and attained so much for saying me you leg well soon that it was considered in the yard but a very short remove indeed from speaking italian even mrs herself began to think that she had a natural call towards that language as he became more popular household objects were brought into for his instruction in a copious and whenever he appeared in the yard ladies would fly out at their doors crying mr mr dust pan mr flour mr at the same time exhibiting those articles and penetrating him with a sense of the appalling difficulties of the saxon tongue it was in this stage of his progress and in about the third week of his occupation that mr s fancy became attracted by the little man mounting to his attended by mrs as he found mr with no furniture but his bed on the ground a table and a chair carving with the aid of a few simple tools in the way possible now old chap said mr pay up he had his money ready folded in a scrap of paper and handed it in then with a free action threw out as many fingers of his right hand as there were shillings and made a cut in the air for an odd sixpence oh said mr watching him that s it is it you re a quick customer it s all right i didn t expect to receive it though mrs here interposed with great condescension and explained to mr e please e glad get money the little man smiled and nodded his bright face seemed uncommonly attractive to mr how s he getting on in his limb he asked mrs little oh he s a deal better sir said mrs we expect next week he be able to leave off his stick entirely the opportunity being too favourable to be lost mrs displayed her great accomplishment by explaining with pride to mr e you leg well soon he s a merry fellow too said mr admiring him as if he were a mechanical toy how does he live why sir rejoined mrs he turns out to have quite a power of carving them flowers that you see him at now mr watching their faces as they spoke held up his work mrs interpreted in her italian manner on behalf of mr e please double good can he live by that asked mr he can live on very little sir and it is expected as he will be able in time to make a very good living mr got it him to do and gives him odd besides in at the works next door makes em for him in short when he knows he wants em and what does he do with himself now when he ain t hard at it said mr why not much as yet sir on accounts i suppose of not being able to walk much but he goes about the yard and he without particular understanding or being understood and he plays with the children and he sits in the sun he ll sit down anywhere as if it was a and he ll sing and he ll laugh laugh echoed mr he looks to me as if every tooth in his head was always laughing but whenever he gets to the top of the steps at t other end of the yard said mrs he ll peep out in the way so that some of us thinks he s peeping out towards where his own country is and some of us thinks he s looking for somebody he don t want to see and some of us don t know what to think mr seemed to have a general understanding of what or perhaps his quickness caught and applied her slight action of peeping in any case he closed his eyes and tossed his head with the air of a man who had his sufficient reasons for what he did and said in his own tongue it didn t matter what s said hem it s a sort of a general kind of a expression sir said mrs is it said why then to you old chap good afternoon | 8 |
mr in his way repeating the word several times mr in his way gave it him back once that time it became a frequent custom with the as he went home at night to pass round by bleeding heart yard go quietly up the stairs look in at mr s door and finding him in his room to say old chap to which mr would reply with innumerable bright and smiles after this highly conversation mr would go his way with an appearance of being lightened and refreshed little chapter nobody s state of mind if arthur had not arrived at that wise decision firmly to restrain himself from loving pet he would have lived on in a state of much perplexity struggles with his own heart not the least of these would have been a always within it between a tendency to dislike mr henry if not to regard him with positive and a whisper that the inclination was unworthy a generous nature is not prone to strong and is slow to admit them even but when it finds ill will gaining upon it and can discern between that its origin is not such a nature becomes distressed therefore mr henry would have clouded s mind and would have been far oftener present to it than more agreeable persons and subjects but for the great prudence of his as it was mr seemed transferred to daniel s mind at all events it so happened that it usually fell to mr s turn rather than to s to speak of him in the friendly conversations they held together these were of frequent occurrence now as the two partners shared a portion of a house in one of the grave old fashioned city streets lying not far from the bank of england by london wall mr had been to to pass the day had excused himself mr was just come home he put in his head at the door of s sitting room to say good night come in come in said i saw you were reading returned as he entered and thought you might not care to be disturbed put for the notable resolution he had made really might not have known what he had been reading really might not have had his eyes upon the book for an hour past though it lay open before him he shut it up rather quickly are they well he asked yes said they are well they are all well daniel had an old habit of carrying his pocket handkerchief in his hat he took it out and wiped his forehead with it slowly repeating they are all well miss looking particularly well i thought any company at the cottage no no company and how did you get on you four asked gaily there were five of us returned his partner there was what s his name he was there who is he said little mr henry ah to be sure cried with unusual vivacity yes i forgot him as i mentioned you may remember said daniel he is always there on sunday yes yes returned i remember now daniel still wiping his forehead repeated yes he was there he was there oh yes he was there and his dog he was there too miss is quite attached to the dog observed quite so assented his partner more attached to the dog than i am to the man you mean mr i mean mr most decidedly said daniel there was a gap in the conversation which devoted to winding up his watch perhaps you are a little hasty in your judgment he said our judgments i am supposing a general case of course said are so liable to be influenced by many considerations which almost without our knowing it are unfair that it is necessary to keep a guard upon them for instance mr quietly said upon whom the utterance of the name almost always is young and handsome easy and quick has talent and has seen a good deal of various kinds of life it might be difficult to give an unselfish reason for being against him not difficult for me i think returned his partner i see him bringing present anxiety and i fear future sorrow into my old friend s house i see him wearing deeper lines into my old friend s face the nearer he draws to and the oftener he looks at the face of his daughter in short i see him with a net about the pretty and affectionate creature whom he will never make happy we don t know said almost in the tone of a man in pain that he will not make her happy we don t know returned his partner that the earth will last another hundred years but we think it highly probable well well said we must be hopeful and we must at least try to be if not generous which in this case we have no opportunity of being just we will not this gentleman because he is successful in his addresses to the beautiful object of his ambition and we will not question her natural right to bestow her love on one whom she finds worthy of it may be my friend said maybe also that she is too young and too confiding and inexperienced to well that said would be far beyond our power of daniel shook his head gravely and rejoined i fear so therefore in a word said we should make up our little d t minds that it is not worthy of us to say any ill of mr go wan it would be a poor thing to gratify a prejudice against him and i resolve for my part not to him i am not quite so sure of myself and therefore i reserve my privilege of to him returned the other but if i am not sure of myself i | 8 |
am sure of you and i know what an upright man you are and how much to be respected good night my friend and partner he shook his hand in saying this as if there had been something serious at the bottom of their conversation and they separated by this time they had visited the family on several occasions and had always observed that even a passing allusion to mr henry when he was not among them brought back the cloud which had obscured mr s sunshine on the morning of the chance encounter at the if had ever admitted the forbidden passion into his breast this period might have been a period of real trial under the actual circumstances doubtless it was nothing nothing equally if his heart had given entertainment to that guest his silent fighting of his way through the mental condition of this period might have been a little in the constant effort not to be betrayed into a new phase of the sin of his experience the pursuit of selfish objects by low and small means and to hold instead to some high principle of honor and generosity there might have been a little merit in the resolution not even to avoid mr s house lest in the selfish of himself he should bring any slight distress upon the daughter through making her the cause ot an which he believed the father would regret there might have been a little merit in the modest of always keeping in view the greater equality of mr s years and the greater attractions of his person and manner there might have been a little merit in doing all this and much more in a perfectly unaffected way and with a and composed constancy while the pain within him peculiar as his life and history was very sharp there might have been some quiet strength of character but after the resolution he had made of course he could have no such merits as these and such a state of mind was nobody s nobody s mr made it no concern of his whether it was nobody s or somebody s he preserved his perfect serenity of manner on all occasions as if the possibility of s to have the great question were too distant and ridiculous to be imagined he had always an to bestow on and an ease to treat him with which might of itself in the case of his not having taken that sagacious course have been a very uncomfortable element in his state of mind i quite regret you were not with us yesterday said mr henry calling on next morning we had an agreeable day up the river there so he had heard arthur said from your partner returned henry what a dear old fellow he is i have a great regard for him q little by jove he is the finest creature said go wan so fresh so green in such wonderful things here was one of the many little rough points that had a tendency to grate on s hearing he put it aside hy merely repeating that he had a high regard for mr he is charming to see him along to that time of life laying down nothing by the way and picking up nothing by the way is delightful it a man so so simple such a good soul upon my life mr one feels desperately worldly and wicked in comparison with such an innocent creature i speak for myself let me add without including you you are genuine also thank you for the compliment said ill at ease you are too i hope so so rejoined the other to be candid with you tolerably i am not a great buy one of my pictures and i assure you in confidence it will not be worth the money buy one of another man s any great professor who beats me hollow and the chances are that the more you give him the more he ll impose upon you they all do it all painters painters writers all the rest who have stands in the market give almost any man i know ten pounds and he will impose upon you to a corresponding extent a thousand pounds to a corresponding extent ten thousand pounds to a corresponding extent so great the success so great the but what a capital world it is cried go wan with warm enthusiasm what a jolly excellent world it is i had rather thought said that the principle you mention was chiefly acted on by by the interrupted go wan laughing by the political gentlemen who condescend to keep the office ah don t be hard upon the said laughing afresh they are darling fellows even poor little the born idiot of the family is the most agreeable and most and by with a kind of cleverness in him too that would astonish you it would veiy much said and after all cried with that characteristic of his which reduced everything in the wide world to the same light weight though i can t deny that the office may ultimately everybody and everything still that will probably not be in our time and it s a school for gentlemen it s a very dangerous unsatisfactory and expensive school to the people who pay to keep the pupils there i am afraid said shaking his head ah you are a terrible fellow returned i can understand how you have frightened that little donkey the most of i really love him nearly out of his wits but enough of him and of all the rest of them i want to present you to my mother mr pray do me the favor to give me the opportunity little in nobody s state of mind there was nothing would have desired less or would have been more at a loss how to | 8 |
avoid my mother lives in the most primitive manner down in that dreary red brick at court said go wan if you would make your own appointment suggest your own day for permitting me to take you there to dinner you would be bored and she would be charmed really that s the state of the case what could say after this his retiring character included a great deal that was simple in the best sense because and unused and in his simplicity and modesty he could only say that he was happy to place himself at mr go wan s disposal accordingly he said it and the day was fixed and a dreaded day it was on his part and a very unwelcome day when it came and they went down to court together the venerable inhabitants of that venerable pile seemed in those times to be there like a sort of there was a temporary air about their as if they were going away the moment they could get anything better there was also a dissatisfied air about themselves as if they took it very ill that they had not already got something much better genteel blinds and make were more or less as soon as their doors were opened not half high enough which made dining rooms out of arched passages and off obscure corners where slept at night with their heads among the knives and forks curtains which called upon you to believe that they didn t hide anything panes of glass which requested you not to see them many objects of various forms to have no with their guilty secret a bed disguised traps in walls which were clearly coal of no which were evidently doors to little mental and artful mysteries grew out of these things looking steadily into the eyes of their pretended not to smell cooking three feet off people accidentally left open pretended not to see bottles visitors with their heads against a of thin canvas and a page and a young female at high words on the other side made believe to be sitting in a silence there was no end to the small social accommodation bills of this nature which the of were constantly drawing upon and accepting for one another some of these were of an irritable temperament as constantly and vexed by two mental trials the first the consciousness that they had never got enough out of the public the second the consciousness that the public were admitted into the building under the latter great wrong a few suffered dreadfully particularly on sundays when they had for some time expected the earth to open and swallow the public up but which desirable event had not yet occurred in consequence of some in the arrangements of the universe mrs s door was attended by a family servant of several years standing who had his own crow to pluck with the public concerning a situation in the post office which he had been for some time expecting and to which he was not yet appointed he perfectly knew that the public could never have got him in but he grimly gratified little ut himself with the idea that the public kept him out under the influence of this injury and perhaps of some little and in the matter of wages he had grown of his person and in mind and now beholding in one of the degraded body of his received him with mrs however received him with condescension he found her a old lady formerly a beauty and still sufficiently to have with the powder on her nose and a certain impossible bloom under each eye she was a little lofty with him so was another old lady dark and high and who must have had something real about her or she could not have existed but it was certainly not her hair or her teeth or her figure or her complexion so was a grey old gentleman of dignified and sullen appearance both of whom had come to dinner but as they had all been in the british way in sundry parts of the earth and as a british cannot better establish a character with the office than by treating its with contempt else it would become like the of other countries felt that on the whole they let him off lightly the dignified old gentleman turned out to be lord who had been maintained by the office for many years as a representative of the majesty abroad this noble had several european courts in his time and had done it with such complete success that the very name of englishman yet struck cold to the of foreigners who had the distinguished honor of remembering him at a distance of a quarter of a century he was now in retirement and hence in a ponderous white like a stiff snow drift was so obliging as to shade the dinner there was a whisper of the character in the nature of the service and its curious races of plates and dishes but the noble infinitely better than plate or made it superb he shaded the dinner cooled the chilled the and the vegetables there was only one other person in the room a small who waited on the man who hadn t got into the post office even this youth if his jacket could have been and his heart laid bare would have been seen as a distant of the family already to to a situation under government mrs with a gentle melancholy upon her occasioned by her son s being reduced to court the public as a of the low arts instead of asserting his and putting a ring through its nose as an acknowledged headed the conversation at dinner on the evil days it was then that learned for the first time what little this great world goes round upon if john said mrs after | 8 |
the of the times had been fully ascertained if john had but abandoned his most unfortunate idea of the mob all would have been well and i think the country would have been preserved the old lady with the high nose assented but added that if little had in a general way ordered the cavalry ont with instructions to charge she thought the country would have been preserved the noble assented but added that if william and when they came over to one another and formed their ever memorable had boldly the newspapers and rendered it for any editor person to presume to discuss the conduct of any appointed authority abroad or at home he thought the country would have been preserved it was agreed that the country another word for the and wanted preserving but how it came to want preserving was not so clear it was only clear that the question was all about john william and tom dick or harry or because there was nobody else but mob and this was the feature of the conversation which impressed as a man not used to it very making him doubt if it were quite right to sit there silently hearing a great nation to such little bounds remembering however that in the whether on the life of that nation s body or the life of its soul the question was usually all about and between john william and tom dick or harry or and nobody else he said nothing on the part of mob himself that mob was used to it mr henry seemed to have a malicious pleasure in playing off the three against each other and in seeing startled by what they said having as supreme a contempt for the class that had thrown him off as for the class that had not taken him on he had no personal in anything that passed his healthy state of mind appeared even to derive a gratification from s position of embarrassment and among the good company and if had been in that condition with which was incessantly he would have suspected it and would have struggled with the suspicion as a meanness even while he sat at the table in the course of a couple of hours the noble at no time less than a hundred years behind the period got about five centuries in and delivered solemn political appropriate to that epoch he finished by a cup of tea for his own drinking and retiring at his lowest temperature then mrs who had been accustomed in her days of state to retain a vacant arm chair beside her to which to summon her devoted slaves one by one for short as marks of her especial favor invited with a turn of her fan to approach the presence he obeyed and took the recently by lord mr said mrs apart from the happiness i have in becoming known to you though in this inconvenient place a mere there is a subject on which i am dying to speak to you it is the subject in connection with which my son first had i believe the pleasure of your acquaintance inclined his head as a generally suitable reply to what he did not yet quite understand little first said mrs now is she really pretty in nobody s difficulties he would have found it very difficult to answer very difficult indeed to smile and say who oh you know she returned this flame of henry s this unfortunate fancy there if it is a point of honor that i should the name miss miss said is very beautiful men are so often mistaken on those points returned mrs go wan shaking her head that i candidly confess to you i feel anything but sure of it even now though it is something to have henry with so much gravity and emphasis he picked the people up at i think the phrase would have given nobody mortal offence replied excuse me i doubt if i understand your expression picked the people up said mrs go wan tapping the sticks of her closed fan a large green one which she used as a hand screen upon her little table came upon them found them out stumbled against them the people yes the people i really cannot say said where my friend mr first presented mr henry go wan to his daughter i am pretty sure he picked her up at rome but never mind where somewhere now this is entirely between ourselves is she very really ma am returned i am so undoubtedly myself that i do not feel qualified to judge very neat said mrs coolly her screen very happy from which i infer that you secretly think her manner equal to her looks after a moment s bowed that s comforting and i hope you may be right did henry tell me you had travelled with them i travelled with my friend mr and his wife and daughter during some months nobody s heart might have been wrung by the remembrance really comforting because you must have had a large experience of them you see mr this thing has been going on for a long time and i find no improvement in it therefore to have the opportunity of speaking to one so well informed about it as yourself is an immense relief to me quite a boon quite a blessing i am sure pardon me returned but i am not in mr henry s confidence i am far from being so well informed as you suppose me to be your mistake makes my position a very delicate one no word on this topic has ever passed between mr henry and myself mrs glanced at the other end of the room where her son was playing on a sofa with the old lady who was for a charge of cavalry not in his | 8 |
confidence no said mrs no word has passed little between you no that i can imagine but there are confidences mr and as you have been together intimately among these people i cannot doubt that a confidence of that sort exists in the present case perhaps you have heard that i have suffered the keenest distress of mind from henry s having taken to a pursuit which well her shoulders a very respectable pursuit i dare say and some artists are as artists quite superior persons still we never yet in our family have i gone beyond an amateur and it is a weakness to feel a little as mrs broke off to heave a sigh however resolute to be could not keep down the thought that there was mighty little danger of the family s ever going beyond an amateur even as it was henry the mother resumed is self willed and resolute and as these people naturally strain every nerve to catch him i can entertain very little hope mr that the thing will be broken off i apprehend the girl s fortune will be very small henry might have done much better there is scarcely anything to for the connection still he acts for himself and if i find no improvement within a short time i see no other course than to resign myself and make the best of these people i am infinitely obliged to you for what you have told me as she shrugged her shoulders stiffly bowed again with an uneasy flush upon his face and hesitation in his manner he then said in a still lower tone than he had adopted yet mrs i scarcely know how to myself of what i feel to be a duty and yet i must ask you for your kind consideration in attempting to discharge it a on your part a very great if i may venture to call it so seems to require setting right you have supposed mr and his family to strain every nerve i think you said every nerve repeated mrs looking at him in calm obstinacy with her green fan between her face and the fire to secure mr henry the lady placidly assented now that is so far said arthur from being the case that i know mr to be unhappy in this matter and to have interposed all reasonable obstacles with the hope of putting an end to it mrs shut up her great green fan tapped him on the arm with it and tapped her smiling lips why of course said she just what i mean arthur watched her face for some explanation of what she did mean are you really serious mr don t you see arthur did not see and said so why don t i know my son and don t i know that this is exactly the way to hold him said mrs contemptuously and do not these people know it at least as well as i oh shrewd people mr evidently people of business i believe belonged to a bank it ought to have been a very profitable bank if he had much to do with its management this is very well done indeed little i beg and entreat you ma am arthur interposed m oh mr can you really be so it made such a painful impression upon him to hear her talking in this haughty tone and to see her patting her contemptuous lips with her fan that he said very earnestly believe me ma am this is unjust a perfectly suspicion suspicion repeated mrs not suspicion mr certainty it is very done indeed and seems to have taken you in completely she laughed and again sat tapping her lips with her fan and tossing her head as if she added don t tell me i know such people will do anything for the honor of such an alliance at this moment the cards were thrown up and mr henry came across the room saying mother if you can spare mr for this time we have a long way to go and it s getting late mr thereupon rose as he had no choice but to do and mrs showed him to the last the same look and the same tapped contemptuous lips you have had a long audience of my mother said as the door closed upon them i fervently hope she has not bored you not at all said they had a little open for the journey and were soon in it on the road home driving lighted a cigar declined one do what he would he fell into such a mood of abstraction that said again i am very much afraid my mother has bored you to which he roused himself to answer not at all and soon again in that state of mind which rendered nobody uneasy his would have turned principally on the man at his side he would have thought of the morning when he first saw him out the stones with his heel and would have asked himself does he jerk me out of the path in the same careless cruel way he would have thought had this introduction to his mother been brought about by him because he knew what she would say and that he could thus place his position before a rival and warn him off without himself a word of confidence in him he would have thought even if there were no such design as that had he brought him there to play with his repressed emotions and torment him the current of these meditations would have been stayed sometimes by a rush of shame bearing a remonstrance to himself from his own open nature representing that to shelter such suspicions even for the passing moment was not to hold the high course he had resolved to keep at those times the striving within him would have been hardest and | 8 |
get the better of it we have tried tender advice we have tried time we have tried absence as yet of no use our late conversations have been upon the subject of going away for another year at least in order that there might be an entire separation and breaking off for that term upon that question pet has been unhappy and therefore mother and i have been unhappy little said that he could easily believe it well continued mr in an way i admit as a practical man and i am sure mother would admit as a practical woman that we do in families our troubles and make mountains of our in a way that is calculated to be rather trying to people who look on to mere you know still pet s happiness or is quite a life or death question with us and we may be excused i hope for making much of it at all events it might have been borne by now don t you think so i do indeed think so returned in most emphatic recognition of this very moderate expectation jn t o sir said mr shaking his head she couldn t stand it the and firing of that girl the wearing and tearing of that girl within her own breast has been such that i have softly said to her again and again in passing her and twenty five and twenty i heartily wish she could have gone on counting five and twenty day and night and then it wouldn t have happened mr with a countenance in which the goodness of his heart was even more expressed than in his times of cheerfulness and gaiety his face down from his forehead to his chin and shook his head again i said to mother not that it was necessary for she would have thought it all for herself we are practical people my dear and we know her story we see in this unhappy girl some reflection of what was raging in her mother s heart before ever such a creature as this poor thing was in the world we ll her temper over mother we won t notice it at present my dear we ll take advantage of some better disposition in her another time so we said nothing but do what we would it seems as if it was to be she broke out violently one night how and why if you ask me why said mr a little disturbed by the question for he was far more intent on softening her case than the family s i can only refer you to what i have just repeated as having been pretty near my words to mother as to how we had said night to pet in her presence very affectionately i must allow and she had attended pet upstairs you remember she was her maid perhaps pet having been out of sorts may have been a little more than usual in requiring services of her but i don t know that i have any right to say so she was always thoughtful and gentle the mistress in the world thank you said mr shaking him by the hand you have often seen them together well we presently heard this unfortunate loud and angry and before we could ask what was the matter pet came back in a tremble saying she was frightened of her close after her came in a flaming rage i hate you all three says she stamping her foot at us i am bursting with hate of the whole house little upon which you i said mr with a plain good faith that might have commanded the belief of mrs go wan herself i said count twenty mr again his face and shook his head with an air of profound regret she was so used to do it that even then such a picture of passion as you never saw she stopped short looked me full in the face and counted as i made out to eight but she couldn t control herself to go any further there she broke down poor thing and gave the other seventeen to the four winds then it all burst out she detested us she was miserable with us she couldn t bear it she wouldn t bear it she was determined to go away she was younger than her young mistress and would she remain to see her always held up as the only creature who was young and interesting and to be cherished and loved no she wouldn t she wouldn t she wouldn t what did we think she might have been if she had been and cared for in her childhood like her young mistress as good as her ah perhaps fifty times as good when we pretended to be so fond of one another we over her that was what we did we over her and her and all in the house did the same they talked about their fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters they liked to drag them up before her face there was mrs only yesterday when her little was with her had been amused by the child s trying to call her by the wretched name we gave her and had laughed at the name why who didn t and who were we that we should have a right to name her like a dog or a cat but she didn t care she would take no more benefits from us she would fling us her name back again and she would go she would leave us that minute no body should stop her and we should never hear of her again mr had all this with such a vivid remembrance of his original that he was almost as flushed and hot by this time as he described her to have been ah well he said wiping his | 8 |
face it was of no use trying reason then with that vehement panting creature heaven knows what her mother s story must have been so i quietly told her that she should not go at that late hour of night and i gave her my hand and took her to her room and locked the house doors but she was gone this morning and you know no more of her no more returned mr i have been hunting about all day she must have gone very early and very silently i have found no trace of her down about us stay you want said after a moment s reflection to see her i assume that yes assuredly i want to give her another chance mother and pet want to give her another chance come you yourself said mr as if the provocation to be angry were not his own at all want to give the poor passionate girl another chance i know little it would be strange and hard indeed if i did not said when you are all so what i was going to ask you was have you thought of that miss i have i did not think of her until i had pervaded the whole of our neighbourhood and i don t know that i should have done so then but for finding mother and pet when i went home full of the idea that must have gone to her then of course i recalled what she said that day at dinner when you were first with us have you any idea where miss is to be found to tell you the truth returned mr it s because i have an of a notion on that subject that you found me waiting here there is one of those odd impressions in my house which do mysteriously get into houses sometimes which nobody seems to have picked up in a distinct form from anybody and yet which everybody seems to have got hold of loosely from somebody and let go again that she lives or was living mr handed him a slip of paper on which was written the name of one of the dull bye streets in the region near park lane here is no number said arthur looking over it no number my ar returned his friend no anything the very name of the street may have been floating in the air for as i tell you none of my people can say where they got it from however it s worth an inquiry and as i would rather make it in company than alone and as you too were a fellow traveller of that immovable woman s i thought perhaps finished the sentence for him by taking up his hat again and saying he was ready it was now summer time a grey hot dusty evening they rode to the top of oxford street and there in among the great streets of melancholy and the little streets that try to be as stately and succeed in being more melancholy of which there is a near park lane of corner houses with barbarous old and horrors that came into existence under some wrong headed person in some wrong headed time still demanding the blind admiration of all generations and determined to do so until they tumbled down frowned upon the twilight little with the in their whole frame from the dwarf hall door on the giant model of his grace s in the square to the squeezed window of the commanding the in the made the evening dwellings of fashion but of a capacity to hold nothing comfortably except a dismal smell looked like the last result of the great breeding in and in and where their little bows and were supported on thin iron columns seemed to be resting upon here and there a with the whole science of in it loomed down upon the street like an on vanity the shops few in number made no show for popular opinion was as nothing to them the cook knew who was on his books and in that knowledge could be calm with a few glass of drops in his window and half a dozen ancient specimens little t of a few formed the s whole concession to the vulgar mind a single basket made of moss once containing eggs held all that the had to say to the everybody in those streets seemed which is always the case at that hour and season to be gone out to dinner and nobody seemed to be giving the dinners they had gone to on the door steps there were lounging with bright colored and white like an extinct race of monstrous birds and solitary men of each of whom appeared of all other the roll of carriages in the park was done for the day the street lamps were lighting and wicked little in the fitting garments with in their legs answering to the in their minds hung about in pairs straw and exchanging secrets the spotted dogs who went out with the carriages and who were so associated with splendid that it looked like a condescension in those animals to come out without them accompanied to and fro on messages here and there was a retiring public house which did not require to be supported on the shoulders of the people and where gentlemen out of livery were not much wanted this last discovery was made by the two friends in pursuing their inquiries nothing was there or anywhere known of such a person as miss in connection with the street they sought it was one of the streets long regular narrow dull and gloomy like a brick and mortar funeral they at several little area gates where a dejected youth stood his chin on the summit of a little shoot of wooden steps but could gain no information they walked up the street on one | 8 |
side of the way and down it on the other what time two news announcing an extraordinary event that had never happened and never would happen pitched their hoarse voices into the secret chambers but nothing came of it at length they stood at the corner from which they had begun and it had fallen quite dark and they were no wiser it happened that in the street they had several times passed a dingy house apparently empty with bills in the windows announcing that it was to let the bills as a variety in the funeral procession almost amounted to a perhaps because they kept the house separate in his mind or perhaps because mr and himself had twice agreed in passing it is clear she don t live there now proposed that they should go back and try that house before finally going away mr agreed and back they went they knocked once and they rang once without any response empty said mr listening once more said and knocked again after that knock they heard a movement below and somebody shuffling up towards the door the confined entrance was so dark that it was impossible to make out distinctly what kind of person opened the door but it appeared to be an old woman excuse our troubling you said pray can you tell us where miss lives the voice in the darkness unexpectedly replied lives here is she at home little no answer coming mr asked again tray is she at home after another delay i suppose she is said the voice abruptly you had better come in and i ll ask they were shut into the close black house and the figure rustling away and speaking from a higher level said come up if you please you can t tumble over anything they their way up stairs towards a faint light which proved to be the light of the street shining through a window and the figure left them shut up in an room this is odd said mr softly u odd enough assented in the same tone but we have succeeded that s the main point here s a light coming the light was a lamp and the bearer was an old woman very dirty very wrinkled and dry she s at home she said and the voice was the same that had spoken before she ll come directly having set the lamp down on the table the old woman her hands on her apron which she might have done for ever without cleaning them looked at the visitors with a dim pair of eyes and backed out the lady whom they had come to see if she were the present of the house appeared to have taken up her quarters there as she might have established herself in an eastern a small square of carpet in the middle of the room a few articles of furniture that evidently did not belong to the room and a disorder of trunks and travelling articles formed the whole of her surroundings under some former regular the stifling little apartment had broken out into a pier glass and a gilt table but the was as faded as last year s flowers and the glass was so clouded that it seemed to hold in magic preservation all the and bad weather it had ever reflected the visitors had had a minute or two to look about them when the door opened and miss came in she was exactly the same as when they had parted just as handsome just as scornful just as repressed she manifested no surprise in seeing them nor any other emotion she requested them to be seated and declining to take a seat herself at once anticipated any introduction of their business i apprehend she said that i know the cause of your me with this visit we may come to it at once the cause then ma am said mr is so i supposed miss said mr will you be so kind as to you know anything of her surely i know she is here with me then ma am said mr allow me to make known to you that i shall be happy to have her back and that my wife and daughter will be happy to have her back she has been with us a long time we don t forget her claims upon us and i hope we know how to make you hope you know how to make she returned in a level measured voice for what i think my friend would say miss arthur inter little posed seeing mr rather at a loss for the passionate sense that sometimes comes upon the poor girl of being at a disadvantage which occasionally gets the better of better the lady broke into a smile as she turned her eyes upon him indeed was all she answered she stood by the table so perfectly composed and still after this acknowledgment of his remark that mr stared at her under a sort of fascination and could not even look to to make another move after waiting awkwardly enough for some moments arthur said perhaps it would be well if mr could see her miss that is easily done said she come here child she had opened a door while saying this and now led the girl in by the hand it was very curious to see them standing together the girl with her disengaged fingers the bosom of her dress half half passionately miss with her composed face regarding her and suggesting to an observer with extraordinary force in her composure itself as a veil will suggest the form it covers the passion of her own nature see here she said in the same level way as before here is your patron your master he is willing to take you back my dear if you are sensible of the favor and choose to | 8 |
go you can be again a foil to his pretty daughter a slave to her pleasant and a toy in the house showing the goodness of the family you can have your droll name again pointing you out and setting you apart as it is right that you should be pointed out and set apart your birth you know you must not forget your birth you can again be shown to this gentleman s daughter and kept before her as a living of her own superiority and her gracious condescension you can recover all these advantages and many more of the same kind which i dare say start up in your memory while i speak and which you lose in taking refuge with me you can recover them all by telling these gentlemen how and penitent you are and by going back with them to be forgiven what do you will you go the girl who under the influence of these words had gradually risen in anger and heightened in colour answered raising her black eyes for the moment and her hand upon the folds it had been up i d die sooner miss still standing at her side holding her hand looked quietly round and said with a smile gentlemen what do you do upon that poor mr s consternation in hearing his motives and actions so had prevented him from any word until now but now he regained the power of speech said he for i ll call you by that name still my good girl conscious that i meant nothing but kindness when i gave it to you and conscious that you know it i don t said she looking up again and almost herself with the same busy hand f little no not now perhaps said mr not with that lady s eyes so you she glanced at them for a moment and that power over you which we see she exercises not now perhaps but at another time i ll not ask that lady whether she believes what she has said even in the anger and ill blood in which i and my friend here equally know she has spoken though she herself with a determination that any one who has once seen her is not likely to forget i ll not ask you with your remembrance of my house and all belonging to it whether you believe it i ll only say that you have no profession to make to me or mine and no forgiveness to entreat and that all in the world that i ask you to do is to count five and twenty she looked at him for an instant and then said i won t miss take me away please the that raged within her had no softening in it now it was wholly between passionate defiance and stubborn defiance her rich colour her quick blood her rapid breath were all setting themselves against the opportunity of her steps i won t i won t i won t she repeated in a low thick voice i d be torn to pieces first i d tear myself to pieces first miss who had released her hold laid her hand on the girl s neck for a moment and then said looking round with her former smile and speaking exactly in her former tone gentlemen what do you do upon that oh cried mr her besides with an earnest hand hear that lady s voice look at that lady s face consider what is in that lady s heart and think what a future lies before you my child whatever you may think that lady s influence over you astonishing to us and i should hardly go too far in saying terrible to us to see is founded in passion than yours and temper more violent than yours what can you two be together what can come of it i am alone here gentlemen observed miss with no change of voice or manner say anything you will politeness must yield to this girl ma am said mr at her present pass though i hope not altogether to dismiss it even with the injury you do her so strongly before me excuse me for reminding you in her hearing i must say it that you were a mystery to all of us and had nothing in common with any of us when she unfortunately fell in your way i don t know what you are but you don t hide can t hide what a dark spirit you have within you if it should happen that you are a woman who from whatever cause has a delight in making a sister woman as wretched as she is i am old enough to have heard of such i warn her against you and i warn you against yourself gentlemen said miss calmly when you have concluded mr perhaps you will induce your friend not without another effort said mr stoutly my poor dear girl count five and twenty do not reject the hope the certainty this kind man offers you r little said in a low emphatic voice turn to the friends you have not forgotten think once more i won t miss said the girl with her bosom swelling high and speaking with her hand held to her throat take me away said mr once more yet the only thing i ask of you in the world my child count five and twenty she put her hands tightly over her ears tumbling down her bright black hair in the vehemence of the action and turned her face resolutely to the wall miss who had watched her under this final appeal with that strange attentive smile and that hand upon her own bosom with which she had watched her in her struggle at then put her arm about her waist as if she took possession of her | 8 |
for and there was a visible triumph in her face when she turned it to dismiss the visitors as it is the last time i shall have this honor she said and as you have spoken of not knowing what i am and also of the foundation of my influence here you may now know that it is founded in a common cause what your broken is as to birth i am she has no name i have no name her wrong is my wrong i have nothing more to say to you this was addressed to mr who sorrowfully went out as followed she said to him with the same external composure and in the same level voice but with a smile that is only seen on cruel faces a very faint smile lifting the scarcely touching the lips and not breaking away gradually but instantly dismissed when done with i hope the wife of your dear friend mr may be happy in the contrast of her to this girl s and mine and in the high good fortune that her chapter nobody s disappearance not resting satisfied with the he had made to recover his lost charge mr addressed a letter of remonstrance breathing nothing but not only to her but to miss too no answer coming to these or to another written to the stubborn girl by the hand of her late young mistress which might have melted her if anything could all three letters were returned weeks afterwards as having been refused at the house door he mrs to make the experiment of a personal interview that worth lady being unable to obtain one and being denied admission mr arthur to essay once more what he could do ah that came of his compliance was his discovery that the empty little house was left in charge of the old woman that miss was gone that the and of furniture were gone and that the old woman would accept any number of and thank the kindly but had no information whatever to exchange for those beyond constantly offering for perusal a relative to which the house agent s young man had left in the hall unwilling even under this discomfiture to resign the and leave her hopeless in case of her better dispositions obtaining the mastery over the darker side of her character mr for six successive days published a covert advertisement in the morning papers to the effect that if a certain young person who had lately left home without reflection would at any time apply at his address at everything would be as it had been before and no reproaches need be apprehended the unexpected consequences of this suggested to the dismayed mr for the first time that some hundreds of young persons must be leaving their homes without reflection every day for of wrong young people came down to who not finding themselves received with enthusiasm generally demanded compensation by way of in addition to coach hire there and back nor were these the only whom the advertisement produced the swarm of begging letter writers who would seem to be always watching eagerly for any hook however small to hang a letter upon wrote to say that having seen the advertisement they were induced to apply with confidence for various sums from ten shillings to fifty pounds not because they knew anything about the young person but because they felt that to part with those would greatly relieve the s mind several likewise availed themselves of the same opportunity to correspond with mr as for example to him that their attention having been called to the advertisement by a friend they begged to state that if they should ever hear anything of the young person they would not fail to make it known to him immediately and that in the meantime if he would oblige them with the funds necessary for bringing to perfection a certain entirely novel description of pump the happiest results would to mankind mr and his family under these combined had begun reluctantly to give up as when the new and active firm of and in their private went down on a saturday to stay at the cottage until monday the senior partner took the coach and the junior partner took his walking stick a tranquil summer sunset shone upon him as he approached the end of his walk and passed through the meadows by the river side he had that sense of peace and of being lightened of a weight of care which country quiet in the breasts of in towns everything within his view was lovely and placid the rich foliage of the trees the luxuriant grass with wild flowers the little green islands in the river the beds of rushes the water lilies floating on the surface of the stream the distant voices in boats borne towards him on the ripple of the water and the little evening air were all expressive of rest in the occasional leap of a fish or dip of an oar or of a bird not yet at or distant barking of a dog or of a cow in all such sounds there was the prevailing breath of rest which seemed to him in every scent that the fragrant air the long lines of red and gold in the sky and the glorious track of the descending sun were all calm upon the purple tree tops far away and on the green height near at hand up which the shades were slowly creeping there was an equal hush between the real landscape and its shadow in the water there was no division both were so and clear and while so with solemn mystery of life and death so to the s soothed heart because so tenderly and beautiful had stopped not for the first time by many times to look about him and suffer what he saw to sink into his | 8 |
soul as the shadows looked at seemed to sink deeper and deeper into the water he was slowly his way when he saw a figure in the path before him which he had perhaps already associated with the evening and its impressions was there alone she had some roses in her hand and seemed to have stood still on seeing him waiting for him her face was towards him and she appeared to have been coming from the opposite direction there was a flutter in her manner which had never seen in it before and as he came near her it entered his mind all at once that she was there of a set purpose to speak to him she gave him her hand and said you wonder to see me here by myself but the evening is so lovely i have strolled further than i meant at first i thought it likely i might meet you and that made me more confident you always come this way do you not as said that it was his favourite way he felt her hand on his arm and saw the roses shake will you let me give you one mr i gathered them as i came out of the garden indeed i almost gathered them for you thinking it so likely i might meet you mr arrived more than an hour ago and told us you were walking down his own hand shook as he accepted a rose or two from hers and thanked her they were now by an avenue of trees whether they turned into it on his movement or on hers matters little he never knew how that was it is very grave here said but very pleasant at this hour passing along this deep shade and out at that arch of light at the other end we come upon the and the cottage by the best approach i think in her simple garden hat and her light summer dress with her rich brown hair naturally about her and her wonderful eyes raised to his for a moment with a look in which regard for him and in him were strikingly blended with a kind of timid sorrow for him she was so beautiful that it was well for his peace or ill for his peace he did not quite know which that he had made that vigorous resolution he had so often thought about little she broke a momentary silence by if he knew that papa had been thinking of another tour abroad he said he had heard it mentioned she broke another momentary silence by adding with some hesitation that papa had abandoned the idea at this he thought directly they are to be married mr she said hesitating more timidly yet and speaking so low that he bent his head to hear her i should very much like to give you my confidence if you would not mind having the goodness to receive it i should have very much liked to have given it to you long ago because i felt that you were becoming so much our mend how can i be otherwise than proud of it at any time pray give it to me pray trust me i could never have been afraid of trusting you she returned raising her eyes frankly to his face i think i would have done so some time ago if i had known how put i scarcely know how even now mr go wan said arthur has reason to be very happy god bless his wife and him she wept as she tried to thank him he reassured her took her hand as it lay with the trembling roses in it on his arm took the remaining roses from it and put it to his lips at that time it seemed to him he first finally resigned the dying hope that had in nobody s heart so much to its pain and trouble and from that time he became in his own eyes as to any similar hope or prospect a very much older man who had done with that part of life he put the roses in his breast and they walked on for a little while slowly and silently under the trees then he asked her in a voice of cheerful kindness was there anything else that she would say to him as her friend and her father s friend many years older than herself was there any trust she would repose in him any service she would ask of him any little aid to her happiness that she could give him the lasting gratification of believing it was in his power to render she was going to answer when she was so touched by some little hidden sorrow or sympathy what could it have been that she said bursting into tears again mr good generous mr pray tell me you do not blame me i blame you said my dearest girl i blame you no after clasping both her hands upon his arm and looking up into his face with some hurried words to the effect that she thanked him from her heart as indeed she did if it be the source of earnestness she gradually composed herself with now and then a word of encouragement from him as they walked on slowly and almost silently under the darkening trees and now go wan at length said smiling will you ask me nothing oh i have very much to ask of you that s well i hoped so i am not disappointed you know how i am loved at home and how i love home you can hardly think it perhaps dear mr she spoke with little great agitation seeing me going from it of my own free will and choice but i do so dearly love it lam sure of that said can you suppose i doubt it | 8 |
that i am not subject to changes the change that i await here is the great change indeed ma am returned mr with a wandering eye little towards the figure of the little on her knee and of her work from the carpet you look nicely ma am i bear what i have to bear she answered do you what you have to do thank you ma am said mr such is my endeavour you are often in this direction are you not asked mrs why yes ma am said rather so lately i have lately been round this way a good deal owing to one thing and another beg mr and his daughter not to trouble themselves by about me when they wish to see me they know i am here to see them they have no need to trouble themselves to send you have no need to trouble yourself to come not the least trouble ma am said mr you really are looking uncommonly nicely ma am thank you good evening the dismissal and its accompanying finger pointed straight at the door was so and direct that mr did not see his way to his visit he stirred up his hair with his expression glanced at the little figure again said good evening ma am don t come down mrs i know the road to the door and out mrs her chin resting on her hand followed him with attentive and darkly eyes and stood looking at her as if she were spell bound slowly and thoughtfully mrs s eyes turned from the door by which had gone out to little rising from the carpet with her chin drooping more heavily on her hand and her eyes and lowering the sick woman sat looking at her until she attracted her attention little colored under such a gaze and looked down mrs still sat intent little she said when she at last broke silence what do you know of that man i don t know anything of him ma am except that i have seen him about and that he has spoken to me what has he said to you i don t understand what he has said he is so strange but nothing rough or disagreeable why does he come here to see you i don t know ma am said little with perfect frankness you know that he does come here to see you i have fancied so said little but why he should come here or anywhere for that ma am i can t think mrs cast her eyes towards the ground and with her strong set face as intent upon a subject in her mind as it had lately been upon the form that seemed to pass out of her view sat absorbed some minutes elapsed before she came out of this and resumed her hard composure little in the meanwhile had been waiting to go but afraid to disturb her by moving she now ventured to leave the spot where she had been standing since she had risen and to pass gently round little by the wheeled chair she stopped at its side to say good night ma am mrs put out her hand and laid it on her arm little confused under the touch stood faltering perhaps some momentary recollection of the story of the princess may have been in her mind tell me little said mrs have you many friends now very few ma am besides you only miss and one more meaning said mrs with her finger again pointing to the door that man oh no ma am some friend of his perhaps no ma am little earnestly shook her head oh no no one at all like him or belonging to him well said mrs almost smiling it is no affair of mine i ask because i take an interest in you and because i believe i was your friend when you had no other who could serve you is that so yes ma am indeed it is i have been here many a time when but for you and the work you gave me we should have wanted everything we repeated mrs looking towards the watch once her dead husband s which always lay upon her table are there many of you only father and i now i mean only father and i to keep regularly out of what we get have you undergone many you and your father and who else there may be of you asked mrs speaking deliberately and turning the watch over and over sometimes it has been rather hard to live said little in her soft voice and timid way but i think not harder as to that than many people find it that s well said mrs quickly returned that s the truth you are a good thoughtful girl you are a grateful girl too or i much mistake you it is only natural to be that there is no merit in being that said little i am indeed mrs with a gentleness of which the dreaming had never dreamed her to be capable drew down the face of her little and kissed her on the forehead now go little said she or you will be late poor child in all the dreams mistress had been up since she first became devoted to the pursuit she had dreamed nothing more astonishing than this her head ached with the idea that she would find the other clever one kissing little next and then the two clever ones embracing each other and into tears of tenderness for all mankind the idea quite stunned her as she attended the light footsteps down the stairs that the house door might be safely shut little on opening it to let little out she found mr instead of having gone his way as in any less wonderful place and among less wonderful phenomena he might have | 8 |
been reasonably expected to do fluttering up and down the court outside the house the moment he saw little he passed her briskly said with his finger to his nose as mistress distinctly heard the fortune telling and went away lord save us here s a and a fortune in it now cried mistress what next she stood at the open door staggering herself with this on a rainy evening the clouds were flying fast the wind was coming up in some neighbouring shutters that had broken loose the rusty chimney and and rushing round and round a confined adjacent churchyard as if it had a mind to blow the dead citizens out of their graves the low thunder muttering in all quarters of the sky at once seemed to threaten vengeance for this attempted and to let them rest let them rest mistress whose fear of thunder and lightning was only to be equalled by her dread of the haunted house with a premature and darkness in it stood whether to go in or not until the question was settled for her by the door blowing upon her in a violent gust of wind and shutting her out w hat s to be done now what s to be done now cried mistress wringing her hands in this last uneasy dream of all when she s all alone by herself inside and can no more come down to open it than the churchyard dead themselves in this mistress with her apron as a hood to keep the rain off ran crying up and down the solitary paved several times why she should then stoop down and look in at the of the door as if an eye would open it it would be difficult to say but it is none the less what most people would have done in the same situation and it is what she did from this posture she started up suddenly with a half scream feeling something on her shoulder it was the touch of a hand of a man s hand the man was dressed like a traveller in a cap with fur about it and a heap of cloak he looked like a foreigner he had a quantity of hair and moustache jet black except at the shaggy ends where it had a tinge of red and a high hook nose he laughed at mistress s start and cry and as he laughed his moustache went up under his nose and his nose came down over his moustache what s the matter he asked in plain english what are you frightened at at you panted me madam and the dismal evening and and everything said and here the wind has been and blown the door to and i can t get in said the gentleman who took that very coolly indeed ho you know such a name as about here little lord bless us i should think i did i should think i did cried exasperated into a new wringing of hands by the where about here where cried into another inspection of the where but here in this house and she s all alone in her room and lost the use of her limbs and can t stir to help herself or me and the t other clever one s out and lord forgive me cried driven into a frantic dance by these accumulated considerations if i ain t a going headlong out of my mind taking a warmer view of the matter now that it concerned himself the gentleman stepped back to glance at the house and his eyes soon rested on the long narrow window of the little room near the where may the lady be who has lost the use of her limbs madam he with that peculiar smile which mistress could not choose but keep her eyes upon up there said them two windows i am of a fair size but could not have the honor of myself in that room without a ladder now madam frankly frankness is a part of my character shall i open the door for you yes bless you sir for a dear and do it at once cried for she may be a calling to me at this very present minute or may be setting herself a fire and burning herself to death or there s no knowing what may be happening to her and me a going out of my mind at thinking of it stay my good madam he restrained her impatience with a smooth white hand business hours i apprehend are over for the day yes yes yes cried long ago let me make then a fair proposal is a part of my character i am just landed from the packet boat as you may see he showed her that his cloak was very wet and that his boots were with water she had previously observed that he was and sallow as if from a rough voyage and so chilled that he could not keep his teeth from chattering i am just landed from the packet boat madam and have been delayed by the weather the infernal weather in consequence of this madam some necessary business that i should otherwise have here within the regular hours necessary business because money business still remains to be done now if you will fetch any neighbouring somebody to do it in return for my opening the door i ll open the door if this arrangement should be objectionable i ll and with the same smile he made a significant of away mistress heartily glad to effect the proposed compromise gave in her willing to it the gentleman at once requested her to do him the favor of holding his cloak took a short run at the narrow window made a leap at the sill clung his way up the bricks and in a moment had his hand | 8 |
at the raising it his eyes looked so very sinister as he put his leg into the room and glanced round at mistress that she thought with a sudden little coldness if he were to go straight up stairs to murder the invalid what could she do to prevent him happily he had no such purpose for he re appeared in a moment at the house door now my dear madam he said as he took back his cloak and threw it on if you ll have the goodness to what the devil s that the strangest of sounds evidently close at hand from the peculiar shock it communicated to the air yet subdued as if it were far off a tremble a and a fall of some light dry matter what the devil is it i don t know what it is but i ve heard the like of it over and over again said who had caught his arm he could hardly be a very brave man even she thought in her dreamy start and fright for his trembling lips had turned after listening a few moments he made light of it nothing now my dear madam i think you spoke of some clever personage will you be so good as to me with that genius he held the door in his hand as though he were quite ready to shut her out again if she failed don t you say anything about the door and me then whispered not a word and don t you stir from here or speak if she calls while i run round the corner madam i am a statue had so vivid a fear of his going stealthily up stairs the moment her back was turned that after hurrying out of sight she returned to the to peep at him seeing him still on the threshold more out of the house than in it as if he had no love for darkness and no desire to its mysteries she flew into the next street and sent a message into the tavern to mr who came out directly the two returning together the lady in advance and mr coming up briskly behind animated with the hope of shaking her before she could get saw the gentleman standing in the same place in the dark and heard the strong voice of mrs calling from her room who is it what is it why does no one answer who is that down there q t l z aj z d little chapter xxx the of a gentleman when mr and mrs panted up to the door of the old house in the twilight within a second of the stranger started back death of my soul he exclaimed why how did you get here mr to whom these words were spoken repaid the stranger s wonder in full he gazed at him with blank astonishment he looked over his own shoulder as expecting to see some one he had not been aware of standing behind him he gazed at the stranger again at a loss to know what he meant he looked to his wife for explanation receiving none he upon her and shook her with such that he shook her cap off her head saying between his teeth with grim as he did it my woman you must have a dose my woman this is some of your tricks you have been dreaming again mistress what s it about who is it what does it mean speak out or be choked it s the only choice i ll give you supposing mistress to have any power of election at the moment her choice was decidedly to be choked for she answered not a syllable to this but with her bare head violently backwards and forwards resigned herself to her punishment the stranger however picking up her cap with an air of gallantry interposed permit me said he laying his hand on the shoulder of who stopped and released his victim thank you excuse me husband and wife i know from this always agreeable to see that relation maintained listen may i suggest that somebody up stairs in the dark is becoming curious to know what is going on here this reference to mrs s voice reminded mr to step into the hall and call up the staircase it s all right i am here is coming with your light then he said to the latter woman who was putting her cap on get out with you and get up stairs and then turned to the stranger and said to him now sir what might you please to want lam afraid said the stranger i must be so troublesome as to propose a candle true assented i was going to do so please to stand where you are while i get one the visitor was standing in the doorway but turned a little into the gloom of the house as mr turned and pursued him with his eyes into the little room where he about for a box when he found it it was damp or otherwise out of order and match after match that he struck into it lighted sufficiently little to throw a dull glare about his groping face and to his hands with pale little spots of fire but not sufficiently to light the candle the stranger taking advantage of this fitful illumination of his looked intently and at him when he at last lighted the candle knew he had been doing this by seeing the last shade of a lowering clear away from his face as it broke into the doubtful smile that was a large in its expression be so good said closing the house door and taking a pretty sharp survey of the smiling visitor in his turn as to step into my counting house it s all right i tell you breaking off to answer the | 8 |
voice up stairs still though was there speaking in tones don t i tell you it s all right preserve the woman has she no reason at all in her remarked the stranger said mr turning his head to retort as he went before with the candle more courageous than ninety men in a hundred sir let me tell you though an invalid many years an invalid mrs the only one of that name left in the house now my partner saying something as he crossed the hall to the effect that at that time of night they were not in the habit of receiving any one and were always shut up mr led the way into his own office which presented a sufficiently business like appearance here he put the light on his desk and said to the stranger with his twist upon him your commands my name is i don t know it said i thought it possible resumed the other that you might have been advised from paris we have had no advice from paris respecting anybody of the name of said no stood in his favourite attitude the smiling mr opening his cloak to get his hand to a breast pocket paused to say with a laugh in his glittering eyes which it occurred to mr were too near together you are so like a friend of mine not so the same as i supposed when i really did for the moment take you to be the same in the dusk for which i ought to permit me to do so a readiness to confess my errors is i hope a part of the frankness of my character still however uncommonly like indeed said but i have not received any letter of advice from anywhere respecting anybody of the name of just so said the stranger just so said mr not at all put out by this on the part of the of the house of and co took his pocket book little from his breast pocket selected a letter from that and handed it to mr flint no doubt yon are well acquainted with the writing perhaps the letter speaks for itself and requires no advice you are a far more competent judge of such affairs than i am it is my misfortune to be not so much a man of business as what the world calls a gentleman mr took the letter and read under date of paris we have to present to you on behalf of a highly esteemed correspondent of our firm m of this city c c such as he may require and such attentions as may lie in your power c c also have to add that if you will honor m at sight to the extent of say fifty pounds sterling c c yery good sir said mr take a chair to the extent of anything that our house can do we are in a retired steady way of business sir we shall be happy to render you our best assistance i observe from the date of this that we could not yet be advised of it probably you came over with the delayed mail that brings the advice that i came over with the delayed mail sir returned mr passing his white hand down his high nose i know to the cost of my head and stomach the detestable and intolerable weather having them both you sec mo in the plight in which i came out of the packet within this half hour i ought to have been here hours ago and then i should not have to permit me to for presenting myself so and no by the by you said not permit me to again the esteemed lady mrs in her invalid chamber above stairs and an air of condescension do so much that mr had already begun to think this a highly gentlemanly personage not the less with him on that account he scraped his chin and said what could he have the honor of doing for mr to night out of business hours faith returned that gentleman his shoulders u i must change and eat and drink and be lodged somewhere have the kindness to advise me a total stranger where and money is a matter of perfect indifference until to morrow the nearer the place the better next door if that s all mr was slowly beginning for a gentleman of your habits there is not in this immediate neighbourhood any hotel when mr took him up so much for my habits my dear sir snapping his fingers a citizen of the world has no habits that i am in my poor way a gentleman by heaven i will not deny but i have no prejudiced habits a clean room a hot dish for dinner and a bottle of not absolutely poisonous wine are all i want to night but i want that much without the trouble of going one unnecessary inch to get it there is said mr with more than his usual deliberation as he met for a moment mr shining eyes which were restless there is a coffee house and tavern close little here which so far i can recommend but there s no style about it i dispense with style said mr waving his hand do me the honor to show me the house and introduce me there if i am not too troublesome and i shall be infinitely obliged mr upon this looked up his hat and lighted mr across the hall again as he put the candle on a where the dark old almost served as an for it he himself of going up to tell the invalid that he would not be absent five minutes oblige me said the visitor on his saying so by presenting my card of visit do me the favor to add | 8 |
that i shall be happy to wait on mrs to offer my personal compliments and to for having occasioned any agitation in this tranquil corner if it should suit her convenience to endure the presence of a stranger for a few minutes after he shall have changed his wet clothes and fortified himself with something to eat and drink made all and said on his return she ll be glad to see you sir but being conscious that her sick room has no attractions wishes me to say that she won t hold you to your offer in case you should think better of it to think better of it returned the gallant would be to slight a lady to slight a lady would be to be deficient in chivalry towards the sex and chivalry towards the sex is a part of my character thus expressing himself he threw the skirt of his cloak over his shoulder and accompanied mr to the tavern taking up on the road a porter who was waiting with his on the outer side of the the house was kept in a homely manner and the condescension of mr was infinite it seemed to fill to inconvenience the little bar in which the widow landlady and her two daughters received him it was much too big for the narrow room with a board in it that was first proposed for his reception it perfectly the little private holiday sitting room of the family which was finally given up to him here in dry clothes and scented linen with hair a great ring on each fore and a massive show of watch chain mr waiting for his dinner on a window seat with his knees drawn up looked for all the difference in the setting of the jewel fearfully and wonderfully like a certain who had once so waited for his breakfast lying on the stone ledge of the iron grating of a cell in a at his at dinner too was closely in keeping with the of at breakfast his manner of collecting all the about him and devouring some with his eyes while devouring others with his jaws was the same manner his utter disregard of other people as shown in his way of tossing the little womanly toys of furniture about flinging favorite cushions under his boots for a softer rest and crushing delicate with his big body and his great black head had the same brute selfishness at the bottom of it the softly moving hands that were so busy among the dishes had little the old wicked facility of the hands that had clung to the bars and when he could eat no more and sat his delicate fingers one by one and wiping them on a cloth there wanted nothing but the of vine leaves to finish the picture on this man with his moustache going up and his nose coming down in that most evil of smiles and with his surface eyes looking as if they belonged to his hair and had had their natural power of reflecting light stopped by some similar process nature always true and never working in vain had set the mark beware it was not her fault if the warning were fruitless she is never to blame in any such instance mr having finished his and cleaned his fingers took a cigar from his pocket and lying on the window seat again smoked it out at his leisure occasionally the smoke as it parted from his thin lips in a thin stream you shall turn the tables on society my little child holy blue you have begun well at a pinch an excellent master in english or french a man for the bosom of families you have a quick perception you have humor you have ease you have manners you have a good appearance in effect you are a gentleman a gentleman you shall live my small boy and a gentleman you shall die you shall win however the game goes they shall all confess your merit you shall subdue the society which has wronged you to your own high spirit death of my soul you are high spirited by right and by nature my to such soothing murmurs did this gentleman smoke out his cigar and drink out his bottle of wine both being finished he shook himself into a sitting attitude and with the concluding serious hold then you ingenious one have all your wits about you arose and went back to the house of and co he was received at the door by mistress who under instructions from her lord had lighted up two candles in the hall and a third on the staircase and who conducted him to mrs s room tea was prepared there and such little company arrangements had been made as usually attended the reception of expected visitors they were slight on the greatest occasion never extending beyond the production of the china tea service and the covering of the bed with a sober and sad for the rest there was the like sofa with the block upon it and the figure in the widow s dress as if attired for execution the fire by the mound of ashes the grate with its second little mound of ashes the kettle and the smell of black all as they had been for fifteen years mr presented the gentleman commended to the consideration of and co mrs who had the letter lying before her bent her head and requested him to sit they looked very closely at one another that was but natural curiosity i thank you sir for thinking of a woman like me few who come here on business have any remembrance to bestow on one so removed from observation it would be idle to expect that they should little have out of sight out of mind when i am grateful for the exception i don | 8 |
t complain of the rule mr in his most gentlemanly manner was afraid he had disturbed her by unhappily presenting himself at such an time tor which he had already offered his best apologies to mr he begged pardon but by name had not the distinguished honor mr has been connected with the house many years mr was mr s most obedient humble servant he entreated mr to receive the assurance of his consideration my husband being dead said mrs and my son preferring another pursuit our old house has no other representative in these days than mr what do you call yourself was the surly demand of that gentleman you have the head of two men my sex me she proceeded with merely a slight turn of her eyes in s direction from taking a responsible part in the business even if i had the ability and therefore mr my interests with his own and it it is not what it used to be but some of our old friends principally the writers of this letter have the kindness not to forget us and we retain the power of doing what they to us as as we ever did this however is not interesting to you you are english sir faith madam no i am neither born nor bred in england in effect i am of no country said mr stretching out his leg and it i descend from half a dozen countries you have been much about the world it is true by heaven madam i have been here and there and everywhere you have no ties probably are not married madam said mr with an ugly fall of his eyebrows i your sex but i am not married never was mistress who stood at the table near him pouring out the tea happened in her dreamy state to look at him as he said these words and to fancy that she caught an expression in his eyes which attracted her own eyes so that she could not get them away the effect of fancy was to keep her staring at him with the in her hand not only to her own great uneasiness but to his too and through them both to mrs s and mr s thus a few ghostly moments when they were all staring without knowing why her mistress was the first to say what is the matter with you i don t know said mistress with her disengaged left hand extended towards the visitor it ain t me it s him what does this good woman mean cried mr turning white hot and slowly rising with a look of such deadly wrath that it contrasted with the slight force of his words how is it possible to understand this good creature it s not possible said mr himself rapidly little in that direction she don t know what she means she s an idiot a wanderer in her mind she shall have a dose she shall have such a dose get along with you my woman he added in her ear get along with you while you know you re and before you re shaken to mistress sensible of the danger in which her identity stood the as her husband seized it put her apron over her head and in a twinkling vanished the visitor gradually broke into a smile and sat down again you ll excuse her mr said pouring out the tea himself she s failing and breaking up that s what she s about do you take sugar sir thank you no tea for me pardon my observing it but that s a very remarkable watch the tea table was drawn up near the sofa with a small interval between it and mrs s own particular table mr in his gallantry had risen to hand that lady her tea her dish of toast was already there and it was in placing the cup conveniently within her reach that the watch lying before her as it always did attracted his attention mrs looked suddenly up at him may i be permitted thank you a fine old fashioned watch he said taking it in his hand heavy for use but massive and genuine i have a partiality for everything genuine such as i am i am genuine myself a gentleman s watch with two cases in the old fashion may i remove it from the outer case thank you aye an old silk watch worked with beads i have often seen these among old dutch people and quaint things they are old fashioned too said mrs very but this is not as old as the watch i think i think not extraordinary how they used to these remarked mr glancing up with his own smile again is this d n p it might be almost anything those are the letters mr who had been pausing all this time with a cup of tea in his hand and his mouth open ready to swallow the contents began to do so always entirely filling his mouth before he emptied it at a and always again before he it d n f was some tender lovely fascinating fair creature i make no doubt observed mr as he snapped on the case again i her memory on the assumption unfortunately for my peace of mind i but too readily it may be a vice it may be a virtue but adoration of female beauty and merit three parts of my character madam mr had by this time poured himself out another cup of tea which he was in as before with his eyes directed to the invalid you may be heart free here sir she returned to mr those letters are not intended i believe for the of any name little d er t motto perhaps said mr casually of a sentence they have always stood i believe for do not forget | 8 |
and naturally said mr the watch and stepping backward to his former chair you do not forget mr f finishing his tea not only took a longer than he had taken yet but made his succeeding pause under new circumstances that is to say with his head thrown back and his cup still held at his lips while his eyes were still directed at the invalid she had that force of face and that concentrated air of collecting her firmness or obstinacy which represented in her case what would have been gesture and action in another as she replied with her deliberate strength of speech no sir i do not forget to lead a life as monotonous as mine has been during many years is not the way to forget to lead a life of self is not the way to forget to be sensible of having as we all have every one of us all the children of adam to and peace to make does not justify the desire to forget therefore i have long dismissed it and i neither forget nor wish to forget mr who had been shaking the at the bottom of his tea cup round and round here it down and putting the cup in the tea tray as done with turned his eyes upon mr as if to ask him what he thought of that all expressed madam said mr with his bow and his white hand on his breast by the word naturally which i am proud to have had sufficient apprehension and appreciation but without appreciation i could not be to employ pardon me sir she returned if i doubt the of a gentleman of pleasure and change and politeness accustomed to court and to be oh madam by heaven if i doubt the of such a character quite what belongs to mine in my circumstances not to doctrine upon you she looked at the rigid pile of hard pale books before her for you go your own way and the consequences are on your own head i will say this much that i shape my course by strictly by proved and tried under whom i cannot be can not be and that if i were of the conveyed in those three letters i should not be half as as i am it was curious how she seized the occasion to argue with some invisible opponent perhaps with her own better sense always herself and her own deception if i forgot my in my life of health and freedom i might complain of the life to which i am now condemned i never do i never have done if i forgot that this scene the earth is expressly meant to be a scene of gloom and hardship and dark trial for the creatures who are made out of its dust i might have some tenderness for its but i have no such tenderness if i did little not know that we are every one the subject most justly the subject of a wrath that must be satisfied and against which mere actions are nothing i might at the difference between me imprisoned here and the people who pass that yonder but i take it as a grace and favor to be elected to make the satisfaction i am making here to know what i know for certain here and to work out what i have worked out here my affliction might otherwise have had no meaning to me hence i would forget and i do forget nothing hence i am contented and say it is better with me than with millions as she spoke these words she put her hand upon the watch and restored it to the precise spot on her little table which it always occupied with her touch lingering upon it she sat for some moments afterwards looking at it steadily and half mr during this had been strictly attentive keeping his eyes fastened on the lady and thoughtfully his moustache with his two hands mr had been a little and now struck in there there there said he that is quite understood mrs and you have spoken and well mr i suspect is not of a pious cast on the contrary sir that gentleman protested snapping his fingers your pardon it s a part of my character i am sensitive ardent conscientious and imaginative a sensitive ardent conscientious and imaginative man mr must be that or nothing there was an of suspicion in mr s face that he might be nothing as he out of his chair it was characteristic of this man as it is of all men marked that whatever he did he though it were sometimes by only a hair s breadth and approached to take his leave of mrs with what will appear to you the of a sick old woman sir she then said though really through your accidental allusion i have been led away into the subject of myself and my being so considerate as to visit me i hope you will be likewise so considerate as to overlook that don t compliment me if you please for he was evidently going to do it mr will be happy to render you any service and i hope your stay in this city may prove agreeable mr thanked her and kissed his hand several times this is an old room he remarked with a sudden of manner looking round when he got near the door i have been so interested that i have not observed it but it s a genuine old room it is a genuine old house said mrs with her frozen smile a place of no pretensions but a piece of antiquity faith cried the visitor if mr would do me the favor to take me through the rooms on my way out he could hardly oblige me more an old house is a weakness | 8 |
with me i have many weaknesses but none greater i love and study the picturesque in all its varieties i have been called picturesque myself it is no merit to little be picturesque i have greater merits perhaps but i may be by an accident sympathy sympathy i tell you beforehand mr that you ll find it very dingy and very bare said taking up the candle it s not worth your looking at but mr him in a friendly manner on the back only laughed so the said kissed his hand again to mrs and they went out of the room together you don t care to go up stairs said on the landing on the contrary mr if not tiresome to you i shall be mr therefore himself up the staircase and mr followed close they ascended to the great garret bedroom which arthur had occupied on the night of his return there mr said showing it i hope you may think that worth coming so high to see i confess i don t mr being they walked through other and passages and came down the staircase again by this time mr had remarked that he never found the visitor looking at any room after throwing one quick glance around but always found the visitor looking at him mr with this discovery in his thoughts he turned about on the staircase for another experiment he met his eyes directly and on the instant of their fixing one another the visitor with that ugly play of nose and moustache laughed as he had done at every similar moment since they left mrs s chamber a silent laugh as a much shorter man than the visitor mr was at the physical disadvantage of being thus at from a height and as he went first down the staircase and was usually a step or two lower than the other this disadvantage was at the time increased he postponed looking at mr again until this accidental was removed by their having entered the late mr s room but then twisting himself suddenly round upon him he found his look unchanged a most admirable old house smiled mr so mysterious do you never hear any haunted noises here noises returned mr see any devils r not said mr grimly himself at his not any that introduce themselves under that name and in that capacity a portrait here i see still looking at mr as if he were the portrait it s a portrait sir as you observe may i ask the subject mr mr deceased her husband former owner of the remarkable watch perhaps said the visitor mr who had cast his eyes towards the portrait twisted himself about again and again found himself the subject of the same look and smile yes mr he replied it little was his and his uncle s before him and lord knows whose before him and that s all i can tell you of its that s a strongly marked character mr our friend upstairs yes sir said twisting himself at the visitor again as he did during the whole of this dialogue like some screw machine that fell short of its grip for the other never changed and he always felt obliged to retreat a little she is a remarkable woman great fortitude great strength of mind they must have been very happy said who demanded mr with another screw at him mr shook his right forefinger towards the sick room and his left forefinger towards the portrait and then putting his arms and his legs wide apart stood smiling down at mr with the advancing nose and the retreating moustache as happy as most other married people i suppose returned mr i can t say i don t know there are secrets in all families secrets cried mr quickly say it again my son i say replied mr upon whom he had swelled himself so suddenly that mr found his face almost brushed by the dilated chest i say there are secrets in all families so there are cried the other clapping him on both shoulders and him backwards and forwards you are right so there are secrets holy blue there are the devil s own secrets in some families mr with that after clapping mr on both shoulders several times as if in a friendly and humorous way he were him on a joke he had made he threw up his arms threw back his head his hands together behind it and burst into a roar of laughter it was in vain for mr to try another screw at him he had his laugh out but favor me with the candle a moment he said when he had done let us have a look at the husband of the remarkable lady holding up the light at arm s length a decided expression of face here too though not of the same character looks as if he were saying what is it do not forget does he not mr by heaven sir he does as he returned him the candle he looked at him once more and then leisurely strolling out with him into the hall declared it to be a charming old house indeed and one which had so greatly pleased him that he would not have missed it for a hundred pounds throughout these singular on the part of mr which involved a general alteration in his making it much and much more violent and audacious than before mr whose face was not liable to many changes preserved its beyond now appearing perhaps to have been left hanging a trifle too long before that friendly operation of cutting down he outwardly maintained an composure little they had brought their survey to a close in the little room at the side of the hall and he stood there mr lam glad you are so well satisfied sir | 8 |
re rather hard on poor father said mrs with a face and don t let him have half as much change and fresh air as would benefit him but he ll soon be home for good now won t you father yes my dear i hope so in good time please god here mr delivered himself of an which he invariably made word for word the same on all such opportunities it was in the following terms little john sir while there s a of or drink of any sort in this present roof you re fully welcome to your share on it while there s a handful of fire or a of bed in this present roof you re fully welcome to your share on it if so be as there should be nothing in this present roof you should be as welcome to your share on it as if it was something much or little and this is what i mean and so i don t deceive you and consequently which is to stand out is to entreat of you and therefore why not do it to this address which mr always delivered as if he had composed it as no doubt he had with enormous labor mrs s father replied i thank you kindly thomas and i know your intentions well which is the same i thank you kindly for but no thomas until such times as it s not to take it out of your children s mouths which take it is and call it by what name you will it do remain and equally deprive though may they come and too soon they can not come no thomas no mrs who had been turning her face a little away with a corner of her apron in her hand brought herself back to the conversation again by telling miss that father was going over the water to pay his respects unless she knew of any reason why it might not be agreeable her answer was i am going straight home and if he will come with me i shall be so glad to take care of him so glad said little always thoughtful of the feelings of the weak of his company there father cried mrs ain t you a gay young man to be going for a walk along with miss let me tie your neck handkerchief into a regular good bow for you re a regular beau yourself father if ever there was one with this filial joke his daughter him up and gave him a loving and stood at the door with her weak child in her arms and her strong child tumbling down the steps looking after her little old father as he away with his arm under little s they walked at a slow pace and little took him by the iron bridge and sat him down there for a rest and they looked over at the water and talked about the shipping and the old man mentioned what he would do if he had a ship full of gold coming home to him his plan was to take a noble lodging for the and himself at a tea gardens and live there all the rest of their lives attended on by the waiter and it was a special birthday for the old man they were within five minutes of their destination when at the corner of her own street they came upon in her new bonnet bound for the same port why good gracious me cried that young lady starting you never mean it mean what dear well i could have believed a great deal of you returned the young lady with burning indignation but i don t think even i could have believed this of even you cried little wounded and astonished little oh don t me you mean little thing don t the idea of coming along the open streets in the broad light of day with a firing off the last word as if it were a ball from an air gun i tell you not to me for i ll not submit to it i never knew such a thing the way in which you are resolved and determined to disgrace us on all occasions is really infamous you bad little thing does it disgrace anybody said little very gently to take care of this poor old man yes miss returned her sister and you ought to know it does and you do know it does and you do it because you know it does the principal pleasure of your life is to remind your family of their misfortunes and the next great pleasure of your existence is to keep low company but however if you have no sense of decency i have you ll please to allow me to go on the other side of the way with this she across to the opposite pavement the old disgrace who had been bowing a pace or two off for little had let his arm go in her wonder when began and who had been and cursed by impatient passengers for stopping the way rejoined his companion rather giddy and said i hope nothing s wrong with your honored father miss i hope there s nothing the matter in the honored family no no returned little no thank you give me your arm again mr we shall soon be there now so she talked to him as she had talked before and they came to the lodge and found mr on the lock and went in now it happened that the father of the was towards the lodge at the moment when they were coming out of it entering the prison arm in arm as the spectacle of their approach met his view he displayed the utmost agitation and despondency of mind and altogether regardless of old who making his reverence stood with his | 8 |
hat in his hand as he always did in that gracious presence turned about and hurried in at his own doorway and up the staircase leaving the old unfortunate whom in an evil hour she had taken under her protection with a hurried promise to return to him directly little hastened after her father and on the staircase found following her and up with offended dignity the three came into the room almost together and the father sat down in his chair buried his face in his hands and uttered a groan of course said very proper poor afflicted pa now i hope you believe me miss what is it father cried little bending over him have i made you unhappy father not i i hope you hope indeed i dare say oh you paused for a sufficiently strong expression you common minded little you complete prison child he stopped these angry reproaches with a wave of his hand and little sobbed out raising his face and shaking his melancholy head at his younger daughter i know that you are innocent in intention but you have cut me to the soul innocent in intention the struck in in intention low in intention lowering of the family in intention father cried little pale and trembling i am very sorry pray forgive me tell me how it is that i may not do it again how it is you little piece of goods cried you know how it is i have told you already so don t fly in the face of providence by attempting to deny it hush said the father passing his pocket handkerchief several times across his face and then grasping it in the hand that dropped across his knee i have done what i could to keep you select here i have done what i could to retain you a position here i may have succeeded i may not you may know it you may not i give no opinion i have endured everything here but humiliation that i have happily been spared until this day here his grasp itself and he put his to his eyes again little on the ground beside him with her imploring hand upon his arm watched him coming out of his fit of grief he clenched his pocket handkerchief once more humiliation i have happily been spared until this day through all my troubles there has been that spirit in myself and that that submission to it if i may use the term in those about me which has spared me ha humiliation but this day this minute i have keenly felt it of course how could it be otherwise exclaimed the irrepressible and about with a air gun again put dear father cried little i don t justify myself for having wounded your dear heart no heaven knows i don t she clasped her hands in quite an agony of distress i do nothing but beg and pray you to be comforted and overlook it but if i had not known that you were kind to the old man yourself and took much notice of him and were always glad to see him i would not have come here with him father i would not indeed what i have been so unhappy as to do i have done in mistake i would not bring a tear to your eyes dear love said little her heart well nigh broken for anything the world could give me or anything it could take away with a partly angry and partly sob began to cry herself and to say as this young lady always said when she was half in a passion and half out of it half with herself and with everybody else that she wished she was dead the father of the in the meantime took his younger daughter to his breast and patted her head there there say no more no more my child i little d t will forget it as soon as i can i with hysterical cheerfulness i shall soon be able to dismiss it it is perfectly true my dear that i am always glad to see my old as such as such and that i do ha extend as much protection and kindness to the hum the bruised reed i trust i may so call him without as in my circumstances i can it is quite true that this is the case my dear child at the same time i preserve in doing this if i may ha if i may use the expression spirit becoming spirit and there are some things which are he stopped to sob with that and wound that wound it deeply it is not that i have seen my good attentive and ha to my old it is not that that hurts me it is if i am to close the painful subject by being explicit that i have seen my child my own child my own daughter coming into this college out of the public streets smiling smiling arm in arm with my god a livery this reference to the coat of no cut and no time the unfortunate gentleman gasped forth in a scarcely audible voice and with his clenched pocket handkerchief raised in the air his excited feelings might have found some further painful utterance but for a knock at the door which had been already twice repeated and to which still wishing herself dead and indeed now going so far as to add buried cried come in ah young john said the father in an altered and voice what is it young john a letter for you sir being left in the lodge just this minute and a message with it i thought happening to be there | 8 |
myself sir i would bring it to your room the speaker s attention was much distracted by the piteous spectacle of little at her father s feet with her head turned away indeed john thank you the letter is from mr sir it s the answer and the message was sir that mr also sent his compliments and word that he would do himself the pleasure of calling this afternoon hoping to see you and likewise attention more distracted than before miss oh as the father glanced into the letter there was a in it he a little and patted on the head afresh thank you young john quite right much obliged to you for your attention one waiting sir no one waiting thank you john how is your mother young john thank you sir she s not quite as well as we could wish in fact we none of us are except father but she s pretty well sir say we sent our will you say kind if you please young john thank you sir i will and mr junior went his way having composed on the spot an entirely new for himself to the effect that here lay the body of john who having at such a date beheld the idol of his life in grief and tears and feeling unable to bear the spectacle immediately t little repaired to the abode of his parents and terminated his existence by his own rash act there there said the father when young john had closed the door let ns say no more about it the last few minutes had improved his spirits remarkably and he was quite where is my old all this while we must not leave him by himself any longer or he will begin to suppose he is not welcome and that would pain me will you fetch him my child or shall i if you wouldn t mind father said little trying to bring her sobbing to a close certainly i will go my dear i forgot your eyes are rather red there cheer up don t be uneasy about me i am quite myself again my love quite myself go to your room and make your face look comfortable and pleasant to receive mr i would rather stay in my own room father returned little finding it more difficult than before to regain her composure i would far rather not see mr oh my dear that s folly mr is a very gentlemanly man very gentlemanly a little reserved at times but i will say extremely gentlemanly i couldn t think of your not being here to receive mr my dear especially this afternoon so go and yourself up go and yourself up like a good girl thus directed little rose and obeyed only pausing for a moment as she went out of the room to give her sister a kiss of reconciliation upon which that young lady feeling much harassed in her mind and having for the time worn out the wish with which she generally relieved it conceived and executed the brilliant idea of wishing old dead rather than that he should come there like a disgusting tiresome wicked wretch and making mischief between two sisters the father of the even humming a tune and wearing his black velvet cap a little on one side so much improved were his spirits went down into the yard and found his old standing hat in hand just within the gate as he had stood all this time come said he with great come up stairs you know the way why don t you come up stairs he went the length on this occasion of giving him his hand and saying how are you are you pretty well to which that returned i thank you honored sir i am all the better for seeing your honor as they went along the yard the father of the presented him to a of recent date an old acquaintance of mine sir an old and then said be covered my good put your hat on with great consideration his patronage did not stop here for he charged to get the tea ready and instructed her to buy certain tea cakes fresh butter eggs cold ham and to purchase which he gave her a bank note for ten pounds laying strict on her to be careful of the change these preparations were in an advanced of progress and his daughter had come back with her work v i h little when presented himself whom he most graciously received and to join their meal my love you know mr even better than i have the happiness of doing my dear you are acquainted with mr acknowledged him the position she took up in all such cases being that there was a vast conspiracy to insult the family by not understanding it or sufficiently to it and here was one of the this mr you must know is an old of mine old a very faithful old man he always spoke of him as an object of great antiquity but he was two or three years younger than himself let me see you know i think i think my daughter has mentioned to me that you know poor oh yes said arthur well sir this is mrs s father indeed i am glad to see him you would be more glad if you knew his many good qualities mr i hope i shall come to know them through knowing him said arthur secretly pitying the bowed and figure it is a holiday with him and he comes to see his old friends who are always glad to see him observed the father of the then he added behind his hand union poor old fellow out for the day by this time quietly assisted by her little mother had spread the board and the was ready | 8 |
it being hot weather and the prison very close the window was as wide open as it could be pushed if will spread that newspaper on the window sill my dear remarked the father complacently and in a half whisper to little my old can have his tea there while we are having ours so with a gulf between him and the good company of about a foot in width standard measure mrs s father was handsomely had never seen anything like his protection by that other father he of the and was lost in the contemplation of its many wonders the most striking of these was perhaps the manner in which he remarked on the s and as if he were a gracious keeper making a running on the decline of the harmless animal he exhibited not ready for more ham yet why how slow you are his last teeth he explained to the company are going poor old boy at another time he said no and on his not instantly replying observed his hearing is becoming very he ll be deaf directly at another time he asked him do you walk much about the yard within the walls of that place of yours no sir no i haven t any great liking for that no to be sure he assented very natural then he privately informed the circle legs going little once he asked the in that general which asked him anything to keep him afloat how old his younger was john edward said the slowly laying down his knife and fork to consider how old sir let me think now the father of the tapped his forehead memory weak john edward sir well i really forget i could nt say at this minute sir whether it s two and two months or whether it s two and five months it s one or the other don t distress yourself hy worrying your mind about it he returned with infinite forbearance faculties evidently old man in the life he leads the more of these discoveries that he persuaded himself he made in the the better he appeared to like him and when he got out of his chair after tea to bid the good bye on his that he feared honored sir his time was running out he made himself look as erect and strong as possible we don t call this a shilling you know he said putting one in his hand we call it tobacco honored sir i thank you it shall buy tobacco my thanks and duty to miss and miss i wish you good night mr and mind you don t forget us you know said the you must come again mind whenever you have an afternoon you must not come out without seeing us or we shall be jealous good night be very careful how you descend the stairs they are rather and worn with that he stood on the landing watching the old man down and when he came into the room again said with a solemn satisfaction on him a melancholy sight that mr though one has the consolation of knowing that he doesn t feel it himself the poor old fellow is a dismal wreck spirit broken and gone crushed out of him sir completely as had a purpose in remaining he said what he could to these sentiments and stood at the window with their while and her little mother washed the tea service and cleared it away he noticed that his companion stood at the window with the air of an and accessible sovereign and that when any of his people in the yard below looked up his recognition of their just stopped short of a blessing when little had her work on the table and hers on the fell to tying her bonnet as a preliminary to her departure arthur still having his purpose still remained at this time the door opened without any notice and mr tip came in he kissed as she started up to meet him nodded to nodded to his father on the visitor without further recognition and sat down tip dear little mildly shocked by this don t you see yes i see if you refer to the presence of any visitor you little have here i say if you refer to that answered tip his head with emphasis towards his shoulder nearest i see is that au you say that s all i say and i suppose added the lofty young man after a moment s pause the visitor will understand me when i say that s all i say in short i suppose the visitor will understand that he hasn t used me like a gentleman i do not understand that observed the personage referred to with tranquillity no why then to make it clearer to you sir i beg to let you know that when i address what i call a properly appeal and an urgent appeal and a delicate appeal to an individual for a small temporary accommodation easily within his power easily within his power mind and when that individual writes back word to me that he to be excused i consider that he doesn t treat me like a gentleman the father of the who had surveyed his son in silence no sooner heard this sentiment than he began in an angry voice how dare you but his son stopped him now don t ask me how i dare father because that s as to the fact of the line of conduct i choose to adopt towards the individual present you ought to be proud of my showing a proper spirit i should think so cried a proper spirit said the father yes a proper spirit a becoming spirit is it come to this that my son teaches me me spirit now don t let us | 8 |
bother about it father or have any row on the subject i have fully made up my mind that the individual present has not treated me like a gentleman and there s an end of it but there is not an end of it sir returned the father but there shall not be an end of it you have made up your mind you have made up your mind have what s the good of keeping on like that because returned the father in a great heat you had no right to make up your mind to what is monstrous to what is ha to what is hum no mr i beg sir don t ask me to there is a hum a general principle involved here which rises even above considerations of ha hospitality i object to the assertion made by my son i ha i personally it why what is it to you father returned the son over his shoulder what is it to me sir i have a hum a spirit sir that will not endure it i he took out his pocket handkerchief again and his face i am outraged and insulted by it let me suppose the case that i myself may at a certain time ha or times have made a hum an appeal and a properly appeal and a delicate appeal and an urgent appeal to some individual for a small temporary accommodation let me suppose that that accommodation could have been easily extended and was not extended and that that little individual informed me that he begged to be excused am i to be told by my own son that i therefore received treatment not due to a gentleman and that i ha i submitted to it his daughter gently tried to calm him but he would not on any account be he said his spirit was up and wouldn t endure this was he to be told that he wished to know again by his own son on his own hearth to his own face was that humiliation to be put upon him by his own blood you are putting it on yourself father and getting into all this injury of your own accord said the young gentleman what i have made up my mind about has nothing to do with you what i said had nothing to do with you why need you go trying on other people s hats i reply it has everything to do with me returned the father i point out to you sir with indignation that hum the ha delicacy and peculiarity of your father s position should strike you dumb sir if nothing else should in laying down such ha such unnatural principles besides if you are not filial sir if you that duty are you at least hum not a christian are you ha an and is it christian let me ask you to and an individual for begging to be excused this time when the same individual may ha respond with the required accommodation next time is it the part of a christian not to hum not to try him again he had worked himself into quite a religious glow and i see precious well said mr tip rising that i shall get no sensible or fair argument here to night and so the best thing i can do is to cut good night don t be vexed i am very sorry it happens here and you here upon my soul i am but i can t altogether part with my spirit even for your sake old girl with those words he put on his hat and went out accompanied by miss who did not consider it spirited on her part to take leave of with any less opposing demonstration than a stare that she had always known him for one of the large body of when they were gone the father of the was at first inclined to sink into despondency again and would have done so but that a gentleman came up within a minute or two to attend him to the it was the gentleman had seen on the night of his own accidental there who had that grievance about the fund on which the was supposed to he presented himself as a to escort the father to the chair it being an occasion on which he had promised to over the assembled in the enjoyment of a little harmony such you see mr said the father are the of my position here but a public duty no man i am sure would more readily recognise a public duty than yourself him not to delay a moment my dear if you can persuade mr to stay longer little i can leave the honors of our poor apology for an establishment with confidence in your hands and perhaps you may do something towards from mr s mind the ha and unpleasant circumstance which has occurred since tea time assured him that it had made no impression on his mind and therefore required no my dear sir said the father with a removal of his black cap and a grasp of s hand to express the safe receipt of his note and that afternoon heaven ever bless you so at last s purpose in remaining was attained and he could speak to little with nobody by counted as nobody and she was by chapter more fortune telling sat at her work in her great white cap with its quantity of hiding what she had she had none to spare and her serviceable eye brought to bear upon her occupation on the window side of the room what with her flapping cap and what with her eye she | 8 |
was quite off from her little mother whose seat was opposite the window the tread and of feet on the pavement of the yard had much diminished since the taking of the chair the tide of having set strongly in the direction of harmony some few who had no music in their souls or no money in their pockets about and the old spectacle of the visitor wife and the depressed prisoner still lingered in corners as broken and such in corners of other places it was the time the college knew saving the night hours when the took the benefit of the act of sleep the occasional rattle of applause upon the tables of the the successful termination of a morsel of harmony or the acceptance by the united children of some toast or sentiment offered to them by their father occasionally a strain more than the informed the listener that some bass was in blue water or in the hunting field or with the rein deer or on the mountain or among the but the of the knew better and had got him hard and fast as arthur moved to sit down by the side of little she trembled so that she had much to hold her needle gently put his hand upon her work and said dear little let me lay it down she yielded it to him and he put it aside her hands were then nervously clasping together but he took one of them little how seldom i have seen you lately little u i have been busy sir but i heard only to day said by mere accident of your having been with those good people close by me why not come to me then i i don t know or rather i thought you might be busy too you generally are now are you not he saw her trembling little form and her downcast face and the eyes that drooped the moment they were raised to his he saw them almost with as much concern as tenderness my child your manner is so changed the trembling was now quite beyond her control softly withdrawing her hand and laying it in her other hand she sat before him with her head bent and her whole form trembling my own little said she burst into tears looked round of a sudden and stared for at least a minute but did not waited some little while before he spoke again i cannot bear he said then to see you weep but i hope this is a relief to an heart yes it is sir nothing but that well well i feared you would think too much of what passed here just now it is of no moment not the least i am only unfortunate to have come in the way let it go by with these tears it is not worth one of them one of them such an idle thing should be repeated with my glad consent fifty times a day to save you a moment s heart ache little she had taken courage now and answered far more in her usual manner you are so good but even if there was nothing else in it to be sorry for and ashamed of it is such a bad return to you hush said smiling and touching her lips with his hand forgetfulness in you who remember so many and so much would be new indeed shall i remind you that i am not and that i never was anything but the friend whom you agreed to trust no you remember it don t you i try to do so or i should have broken the promise just now when my mistaken brother was here you will consider his bringing up in this place and will not judge him hardly poor fellow i know in raising her eyes with these words she observed his face more nearly than she had done yet and said with a quick change of tone you have not been ill mr no nor tried nor hurt she asked him anxiously it fell to now to be not quite certain how to answer he said in reply to speak the truth have been a little troubled but it is over do i show it so plainly i ought to have more fortitude and than that i thought i had i must learn them of you who could teach me better he never thought that she saw in him what no one else could see little he never thought that in the whole world there were no other eyes that looked upon him with the same light and strength as hers but it brings me to something that i wish to say he continued and therefore i will not quarrel even with my own face for telling tales and being to me besides it is a privilege and pleasure to confide in my little let me confess then that forgetting how grave i was and how old i was and how the time for such things had gone by me with the many years of and little happiness that made up my long life far away without that forgetting all this i fancied i loved some one do i know her sir asked little no my child not the lady who has been kind to me for your sake no no did you think i never quite thought so said little more to herself than him i did wonder at it a little well said abiding by the feeling that had fallen on him in the avenue on the night of the roses the feeling that he was an older man who had done with that tender part of life i found out my mistake and i thought about it a little in short a good deal and got wiser being wiser i counted up my years and | 8 |
considered what i am and looked back and looked forward and found that i should soon be grey i found that i had climbed the hill and passed the level ground upon the top and was descending quickly if he had known the of the pain he caused the patient heart in speaking thus while doing it too with the purpose of and serving her i found that the day when any such thing would have been graceful in me or good in me or hopeful or happy for me or any one in with me was gone and would never shine again if he had known if he had known if he could have seen the dagger in his hand and the cruel wounds it struck in the faithful bleeding breast of his little all that is over and i have turned my face from it why do i speak of this to little why do i show you my child the space of years that there is between us and to you that i have passed by the amount of your whole life the time that is present to you because you trust me i hope because you know that nothing can touch you without touching me that nothing can make you happy or unhappy but it must make me who am so grateful to you the same he heard the thrill in her voice he saw her earnest face he saw her clear true eyes he saw the quickened bosom that would have joyfully thrown itself before him to receive a mortal wound directed at his breast with the dying cry i love him and the remotest suspicion of the truth never dawned upon his mind no he saw the devoted little creature with her worn shoes in her common dress in her jail home a slender child in body a strong heroine in soul and the light of her domestic story made all else dark to him little for those reasons assuredly little but for another too so far removed so different and so much older i am the better fitted for your friend and adviser i mean i am the more easily to be trusted and any little that you might feel with another may vanish before me why have you kept so retired from me tell me i am better here my place and use are here i am much better here said little faintly so you said that day upon the bridge i thought of it much afterwards have you no secret you could to me with hope and comfort if you would secret is r o i have no secret said little in some trouble they had been speaking in low voices more because it was natural to what they said to adopt that tone than with any care to reserve it from at her work all of a sudden stared again and this time spoke i say little mother yes if you an t got no secret of your own to tell him tell him that about the princess she had a secret you know the princess had a secret said in some surprise what princess was that lor how you do go and bother a of ten said catching the poor thing up in that way whoever said the princess had a secret never said so i beg your pardon i thought you did no i didn t how could i when it was her as wanted to find it out it was the little woman as had the secret and she was always a spinning at her wheel and so she says to her why do you keep it there and so the t other one says to her no i don t and so the t other one says to her yes you do and then they both goes to the cupboard and there it is and she wouldn t go into the hospital and so she died you know little mother tell him that for it was a lar good secret that was cried herself arthur looked at little for help to comprehend this and was struck by seeing her so timid and red but when she told him that it was only a fairy tale she had one day made up for and that there was nothing in it which she wouldn t be ashamed to tell again to anybody else even if she could remember it he left the subject where it was however he returned to his own subject by first her to see him oftener and to remember that it was impossible to have a stronger interest in her welfare than he had or to be more set upon it than he was when she answered fervently she well knew that she never forgot it he touched upon his second and more delicate point the suspicion he had formed little he said taking her hand again and speaking lower than he had spoken yet so that even in the small room could not hear him another word i have wanted very much to say this little to you i have tried for opportunities don t mind me who for the matter of years might be your father or your uncle always think of me as quite an old man i know that all your devotion in this room and that nothing to the last will ever tempt you away from the duties you discharge here if i were not sure of it i should before now have implored you and implored your father to let me make some provision for you in a more suitable place but you may have an interest i will not say now though even that might be may have at another time an interest in some one else an interest not with your affection here she was very very pale and silently shook her head | 8 |
it may be dear little no no no she shook her head after each slow repetition of the word with an air of quiet desolation that he remembered long afterwards the time came when he remembered it well long afterwards within those prison walls within that very room but if it ever should be tell me so my dear child the truth to me point out the object of such an interest to me and i will try with all the zeal and honor and friendship and respect that i feel for you good little of my heart to do you a thank you thank you but no no no she said this looking at him with her work worn hands folded together and in the same resigned accents as before i press for no confidence now i only ask you to repose trust in me m can i do less than that when you are so good u then you will trust me fully will have no secret or anxiety concealed from me almost none and you have none now she shook her head but she was very pale when i lie down to night and my thoughts come back as they will for they do every night even when i have not seen you to this sad place i may believe that there is no grief beyond this room now and its usual occupants which on little s mind she seemed to catch at these words that he remembered too long afterwards and said more brightly yes mr yes you may the crazy staircase usually not slow to give notice when any one was coming up or down here under a quick tread and a further sound was heard upon it as if a little steam engine with more steam than it knew what to do with were working towards the room as it approached which it did very rapidly it labored with increased energy and after knocking at the door it sounded as if it were stooping down and in at the before could open the door mr opening it from without stood without a hat and with his bare head in the wildest condition looking at and little over her shoulder little he had a lighted cigar in his hand and brought with him airs of ale and tobacco smoke the he observed ont of breath he stood smiling and breathing hard at them with a most curious air as if instead of being his proprietor s he were the triumphant proprietor of the the all the and all the in his great self satisfaction he put his cigar to his lips being evidently no and took such a pull at it with his right eye shut up tight for the purpose that he a of shuddering and choking but even in the midst of that he still to repeat his favorite introduction of himself pa the gi fortune telling i am spending the evening with the rest of em said i ve been singing i ve been taking a part in white sand and grey sand i don t know anything about it never mind i ll take any part in anything it s all the same if you re loud enough at first supposed him to be but he soon perceived that though he might be a little the worse or better for ale the of his excitement was not from or from any grain or how d ye do miss said i thought you wouldn t mind my running round and looking in for a moment mr i heard was here from mr how are you sir thanked him and said he was glad to see him so gay gay said i m in wonderful feather sir i can t stop a minute or i shall be missed and i don t want em to miss me eh miss he seemed to have an delight in appealing to her and looking at her excitedly sticking his hair up at the same moment like a dark species of i haven t been here half an hour i knew mr was in the chair and i said i ll go and support him i ought to be down in bleeding heart yard by rights but i can worry them to morrow eh miss his little black eyes sparkled his very hair seemed to sparkle as he it he was in that highly charged state that one might have expected to draw sparks and from him by presenting a to any part of his figure capital company here said eh miss she was half afraid of him and what to say he laughed with a nod towards don t mind him miss he s one of us we agreed that you shouldn t take on to mind me before people but we didn t mean mr he s one of us he s in it an t you mr eh miss the excitement of this strange creature was fast communicating itself to little with amazement saw this and observed that they exchanged quick looks i was making a remark said but i declare i forget little hit what it was oh i know capital company here i ve been treating em all round eh miss very generous of you she returned noticing another of the quick looks between the two not at all said don t mention it i m coming into my property that s the fact i can afford to be liberal i think i ll give em a treat here tables laid in the yard bread in pipes in tobacco in roast beef and for every one of double stout a head pint of wine too if they like it and the authorities give permission eh miss she was thrown into such a confusion by his manner or rather by s growing understanding | 8 |
at length gave way and that the sacrifice was hers not his the same with the same polite dexterity she on mrs as a might have forced a card on that innocent lady and when her future daughter in law was presented to her by her son she said on embracing her my dear what have you done to henry that has him so at the same time allowing a few tears to carry before them in little the powder on her nose as a delicate but touching signal that she suffered much little inwardly for the show of composure with which she bore her misfortune among the friends of mrs who herself at once on being society and on maintaining intimate and easy relations with that power mrs occupied a front row true the court without exception turned up their noses at as an but they turned them down again by falling flat on their faces to worship his wealth in which of their noses they were pretty much like treasury ear and bishop and all the rest of them to mrs mrs repaired on a visit of self after having given the gracious consent she drove into town for the purpose in a one horse carriage called at that period of english history a box it belonged to a job master in a small way who drove it himself and who it by the day or hour to most of the old ladies in court palace but it was a point of ceremony in that that the whole should be regarded as the private property of the for the time being and that the job master should betray personal knowledge of nobody but the in possession so the who were the largest job masters in the universe always pretended to know of no other job but the job immediately in hand mrs was at home and was in her nest of crimson and gold with the on a neighbouring stem watching her with his head on one side as if he took her for another splendid of a larger species to whom entered mrs with her favourite green fan which softened the light on the spots of bloom my dear soul said mrs tapping the back of her friend s hand with this fan after a little indifferent conversation you are my only comfort that affair of henry s that i told you of is to take place how does it strike you i am dying to know because you represent and express society so well mrs the bosom which society was accustomed to review and having ascertained that show window of mr s and the london to be in good order replied as to marriage on the part of a man my dear society requires that he should his fortunes by marriage society requires that he should gain by marriage society requires that he should found a handsome establishment by marriage society does not see otherwise what he has to do with marriage bird be quiet for the on his cage above them over the conference as if he were a judge and indeed he looked rather like one had wound up the with a shriek cases there are said mrs delicately the little finger of her favourite hand and making her remarks by that neat action cases there are where a man is not young or elegant and is rich and has a handsome establishment already those are of a different kind in such cases mrs shrugged her snowy shoulders and put her hand upon the jewel stand checking a little cough as though to add why a w c u a a a y z u i a m z z little man looks out for this sort of thing my dear then the shrieked again and she put up her glass to look at him and said bird do be quiet but young men resumed mrs and by young men you know what i mean my love i mean people s sons who have the world before them they must place themselves in a better position towards society by marriage or society really will not have any patience with their making fools of themselves dreadfully worldly all this sounds said mrs leaning back in her nest and putting up her glass again does it not but it is true said mrs with a highly moral air my dear it is not to be disputed for a moment returned mrs because society has made up its mind on the subject and there is nothing more to be said if we were in a more primitive state if we lived under roofs of leaves and kept cows and sheep and creatures instead of banker s accounts which would be delicious my dear i am pastoral to a degree by nature well and good but we don t live under leaves and keep cows and sheep and creatures i perfectly myself sometimes in pointing out the distinction to mrs looking over her green fan when this young gentleman s name was mentioned replied as follows my love you know the wretched state of the country those unfortunate of john s and you therefore know the reasons for my being as poor as a church mouse mrs suggested with a smile i was thinking of the other church person job said mrs either will do it would be idle to disguise consequently that there is a wide difference between the position of your son and mine i may add too that henry has talent which certainly has not said mrs with the greatest and that his talent combined with disappointment mrs went on has led him into a pursuit which ah dear me you know my dear such being henry s different position the question is what is the most inferior class of marriage to which i can reconcile | 8 |
myself mrs was so much engaged with the contemplation of her arms beautiful formed arms and the very thing for that she omitted to reply for a while at length by the silence she folded the arms and with admirable presence of mind looked her friend full in the face and said ye es and then and then my dear said mrs not quite so sweetly as before i should be glad to hear what you have to say to it here the who had been standing on one leg since he screamed last burst into a fit of laughter himself up and down on both legs and finished by standing on one leg again and pausing for a reply with his head as much as he could possibly twist it sounds to ask what the gentleman is to get with the u little lady said mrs but society is perhaps a little you know my dear what i can make out said mrs go wan i believe i may say that henry will be relieved from debt much in debt asked mrs through her eye glass why tolerably i should think said mrs go wan meaning the usual thing i understand just so mrs observed in a comfortable sort of way and that the father will make them an allowance of three hundred a year or perhaps altogether something more which in italy oh going to italy said mrs for henry to study you need be at no loss to guess why my dear that dreadful true mrs hastened to spare the feelings of her afflicted friend she understood say no more and that said mrs go wan shaking her head that s all that repeated mrs her green fan for the moment and tapping her chin with it it was on the way to being a double chin might be called a chin and a half at present that s all on the death of the old people i suppose there will be more to come but how it may be or locked up i don t know and as to that they may live for ever my dear they are just the kind of people to do it now mrs who really knew her friend society pretty well and who knew what society s mothers were and what society s daughters were and what society s matrimonial market was and how prices ruled in it and what and counter took place for the high and what and went on thought in the depths of her bosom that this was a sufficiently good catch knowing however what was expected of her and perceiving the exact nature of the fiction to be nursed she took it delicately in her arms and put her required contribution of upon it and that is all my dear said she heaving a friendly sigh well well the fault is not yours you have nothing to reproach yourself with you must exercise the strength of mind for which you are renowned and make the best of it the girl s family have made said mrs of course the most to as the lawyers say to have and to hold henry of course they have my dear said mrs i have persisted in every possible objection and have worried myself morning noon and night for means to henry from the doubt you have my dear said mrs and all of no use all has broken down beneath me now tell me my love am i justified in at last yielding my most reluctant consent to henry s marrying among people not in society or have i acted with weakness in answer to this direct appeal mrs assured mrs speaking as a of society that she was highly to be com little mended that she was much to he with that she had taken the highest of parts and had come out of the furnace refined and mrs who of course saw through her own blind perfectly and who knew that mrs saw through it perfectly and who knew that society would see through it perfectly came out of this form notwithstanding as she had gone into it with immense complacency and gravity the conference was held at four or five o clock in the afternoon when all the region of street square was of carriage wheels and double it had reached this point when mr came home from his daily occupation of causing the british name to be more and more respected in all parts of the globe capable of the appreciation of world wide commercial enterprise and gigantic of skill and capital tor though nobody knew with the least precision what mr s business was except that it was to coin money these were the terms in which everybody defined it on all occasions and which it was the last new polite reading of the of the and the needle s eye to accept without for a gentleman who had this splendid work cut out for him mr looked a little common and rather as if in the course of his vast transactions he had accidentally made an of heads with some inferior spirit he presented himself before the two ladies in the course of a dismal stroll through his mansion which had no apparent object but escape from the presence of the chief butler i beg your pardon he said stopping short in confusion i didn t know there was anybody here but the however as mrs said you can come in and as mrs said she was just going and had already risen to take her leave he came in and stood looking out at a distant window with his hands crossed under his uneasy coat clasping his wrists as if he were taking himself into in this attitude he fell directly into a reverie from which he was only aroused by his wife s calling to him from her | 8 |
when they had been for some quarter of alone eh yes said mr turning towards her what is it what is it repeated mrs it is i suppose that you have not heard a word of my complaint your complaint mrs said mr i didn t know that you were suffering from a complaint what complaint a complaint of you said mrs oh a complaint of me said mr what is the what have i what may you have to complain of in me mrs in his withdrawing abstracted pondering way it took him some time to shape this question as a kind of faint attempt to convince himself that he was the master of the house he concluded by present ing his forefinger to the who expressed his opinion on that subject by instantly driving his bill into it you were saying mrs said mr with his little wounded finger in his mouth that you had a complaint against me a complaint which i could scarcely show the justice of more emphatically than by having to repeat it said mrs i might as well have stated it to the wall i had far better have stated it to the bird he would at least have screamed you don t want me to scream mrs i suppose said mr taking a chair indeed i don t know retorted mrs but that you had better do that than be so moody and one would at least know that you were sensible of what was going on around you a man might scream and yet not be that mrs said mr heavily and might be dogged as you are at present without screaming returned mrs that s very true if you wish to know the complaint i make against you it is in so many plain words that you really ought not to go into society unless you can accommodate yourself to society mr so twisting his hands into what hair he had upon his head that he seemed to lift himself up by it as he started out of his chair cried why in the name of all the infernal powers mrs who does more for society than i do do you see these premises mrs do you see this furniture mrs do you look in the glass and see yourself mrs do you know the cost of all this and who it s all provided for and yet will you tell me that i t to go into society i who shower money upon it in this way i who might be almost said to to to harness myself to a watering cart full of money and go about society every day of my life pray don t be violent mr said mrs violent said mr you are enough to make me desperate you don t know half of what i do to accommodate society you don t know anything of the sacrifices i make for it i know returned mrs that you receive the best in the land i know that you move in the whole society of the country and i believe i know indeed not to make any ridiculous pretence about it i know i know who you in it mr mrs retorted that gentleman wiping his dull red and yellow face i know that as well as you do if you were not an ornament to society and if i was not a benefactor to society you and i would never have come together when i say a benefactor to it i mean a person who it with all sorts of expensive things to eat and drink and look at but to tell me that i am not fit for it after all i have done for it after all i have done for it repeated mr with a wild emphasis that made his wife lift up her eyelids after all all to tell me i have no right to mix with it after all is a pretty reward i say answered mrs that you ought to make yourself fit for it by being more and less pre occupied little there is a positive vulgarity in carrying your business affairs about with you as you do how do i carry them about mrs asked mr how do you carry them about said mrs look at yourself in the glass mr involuntarily turned his eyes in the direction of the nearest mirror and asked with a slow determination of his blood to his temples whether a man was to be called to account for his you have a physician said mrs he does me no good said mr mrs changed her ground besides said she your is nonsense i don t speak of your i speak of your manner mrs returned her husband i look to you for that you supply manner and i supply money i don t expect you said mrs easily among her cushions to people i don t want you to take any trouble upon yourself or to try to be fascinating i simply request you to care about nothing or to seem to care about nothing as everybody else does do i ever say i care about anything asked mr say no nobody would attend to you if you did but you show it show what what do i show demanded mr hurriedly i have already told you you show that you carry your business cares and projects about instead of leaving them in the city or where ever else they belong to said mrs or seeming to seem ing would be quite enough i ask no more whereas you couldn t be more occupied with your day s calculations and than you habitually show yourself to be if you were a carpenter a carpenter repeated mr checking something like a groan i shouldn t so much mind being a carpenter mrs | 8 |
and my complaint is pursued the lady the low remark that it is not the tone of society and that you ought to correct it mr if you have any doubt of my judgment ask even the door of the room had opened and mrs now surveyed the head of her son through her glass we want you here mr who had merely put in his head and looked round the room without entering as if he were searching the house for that young lady with no nonsense about her upon this followed up his head with his body and stood before them to whom in a few easy words adapted to his capacity mrs stated the question at issue the young gentleman after anxiously feeling his shirt collar as if it were his pulse and he were observed that he had heard it noticed by has heard it noticed said mrs with triumph why no doubt everybody has heard it noticed which in truth was no unreasonable seeing that mr would probably be the last person in any assemblage of the little d human species to receive an impression from anything that passed in his presence and will tell you i dare say said mrs waving her favorite hand towards her husband how he has heard it noticed i couldn t said mr after feeling his pulse as before couldn t undertake to say what led to it cause memory desperate loose but being in company with the brother of a fine well educated too with no nonsense about her at the period alluded to there never mind the sister remarked mrs a little impatiently what did the brother say didn t say a word ma am answered mr as silent a as myself equally hard up for a remark somebody said something returned mrs never mind who it was assure you i don t in the least said mr but tell us what it was mr referred to his pulse again and put himself through some severe mental discipline before he replied referring to my governor expression not my own occasionally compliment my governor in a very handsome way on being immensely rich and knowing perfect phenomenon of and banker and that but say the shop sits heavy on him say he carries the shop about on his back rather like jew with too much business which said mrs rising with her floating about her is exactly my complaint give me your arm upstairs mr left alone to on a better of himself to society looked out of nine windows in succession and appeared to see nine of space when he had thus entertained himself he went down stairs and looked intently at all the carpets on the ground floor and then came up stairs again and looked intently at all the carpets on the first floor as if they were gloomy depths in with his oppressed soul through all the rooms he wandered as he always did like the last person on earth who had any business to approach them let mrs announce with all her might that she was at home ever so many nights in a season she could not announce more widely and than mr did that he was never at home at last he met the chief butler the sight of which splendid always finished him extinguished by this great creature he to his dressing room and there remained shut up until he rode out to dinner with mrs in her own handsome chariot at dinner he was envied and flattered as a being of might was barred and as much as he would and an hour after midnight came home alone and being instantly put out again in his own hall like a by the butler went sighing to bed little chapter a of mn henry go wax and the dog were established of the cottage and the day was fixed for the wedding there was to be a of on the occasion in order that that very high and very large family might shed as much lustre on the marriage as so dim an event was capable of receiving to have got the whole family together would have been impossible for two reasons because no building could have held all the members and of that illustrious house secondly because wherever there was a square yard of ground in british occupation under the sun or moon with a public post upon it sticking to that post was a no could plant a staff upon any spot of earth and take possession of it in the british name but to that spot of earth so soon as the discovery was known the office sent out a and a box thus the were all over the world in every direction the compass but while the so potent art of himself would have failed in the from every speck of ocean and dry land on which there was nothing except mischief to be done and anything to be it was perfectly to a good many this mrs applied herself to do calling on mr frequently with new additions to the list and holding with that gentleman when he was not engaged as he generally was at this period in examining and paying the debts of his future son in law in the apartment of the scales and one marriage guest there was in reference to whose presence mr felt a nearer interest and concern than in the attendance of the most elevated expected though he was far from insensible of the honor of having such company this guest was but had made a promise he held sacred among the trees that summer night and in the chivalry of his heart regarded it as binding him to many implied obligations in forgetfulness of himself and delicate service to her on all occasions he was never to | 8 |
fail to begin it he answered mr cheerfully i shall come of course his partner daniel was something of a stumbling block in mr s way the worthy gentleman being not at all clear in own anxious mind but that the mingling of daniel with official might produce some combination even at a marriage breakfast the national however lightened him of his uneasiness by coming down to to represent that he begged with the freedom of an old friend and as a favour to one little that he might not be invited for said he as my business with this set of gentlemen was to do a public duty and a public service and as their business with me was to prevent it by wearing my soul out i think we had better not eat and drink together a show of being of one mind mr was much amused by his friend s and him with a more protecting air of allowance than usual when he rejoined well well dan you shall have your own way to mr henry as the time approached tried to convey by all quiet and means that he was frankly and desirous of him any friendship he would accept mr treated him in return with his usual ease and with his usual show of confidence which was no confidence at all you see he happened to remark in the course of conversation one day when they were walking near the cottage within a week of the marriage disappointed man that you know already upon my word said a little embarrassed i scarcely know how why returned i belong to a or a or a family or a or whatever you like to call it that might have provided for me in any one of fifty ways and that took it into its head not to do it at all so here i am a poor devil of an artist was beginning but on the other hand when took him up yes yes i know i have the good fortune of being beloved by a beautiful and charming girl whom i love with all my heart is there much of it thought and as he thought it felt ashamed of himself and of finding a father in law who is a capital fellow and a liberal good old boy still i had other prospects washed and into my childish head when it was washed and for me and i took them to a public school when i washed and it for myself and i am here without them and thus i am a disappointed man thought and as he thought it again felt ashamed of himself was this notion of being disappointed in life an assertion of station which the bridegroom brought into the family as his property having already carried it into his pursuit and was it a hopeful or a promising thing anywhere not bitterly disappointed i think he said aloud hang it no not bitterly laughed my people are not worth that though they are charming fellows and i have the greatest affection for them besides it s pleasant to show them that i can do without them and that they may all go to the devil and besides again most men are disappointed in life somehow or other and influenced by their disappointment but it s a dear good world and i love it it lies fair before you now said arthur fair as this summer river cried the other with enthusiasm little and by jove i glow with admiration of it and with to run a race in it it s the best of old worlds and my calling the best of old isn t it u pull of interest and ambition i conceive said and added laughing we won t leave out the i hope i may not break down in that but there my being a disappointed man may show itself i may not be able to face it out gravely enough between you and me i think there is some danger of my being just enough not to be able to do that to do what asked to keep it up to help myself in my turn as the man before me helps himself in his and pass the bottle of smoke to keep up the pretence as to labor and study and patience and being devoted to my art and giving up many solitary days to it and many pleasures for it and living in it and all the rest of it in short to pass the bottle of smoke according to rule but it is well for a man to respect his own whatever it is and to think himself bound to it and to claim for it the respect it deserves is it not arthur reasoned and your may really demand this suit and service i confess i should have thought that all art did what a good fellow you are exclaimed the other stopping to look at him as if with irrepressible admiration what a capital fellow you have never been disappointed that s easy to see it would have been so cruel if he had meant it that firmly resolved to believe he did not mean it without pausing laid his hand upon his shoulder and and lightly went on i don t like to your generous visions and i would give any money if i had any to live in such a rose colored mist but what i do in my trade i do to sell what all we fellows do we do to sell if we didn t want to sell it for the most we can get for it we shouldn t do it being work it has to be done but it s easily enough done all the rest is now here s one of the advantages or of knowing a disappointed man you hear | 8 |
the truth whatever he had heard and whether it deserved that name or another it sank into s mind it so took root there that he began to fear henry would always be a trouble to him and that so far he had gained little or nothing from the dismissal of nobody with all his anxieties and he found a contest still always going on in his breast between his promise to keep in none but good aspects before the mind of mr and his enforced observation of in aspects that had no good in them nor could he quite support his own conscientious nature against that he distorted and him by reminding himself that he never sought these discoveries and that he would have avoided them with and great relief tor he never could forget what had been and he knew that he had once little disliked for no better reason than that he had come in his way harassed by these thoughts he now began to wish the marriage over and his young wife gone and himself left to fulfil his promise and discharge the generous function he had accepted this last week was in truth an uneasy interval for the whole house before pet or before mr was radiant but had more than once found him alone with his view of the scales and much and had often seen him look after the lovers in the garden or elsewhere when he was not seen by them with the old clouded face on which had fallen like a shadow in the arrangement of the house for the great occasion many little of the old travels of the father and mother and daughter had to be disturbed and passed from hand to hand and sometimes in the midst of these mute witnesses to the life they had had together even pet herself would yield to and weeping mrs the and of mothers went about singing and cheering everybody but she honest soul had her flights into store rooms where she would cry until her eyes were red and would then come out that appearance to and and singing clearer than ever mrs finding no for a wounded mind in s domestic medicine suffered greatly from low spirits and from moving recollections of s infancy when the latter were powerful with her she usually sent up secret messages that she was not in parlor condition as to her attire and that she a sight of her child in the kitchen there she would bless her child s face and bless her child s heart and her child in a of tears and congratulations boards rolling pins and pie crust with the tenderness of an attached old servant which is a very pretty tenderness indeed but all days come that are to be and the marriage day was to be and it came and with it came all the who were to the feast there was mr from the office and street square with the expensive mrs who made the quarter days so long in coming and the three expensive miss double loaded with accomplishments and ready to go off and yet not going off with the of flash and bang that might have been expected but rather hanging fire there was junior also from the office leaving the of the country which he was somehow supposed to take under his protection to look after itself and to say not at all the of his protection by leaving it alone there was the engaging young from the side of the family also from the office gaily and agreeably helping the occasion along and treating it in his way as one of the official forms and of the church department of how not to do it there were three other young from three other offices to all the senses and terribly in want of doing the marriage as they would have done the old borne the new singer or little it but there was greater game than this there was lord himself in the of with the very smell of boxes upon him yes there was lord who had risen to official heights on the wings of one indignant idea and that was my lords that i am yet to be told that it a minister of this free country to set bounds to the to the charity to the public spirit to contract the enterprise to damp the independent self reliance of its people that was in other words that this great was always yet to be told that it the pilot of the ship to do anything but prosper in the private loaf and fish trade ashore the crew being able by dint of hard to keep the ship above water without him on this sublime discovery in the great art how not to do it lord had long sustained the highest glory of the family and let any ill advised member of either house but try how to do it by bringing in a bill to do it that bill was as good as dead and buried when lord rose up in his place and solemnly said soaring into indignant majesty as the cheering around him that he was yet to be told my lords that it him as the minister of this free country to set bounds to the to the charity to the public spirit to contract the enterprise to damp the independent self reliance of its people the discovery of this machine was the discovery of the political perpetual motion it never wore out though it was always going round and round in all the state and there with his noble friend and relative lord was william who had made the ever famous with and who always kept ready his own particular for how not to do it sometimes tapping the speaker and drawing it fresh out of him with a first i will | 8 |
beg you sir to inform the house what precedent we have for the course into the honorable gentleman would us sometimes asking the honorable gentleman to favor him with his own version of the precedent sometimes telling the honorable gentleman that he william would search for a precedent and crushing the honorable gentleman flat on the spot by telling him there was no precedent but precedent and were under all circumstances the well matched pair of battle horses of this able no matter that the unhappy honorable gentleman had been trying in vain for twenty five years to william into this william still put it to the house and at or so to the country whether he was to be into this no matter that it was utterly with the nature of things and course of events that the wretched honorable gentleman could possibly produce a precedent for this william would nevertheless thank the honorable gentleman for that cheer and would close with him upon that issue and would tell him to his teeth that there was no precedent for this it might perhaps have been objected that the william wisdom was not high wisdom or the earth it would never have been made or if made in a rash little mistake would have remained blank mad but precedent and together frightened all objection out of most people and there too was another a lively one who had leaped through twenty places in quick succession and was always in two or three at once and who was the much respected of an art which he practised with great success and admiration in all this was when he was asked a question on any one topic to return an answer on any other it had done immense service and brought him into high esteem with the office and there too was a of less distinguished who had not as yet got anything snug and were going through their to prove their these perched upon and hid in passages waiting their orders to make houses or not to make houses and they did all their hearing and and cheering and barking under directions from the heads of the family and they put motions on the paper in the way of other men s motions and they disagreeable subjects off until late in the night and late in the and then with virtuous patriotism cried out that it was too late and they went down into the country whenever they were sent and swore that lord had revived trade from a and commerce from a fit and had doubled the harvest of corn the harvest of hay and prevented no end of gold from flying out of the bank also these were dealt by the heads of the family like so many cards below the court cards to public meetings and dinners where they bore testimony to all sorts of services on the part of their noble and honorable relatives and the on all sorts of and they stood under similar orders at all sorts of and they turned out of their own seats on the shortest notice and the most unreasonable terms to let in other men and they fetched and carried and and and and ate heaps of dirt and were in the public service and there was not a list in all the office of places that might fall vacant anywhere within half a century from a lord of the treasury to a chinese and up again to a governor general of india but as for such places the names of some or of every one of these hungry and were down it was necessarily but a of any class of that attended the marriage for there were not two score in all and what is that from but the was a swarm in the cottage and filled it a assisted by a married the happy pair and it lord himself to conduct mrs to breakfast the entertainment was not as agreeable and natural as it might have been mr down by his good company while he highly appreciated it was not himself mrs go wan was herself and that did not improve him the fiction that it was not mr who had stood in the way but that it was the family greatness and that the family greatness had made a concession and there was now a soothing pervaded the affair though it little was never openly expressed then the felt that they for their parts would have done with the when the present occasion was over and the felt the same for their parts then asserting his rights as a disappointed man who had his grudge against the family and who perhaps had allowed his mother to have them there as much in the hope that it might give them some annoyance as with any other benevolent object his pencil and his poverty before them and told them he hoped in time to settle a crust of bread and cheese on his wife and that he begged such of them as more fortunate than himself came in for any good thing and could buy a picture to please to remember the poor painter then lord who was a wonder on his own turned out to be the creature here proposing happiness to the bride and bridegroom in a series of that would have made the hair of any sincere and stand on end and trotting the complacency of an elephant among howling of sentences which he seemed to take for high roads and never so much as wanted to get out of then mr could not but feel that there was a person in company who would have disturbed his life long sitting to sir thomas in full official character if such disturbance had been possible while junior did with indignation communicate to two young gentlemen his relatives that there was a here look here who | 8 |
had come to our department without an appointment and said he wanted to know you know and that look here if he was to break out now as he might you know for you never could tell what an radical of that sort would be up to next and was to say look here that he wanted to know this moment you know that would be jolly wouldn t it the part of the occasion by far to was the when mr and mrs at last hung about pet in the room with the two pictures where the company were not before going with her to the threshold which she could never re cross to be the old pet and the old delight nothing could be more natural and simple than the three were himself was touched and answered mr s take care of her take care of her with an earnest don t be so broken hearted sir by heaven and so with last sobs and last loving words and a last look to of confidence in his promise pet fell back in the and her husband waved his hand and they were away for though not until the faithful mrs in her silk gown and jet black curls had rushed out from some hiding place and thrown both her shoes after the carriage an apparition which occasioned great surprise to the distinguished company at the windows the said company being now relieved from further attendance and the chief being rather hurried for they had it in hand just then to send a mail or two which was in danger of going straight to its destination beating about the seas like the flying and to arrange with for the of a good deal of important business otherwise in peril of being done went their several ways little with all conveying to mr and mrs that general assurance that what they had been doing there they had been doing at a sacrifice for mr and mrs s good which they always conveyed to mr john bull in their official condescension to that most unfortunate creature a miserable blank remained in the house and in the hearts of the father and mother and mr called only one remembrance to his aid that really did him good it s very gratifying arthur he said after all to look back upon the past said yes but i mean the company it had made him much more low and unhappy at the time but now it really did him good it s very gratifying he said often repeating the remark in the course of the evening such high company what was behind mr on little s hand it was at this time that mr in discharge of his compact with revealed to him the whole of his story and told him little s fortune her father was heir at law to a great estate that had long lain unknown of and his right was now clear nothing interposed in his way the gates stood open the walls were down a few of his pen and he was extremely rich in his out of the claim to its complete establishment mr had a sagacity that nothing could and a patience and that nothing could tire i little thought sir said when you and i crossed that night and i told you what sort of a i was that this would come of it i little thought sir when i told you you were not of the of that i was ever going to tell you who were of the of he then went on to detail how having that name recorded in his note book he was first attracted by the name alone how having often found two exactly similar names even belonging to the same place to involve no near or distant he did not at first give much heed to this except in the way of speculation as to what a surprising change would be made in the condition of a little if she could be shown to have any interest in so large a property how he rather supposed himself to have pursued the idea into its next degree because there was something uncommon in the quiet little which pleased him and provoked his curiosity how he had felt his way inch by inch and it out sir that was mr s little sion grain by grain how in the beginning of the labour described by this new and to render which the more expressive mr shut his eyes in it and shook his hair over them he had from sudden lights and hopes to sudden darkness and n hopes and back again and back again how he had made acquaintances in the prison expressly that he might come and go there as all other comers and did and how his first ray of light was unconsciously given him by mr himself and by his son to both of whom he easily became known with both of whom he talked much casually but always you ll observe said mr and from whom he derived without being at all suspected two or three little points of family history which as he began to hold of his own suggested others how it had at length become plain to mr that he had made a real discovery of the heir at law to a great fortune and that his discovery had but to be to legal fulness and perfection how he had thereupon sworn his landlord mr to in a solemn manner and taken him into how they had employed john as their sole clerk and agent seeing to whom he was devoted and how until the present hour when authorities mighty in the bank and learned in the law declared their successful labors ended they had confided in no other human being so if the whole thing had broken down sir concluded at | 8 |
the very last say the day before the other day when i showed you our papers in the prison yard or say that very day nobody but ourselves would have been cruelly disappointed or a penny the worse who had been almost incessantly shaking hands with him throughout the narrative was reminded by this to say in an amazement which even the preparation he had had for the main disclosure scarcely smoothed down my dear mr this must have cost you a great sum of money pretty well sir said the triumphant no trifle though we did it as cheap as it could be done and the was a difficulty let me tell you a difficulty repeated but the difficulties you have so wonderfully conquered in the whole business shaking his hand again i ll tell you how i did it said the delighted putting his hair into a condition as elevated as himself first i spent all i had of my own that wasn t much i am sorry for it said not that it matters now though then what did you do then answered i borrowed a sum of my proprietor of mr said he s a fine old fellow noble old boy an the said mr entering on a series of the of generous old buck confiding old boy old buck benevolent old boy twenty per cent i engaged to pay him sir but we never do business for less at our shop arthur felt an awkward consciousness of having in his condition been a little premature i said to that boiling over old christian mr pursued little appearing greatly to relish this descriptive epithet that i had got a little project on hand a hopeful one i told him a hopeful one which wanted a certain small capital i proposed to him to lend me the money on my note which he did at twenty sticking the twenty on in a business like way and putting it into the note to look like a part of the principal if i had broken down after that i should have been his for the next seven years at half wages and double grind but he s a perfect and it would do a man good to serve him on such terms on any terms arthur for his life could not have said with confidence whether really thought so or not when that was gone sir resumed and it did go though i it out like so much blood i had taken mr into the secret i proposed to borrow of mr or of miss it s the same thing she made a little money by a speculation in the common once he lent it at ten and thought that pretty high but mr s a red haired man sir and gets his hair cut and as to the crown of his hat it s high and as to the brim of his hat it s narrow and there s no more benevolence out of him than out of a your own for all this mr said ought to be a large one i don t getting it sir said i have made no bargain i owed you one on that score now i have paid it money out of pocket made good time fairly allowed for and mr s bill settled a thousand pounds would be a fortune to me that matter i place in your hands i you now to break all this to the family in any way you think best miss will be with mrs this morning the sooner done the better can t be done too soon this conversation took place in s bedroom while he was yet in bed for mr had knocked up the house and made his way in very early in the morning and without once sitting down or standing still had delivered himself of the whole of his details illustrated with a variety of documents at the bedside he now said he would go and look up mr from whom his excited state of mind appeared to require another back and up his papers and exchanging one more hearty shake of the hand with he went at full speed down stairs and off of course resolved to go direct to mr s he dressed and got out so quickly that he found himself at the corner of the street nearly an hour before her time but he was not sorry to have the opportunity of himself with a leisurely walk when he returned to the street and had knocked at the bright brass he was informed that she had come and was shown up stairs to s breakfast room little was not there herself but was and the greatest amazement at seeing him good gracious arthur and cried that lady who would have ever thought of seeing such a sight as this and little pray excuse a for upon my word i really never and a faded check too which is worse but our little friend is making me a not that i need mind mentioning it to you for you must know that there are such things a skirt and having arranged that a trying on should take place after breakfast is the reason though i wish not so badly i ought to make an apology said arthur for so early and abrupt a visit but you will excuse it when i tell you the cause in times for ever fled arthur returned mrs pray excuse me and infinitely more correct and though unquestionably distant still tis distance enchantment to the view at least i don t mean that and if i did i suppose it would depend considerably on the nature of the view but i m running on again and you put it all out of my head she glanced at him tenderly and resumed in times for ever fled i was going | 8 |
saying me no returned what surprise he asked keeping his left hand over his heart and there stopping in his speech while with his right hand he put his glasses exactly level on the table what such surprise can be in store for me little let me answer with another question tell me mr what surprise would be the most for and the most acceptable to you do not be afraid to imagine it or to say what it would be he looked at and so looking at him seemed to change into a very old haggard man the sun was bright upon the wall beyond the window and on the at top he slowly stretched out the hand that had been upon his heart and pointed at the wall it is down said gone he remained in the same attitude looking at him and in its place said slowly and distinctly are the means to possess and enjoy the utmost that they have so long shut out mr there is not the smallest doubt that within a few days you will be free and highly prosperous i congratulate you with all my soul on this change of fortune and on the happy future into which you are soon to carry the treasure you have been with here the best of all the riches you can have elsewhere the treasure at your side with those words he pressed his hand and released it and his daughter laying her face against his encircled him in the hour of his prosperity with her arms as she had in the long years of his encircled him with her love and toil and truth and poured out her full heart in gratitude hope joy and all for him i shall see him as i never saw him yet i shall see my dear love with the dark cloud cleared away i shall see him as my poor mother saw him long ago my dear my dear father father thank god thank god he yielded himself to her kisses and caresses but did not return them except that he put an arm about her neither did he say one word his look was now divided between her and and he began to shake as if he were very cold explaining to little that he would run to the coffee house for a bottle of wine arthur fetched it with all the haste he could use while it was being brought from the cellar to the bar a number of excited people asked him what had happened when he hurriedly informed them that mr had succeeded to a fortune on coming back with the wine in his hand he found that she had placed her father in his easy chair and had loosened his shirt and they a with wine and held it to his lips when he had swallowed a little he took the glass himself and emptied it soon after that he leaned back in his chair and cried with his handkerchief before his face after this had lasted a while thought it a good season for his attention from the main surprise by relating its details slowly therefore and in a quiet tone of voice he explained them as he best could and enlarged on the nature of s service he shall be ha he shall be handsomely sir said the father starting up and moving hurriedly about the room assure yourself mr that everybody concerned shall be ha shall be nobly rewarded no one my dear sir shall say that he has an little claim against me i shall repay the hum the advances i have had from you sir with peculiar pleasure i beg to be informed at your early convenience what advances you have made my son he had no purpose in going about the room but he was not still a moment everybody he said shall be remembered i will not go away from here in anybody s debt all the people who have been ha well behaved towards myself and my family shall be rewarded shall be rewarded young john shall be rewarded i particularly wish and intend to act mr will you allow me said arthur laying his purse on the table to supply any present mr i thought it best to bring a sum of money for the purpose thank you sir thank you i accept with readiness at the present moment what i could not an hour ago have taken i am obliged to you for the temporary accommodation exceedingly temporary but well timed well timed his hand had closed upon the money and he carried it about with him be so kind sir as to add the amount to those former advances to which i have already referred being careful if you please not to omit advances made to my son a mere verbal statement of the gross amount is all i shall ha all i shall require his eye fell upon his daughter at this point and he stopped for a moment to kiss her and to pat her head it will be necessary to find a my love and to make a speedy and complete change in your very plain dress something must be done with too who at present is ha barely respectable barely respectable and your sister and your brother and my brother your uncle poor soul i trust this will rouse him messengers must be despatched to fetch them they must be informed of this we must break it to them cautiously but they must be informed directly we owe it as a duty to them and to ourselves from this moment not to let them hum not to let them do anything this was the first intimation he had ever given that he was to the fact that they | 8 |
did something for a he was still about the room with the purse clutched in his hand when a great cheering arose in the yard the news has spread already said looking down from the window will you show yourself to them mr they are very earnest and they evidently wish it i hum ha i confess i could have desired my dear he said about in a more feverish flutter than before to have made some change in my dress first and to have bought a hum a watch and chain but if it must be done as it is it ha it must be done the collar of my shirt my dear mr would you oblige me hum with a blue you will find in that drawer at your elbow button my coat across at the chest my love it looks ha it looks broader with his trembling hand he pushed his grey hair up and then taking and his daughter for appeared at the little d x it window leaning on an arm of each the cheered him very heartily and he kissed his hand to them with great and protection when he withdrew into the room again he said poor creatures in a tone of much pity for their miserable condition little was deeply anxious that he should lie down to compose himself on arthur s speaking to her of his going to inform that he might now appear as soon as he would and pursue the joyful business to its close she entreated him in a whisper to stay with her until her father should be quite calm and at rest he needed no second entreaty and she prepared her father s bed and begged him to lie down for another half hour or more he would be persuaded to do nothing but go about the room discussing with himself the for and against the s allowing the whole of the prisoners to go to the windows of the official residence which commanded the street to see himself and family depart for ever in a carriage which he said he thought would be a sight for them but gradually he began to and tire and at last stretched himself upon the bed she took her faithful place beside him him and his forehead and he seemed to be falling asleep always with the money in his hand when he unexpectedly sat up and said mr i beg your pardon am i to understand my dear sir that i could ha could pass through the lodge at this moment and hum take a walk i think not mr was the unwilling reply there are certain forms to be completed and although your here is now in itself a form i fear it is one that for a little longer has to be observed too at this he shed tears again it is but a few hours sir cheerfully urged upon him a few hours sir he returned in a sudden passion you talk very easily of hours sir how long do you suppose sir that an hour is to a man who is choking for want of air it was his last demonstration for that time as after shedding some more tears and complaining that he couldn t breathe he slowly fell into a slumber had abundant occupation for his thoughts as he sat in the quiet room watching the father on his bed and the daughter his face little had been thinking too after softly putting his grey hair aside and touching his forehead with her lips she looked towards arthur who came nearer to her and pursued in a low whisper the subject of her thoughts mr will he pay all his debts before he leaves here no doubt all all the debts for which he has been imprisoned here all my life and longer no doubt there was something of uncertainty and remonstrance in her look something that was not all satisfaction he wondered to detect it and said you are glad that he should do so little are you asked little wistfully ami most heartily glad then i know i ought to be and are you not it seems to me hard said little that he should have lost so many years and suffered so much and at last pay all the debts as well it seems to me hard that he should pay in life and money both my dear child was beginning yes i know i am wrong she pleaded timidly don t think any worse of me it has grown up with me here the prison which could spoil so many things had little s mind no more than this as the confusion was in compassion for the poor prisoner her father it was the first speck had ever seen it was the last speck ever saw of the prison atmosphere upon her he thought this and to say another word with the thought her purity and goodness came before him in their brightest light the little spot made them the more beautiful worn out with her own emotions and yielding to the silence of the room her hand slowly and failed in its movement and her head dropped down on the pillow at her father s side rose softly opened and closed the door without a sound and passed from the prison carrying the quiet with him into the turbulent streets chapter the becomes an orphan and now the day arrived when mr and his family were to leave the prison for ever and the stones of its much trodden pavement were to know them no more the interval had been short but he had greatly complained of its length and had been imperious with mr touching the delay he had been high with mr and had threatened to employ some | 8 |
one else he had requested mr not to presume upon the place in which he found him but to do his duty sir and to do it with he had told mr that he knew what lawyers and agents were and that he would not submit to on that gentleman s humbly representing that he exerted himself to the utmost miss was very short with him desiring to know what less he could do when he had been told a dozen times that money was no object and expressing her suspicion that he forgot whom he talked to towards the who was a of many years standing and with whom he had never had any previous difference mr little himself with severity that officer on personally his congratulations offered the free use of two rooms in his house for mr s occupation until his departure mr thanked him at the moment and replied that he would think of it but the was no sooner gone than he sat down and wrote him a cutting note in which he remarked that he had never on any former occasion had the honor of receiving his congratulations which was true though indeed there had not been anything particular to congratulate him upon and that he begged on behalf of himself and family to the s offer with all those thanks which its disinterested character and its perfect independence of all worldly considerations demanded although his brother showed so dim a glimmering of interest in their altered fortunes that it was very doubtful whether he understood them mr caused him to be measured for new by the and whom he called in for himself and ordered that his old clothes should be taken from him and burned miss and mr tip required no direction in making an appearance of great fashion and elegance and the three passed this interval together at the best hotel in the neighbourhood though truly as miss said the best was very indifferent in with that establishment mr tip hired a horse and groom a very neat turn out which was usually to be observed for two or three hours at a time the high street outside the a modest little hired chariot and pair was also frequently to be seen there in from and entering which vehicle miss fluttered the s daughters by the display of inaccessible a great deal of business was in this short period among other messrs and pool of monument yard were instructed by their edward to address a letter to mr arthur the sum of twenty four pounds nine shillings and being the amount of principal and interest at the rate of five per cent per in which their believed himself to be indebted to mr in making this communication and messrs and pool were further instructed by their to remind mr that the favor of the advance now repaid including gate had not been asked of him and to inform him that it would not have been accepted if it had been openly proffered in his name with which they requested a stamped receipt and remained his obedient servants a great deal of business had likewise to be done within the so soon to be by mr so long its father chiefly arising out of made to him by for small sums of money to these he responded with the greatest liberality and with no lack of formality always first writing to a time at which the might wait upon him in his room and then receiving him in the midst of a vast of documents and accompanying his for he said in every such case it is a not a loan with a great deal of good counsel to the effect that he the father of the hoped to be long remembered as an example that a man might preserve his own and the general respect even there little the were not envious besides that they had a personal and regard for a of so many years standing the event was creditable to the college and made it famous in the newspapers perhaps more of them thought too than were quite aware of it that the thing might in the of chances have happened to themselves or that something of the sort might yet happen to themselves some day or other they took it very well a few were low at the thought of being left behind and being left poor but even these did not grudge the family their brilliant reverse there might have been much more envy in places it seems probable that of fortune would have been disposed to be less than the who lived from hand to mouth from the s hand to the day s dinner they got up an address to him which they presented in a neat frame and glass though it was not afterwards displayed in the family mansion or preserved among the family papers and to which he returned a gracious answer in that document he assured them in a royal manner that he received the profession of their attachment with a full conviction of its sincerity and again generally them to follow his example which at least in so far as coming into a great property was concerned there is no doubt they would have gladly he took the same occasion of inviting them to a comprehensive entertainment to be given to the whole college in the yard and at which he signified he would have the honor of taking a parting glass to the health and happiness of all those whom he was about to leave behind he did not in person dine at this public it took place at two in the afternoon and his dinners now came in from the hotel at six but his son was so good as to take the head of the principal table and to be very free and engaging he | 8 |
generous abundance could be given to the thin hard wine which after all was made from the grapes the air had been warm and transparent through the whole of the bright day shining metal and church roofs distant and rarely seen had sparkled in the view and the snowy mountain tops had been so clear that eyes the intervening country and their rugged height for something would have measured them as within a few hours easy reach of great in the valleys whence no trace of their existence was visible sometimes for months together had been since morning plain and near in the blue sky and now when it was dark below though they seemed solemnly to like who were going to vanish as the red of the sunset faded out of them and left them coldly white they were yet distinctly in their loneliness above the mists and shadows seen from those and from the pass of the great saint which was one of them the ascending night came up the mountain like a rising water when it at last rose to the walls of the of the great saint it was as if that weather beaten structure were another ark and floated away upon the shadowy waves darkness some visitors on had risen thus to the rough when those travellers were yet climbing the mountain as the heat of the glowing day when they had stopped to drink at the streams of melted ice and snow was changed to the little searching cold of the frosty night air at a great height so the fresh beauty of the lower journey had yielded to and desolation a track up which the in single file scrambled and turned from block to block as though they were ascending the broken staircase of a gigantic ruin was their way now no trees were to be seen nor any vegetable growth save a poor brown moss in the of rock blackened skeleton arms of wood by the pointed upward to the as if the ghosts of former travellers overwhelmed by the snow haunted the scene of their distress hung and built for from sudden storms were like so many whispers of the perils of the place wreaths and of mist wandered about hunted by a moaning wind and snow the danger of the mountain against which all its were taken drifted sharply down the file of by their day s work turned and wound slowly up the steep ascent the foremost led by a guide on foot in his broad hat and round jacket carrying a mountain staff or two upon his shoulder with whom another guide conversed there was no speaking among the string of the sharp cold the fatigue of the journey and a new sensation of a catching in the breath partly as if they had just emerged from very clear crisp water and partly as if they had been sobbing kept them silent at length a light on the summit of the rocky staircase gleamed through the snow and mist the guides called to the the pricked up their drooping heads the travellers tongues were loosened and in a sudden burst of slipping climbing and talking they arrived at the door other had arrived not long before some with peasant and some with goods and had trodden the snow about the door into a pool of mud and pack and strings of bells and men barrels of honey and butter straw bundles and of many shapes were crowded together in this and about the steps up here in the clouds everything was seen through cloud and seemed into cloud the breath of the men was cloud the breath of the was cloud the lights were encircled by cloud close at hand were not seen for cloud though their voices and all other sounds were clear of the cloudy line of hastily tied to rings in the wall one would bite another or kick another and then the whole mist would be disturbed with men into it and cries of men and beasts coming out of it and no what was wrong in the midst of this the great stable of the occupying the story and entered by the door outside which all the disorder was poured forth its contribution of cloud as if the whole rugged edifice were filled with nothing else and would as soon as it had emptied itself leaving the snow to fall upon the bare mountain summit while all this noise and hurry were among the living travellers there too silently assembled in a house half a dozen paces removed with the same cloud them and the little same snow drifting in npon them were the dead travellers found upon the mountain the mother storm many ago still standing in the corner with her baby at her breast the man who had frozen with his arm raised to his mouth in fear or hunger still pressing it with his dry lips after years and years an awful company mysteriously come together a wild destiny for that mother to have foreseen surrounded by so many and such companions upon whom i never looked and never shall look i and my child will dwell together inseparable on the great saint generations who will come to see us and will never know our name or one word of our story but the end the living travellers thought little or nothing of the dead just then they thought much more of at the door and warming themselves at the fire disengaged from the turmoil which was already down as the crowd of began to be bestowed in the stable they hurried shivering up the steps and into the building there was a smell within coming up from the floor of beasts like the smell of a of wild animals there were strong arched galleries within huge stone great and thick walls pierced with small sunken windows against the | 8 |
mountain storms as if they had been human enemies there were gloomy within intensely cold but clean and prepared for guests finally there was a parlor for guests to sit in and to sup in where a table was already laid and where a blazing fire shone red and high in this room after having had their quarters for the night allotted to them by two young fathers the travellers presently drew round the hearth they were in three parties of whom the first as the most numerous and important was the and had been overtaken by one of the others on the way up it consisted of an elderly lady two grey haired gentlemen two young ladies and their brother these were attended not to mention four guides by a two and two waiting maids which strong body of inconvenience was elsewhere under the same roof the party that had overtaken them and followed in their train consisted of only three members one lady and two gentlemen the third party which had ascended from the valley on the italian side of the pass and had arrived first were four in number a hungry and silent german in spectacles on a tour with three young men his pupils all hungry and silent and all in spectacles these three sat round the fire each other and waiting for supper only one among them one of the gentlemen belonging to the party of three made advances towards conversation throwing out his lines for the chief of the important tribe while addressing himself to his own companions he remarked in a tone of voice which included all the company if they chose to be included that it had been a long day and that he felt for the ladies that he feared one of the young ladies was not a strong or accustomed traveller and had been over fatigued two or three hours ago that he had observed from his station in the rear that she sat her mule as if she little d were exhausted that he had twice or thrice afterwards done himself the honor of of one of the guides when he fell behind how the young lady did that he had been enchanted to learn that she had recovered her spirits and that it had been but a passing discomfort that he trusted by this time he had secured the eyes of the chief and addressed him he might be permitted to express his hope that she was now none the worse and that she would not regret having made the journey my daughter i am obliged to you sir returned the chief is quite restored and has been greatly interested new to mountains perhaps said the traveller new to ha to mountains said the chief but you are familiar with them sir the traveller assumed i am hum tolerably familiar not of late years not of late years replied the chief with a flourish of his hand the traveller acknowledging the flourish with an inclination of his head passed from the chief to the second young lady who had not yet been referred to otherwise than as one of the ladies in whose behalf he felt so sensitive an interest he hoped she was not by the of the day certainly returned the young lady but not tired the traveller her on the justice of the distinction it was what he had meant to say every lady must doubtless be by having to do with that animal the mule we have had of course said the young lady who was rather reserved and haughty to leave the carriages at and the impossibility of bringing anything that one wants to this inaccessible place and the necessity of leaving every comfort behind is not convenient a savage place indeed said the traveller the elderly lady who was a model of accurate dressing and whose manner was perfect considered as a piece of machinery here interposed a remark in a low soft voice but like other inconvenient places she observed it must be seen as a place much spoken of it is necessary to see it oh i have not the least objection to seeing it i assure you mrs general returned the other carelessly you madam said the traveller have visited this spot before yes returned mrs general i have been here before let me recommend you my dear to the former young lady to shade your face from the hot wood after exposure to the mountain air and snow you too my dear to the other and younger lady who immediately did so while the former merely said thank you mrs general i am perfectly comfortable and prefer remaining as i am the brother who had left his chair to open a piano that stood in the room and who had whistled into it and shut it up again now came strolling back to the fire with his glass in his eye he was dressed in little the very fullest and travelling trim the world seemed hardly large enough to yield him an amount of travel to his these fellows are an immense time with supper he i wonder what they ll give us has anybody any idea not roast man i believe replied the voice of the second gentleman of the party of three i suppose not what d ye mean he that as you are not to be served for the general supper perhaps you will do us the favor of not cooking yourself at the general fire returned the other the young gentleman who was standing in an easy attitude on the hearth his glass at the company with his back to the blaze and his coat tucked under his arms something as if he were of the poultry species and were for lost countenance at this reply he seemed about to demand further explanation when it was discovered through all | 8 |
eyes turning on the speaker that the lady with him who was young and beautiful had not heard what had passed through having fainted with her head upon his shoulder i think said the gentleman in a subdued tone i had best carry her straight to her room will you call to some one to bring a light addressing his companion and to the way in this strange rambling place i don t know that i could find it pray let me call my maid cried the taller of the young ladies pray let me put this water to her lips said the shorter who had not spoken yet each doing what she suggested there was no want of assistance indeed when the two maids came in escorted by the lest any one should strike them dumb by addressing a foreign language to them on the road there was a prospect of too much assistance seeing this and saying as much in a few words to the and younger of the two ladies the gentleman put his wife s arm over his shoulder lifted her up and carried her away his friend being left alone with the other visitors walked slowly up and down the room without coming to the fire again pulling his black moustache in a manner as if he felt himself committed to the late retort while the subject of it was breathing injury in a corner the chief addressed this gentleman your friend sir said he is ha is a little impatient and in his impatience is not perhaps fully sensible of what he owes to hum to but we will that we will that your friend is a little impatient sir it may be so sir returned the other but having had the honor of making that gentleman s acquaintance at the hotel at where we and much good company met some time ago and having had the honor of exchanging company and conversation with that gentleman on several subsequent excursions i can hear nothing no not even from one of your appearance and station sir to that gentleman you are in no danger sir of hearing any such thing from me in remarking that your friend has shown impatience i say no such little thing i make that remark because it is not to be doubted that my son being by birth and by ha by education a hum a gentleman would have readily adapted himself to any expressed wish on the subject of the being equally accessible to the whole of the present circle which in principle i ha for all are hum equal on these occasions i consider right good was the reply and there it ends i am your son s obedient servant i beg your son to receive the assurance of my profound consideration and now sir i may admit freely admit that my friend is sometimes of a sarcastic temper the lady is your friend s wife sir the lady is my friend s wife sir she is very handsome sir she is they are still in the first year of their marriage they are still partly on a marriage and partly on an artistic tour your friend is an artist sir the gentleman replied by kissing the fingers of his right hand and the kiss the length of his arm towards heaven as who should say i devote him to the celestial powers as an immortal artist but he is a man of family he added his are of the best he is more than an artist he is highly connected he may in have his proudly impatiently i make the concession of both words but he has them sparks that have been struck out during our intercourse have shown me this well i hope said the lofty gentleman with the air of finally of the subject that the lady s may be only temporary sir i hope so mere fatigue i dare say not altogether mere fatigue sir for her mule stumbled to day and she fell from the saddle she fell lightly and was up again without assistance and rode from us laughing but she complained towards evening of a slight in the side she spoke of it more than once as we followed your party up the mountain the head of the large who was gracious but not familiar appeared by this time to think that he had condescended more than enough he said no more and there was silence for some quarter of an hour until supper appeared with the supper came one of the young fathers there seemed to be no old fathers to take the head of the table it was like the supper of an ordinary hotel and good red wine grown by the in more genial air was not wanting the artist traveller calmly came and took his place at table when the rest sat down with no apparent sense upon him of his late with the completely dressed traveller pray he of the host over his soup has your many of its famous dogs now it has three i saw three in the gallery below doubtless the three in question little the host a slender bright eyed dark young man of polite manners whose garment was a black gown with of white crossed over it like and who no more resembled the conventional breed of saint than he resembled the conventional breed of saint dogs replied doubtless those were the three in question and i think said the artist traveller i have seen one of them before it was possible he was a dog sufficiently well known might have easily seen him in the valley or somewhere on the lake when he the dog had gone down with one of the order to aid for the which is done in its regular | 8 |
season of the year i think was right and never without the dog the dog is very important again was right the dog was very important people were justly interested in the dog as one of the dogs celebrated everywhere ma would observe ma was a little slow to observe it as though she were not yet well accustomed to the french tongue mrs general however observed it for her ask him if he has saved many lives said in his native english ihe young man who had been put out of countenance the host needed no translation of the question he promptly replied in french no not this one why not the same gentleman asked pardon returned the host give him the opportunity and he will do it without doubt for example i am well convinced smiling as he cut up the dish of to be handed round on the young man who had been put out of countenance that if you would give him the opportunity he would hasten with great to fulfil his the artist traveller laughed the traveller who evinced a anxiety to get his full share of the supper wiping some drops of wine from his moustache with a piece of bread joined the conversation it is becoming late in the year my father said he for is it not yes it is late yet two or three weeks at most and we shall be left to the winter and then said the traveller for the scratching dogs and the buried children according to the pictures pardon said the host not quite understanding the allusion how then the scratching dogs and the buried children according to the pictures the artist traveller struck in again before an answer could be given don t you know he coldly across the table of his companion that none but come this way in the winter or can have any possible business this way holy blue no never heard of it so it is i believe and as they know the signs of the weather little well they don t give much employment to the dogs who have consequently died out rather though this house of entertainment is conveniently situated for themselves their young families i am told they usually leave at home but it s a grand idea cried the artist traveller unexpectedly rising into a tone of enthusiasm it s a sublime idea it s the finest idea in the world and brings tears into a man s eyes by he then went on eating hi with great composure there was enough of mocking at the bottom of this speech to make it rather though the manner was refined and the person well favored and though the part of it was so thrown off as to be very difficult for one not perfectly acquainted with the english language to understand or even understanding to take offence at so simple and was its tone after finishing his in the midst of silence the speaker again addressed his friend look said he in his former tone at this gentleman our host not yet in the prime of life who in so graceful a way and with such and modesty over us manners fit for a crown dine with the lord mayor of london if you can get an invitation and observe the contrast this dear fellow with the finest cut face i ever saw a face in perfect drawing leaves some laborious life and comes up here i don t know how many feet above the level of the sea for no other purpose on earth except enjoying himself i hope in a capital than to keep an hotel for idle poor devils like you and me and leave the bill to our why isn t it a beautiful sacrifice what do we want more to touch us because rescued people of interesting appearance are not for eight or nine months out of every twelve holding on here round the necks of the most sagacious of dogs carrying wooden bottles shall we the place no bless the place it s a great place a glorious place the chest of the grey haired gentleman who was the chief of the important party had swelled as if with a protest against his being numbered among poor devils no sooner had the artist traveller ceased speaking than he himself spoke with great dignity as having it incumbent on him to take the lead in most places and having deserted that duty for a little while he communicated his opinion to their host that his life must be a very dreary life here in the winter the host allowed to that it was a little monotonous the air was difficult to breathe for a length of time the cold was very severe one needed youth and strength to bear it however having them and the blessing of heaven yes that was very good but the confinement said the gentleman there were many days even in bad weather when it was possible to walk about outside it was the custom to beat a little track and take exercise there but the space urged the grey haired gentleman so small so ha very limited little would recall to himself that there were the to visit and that tracks had to be made to them also still urged on the other hand that the space was so ha hum so very contracted more than that it was always the same always the same with a smile the host gently raised and gently lowered his shoulders that was true he remarked but permit him to say that almost all objects had their various points of view and he did not see this poor life of his from the same point of view was not used to confinement i ha yes very true said the grey haired gentleman he seemed | 8 |
to receive quite a shock from the force of the argument as an english traveller surrounded by all means of travelling pleasantly doubtless possessing fortune carriages servants perfectly perfectly without doubt said the gentleman could not easily place himself in the position of a person who had not the power to choose i will go here to morrow or there next day i will pass these i will those bounds could not perhaps how the mind itself in such things to the force of necessity it is true said we will ha not pursue the subject you are hum quite accurate i have no doubt we will say no more the supper having come to a close he drew his chair away as he spoke and moved back to his former place by the fire as it was very cold at the greater part of the table the other guests also resumed their former seats by the fire to toast themselves well before going to bed the host when they rose from table bowed to all present them good night and withdrew but first the traveller had asked him if they could have some wine made hot and as he had answered yes and had presently afterwards sent it in that traveller seated in the centre of the group and in the full heat of the fire was soon engaged in serving it out to the rest at this time the younger of the two young ladies who had been silently attentive in her dark corner the was the chief light in the sombre room the lamp being smoky and dull to what had been said of the absent lady glided out she was at a loss which way to turn when she had softly closed the door but after a little hesitation among the sounding passages and the many ways came to a room in a comer of the main gallery where the servants were at their supper these she obtained a lamp and a direction to the lady s room it was up the great staircase on the story above here and there the bare white walls were broken by an iron grate and she thought as she went along that the place was something like a prison the arched door of the lady s room or cell was not quite shut after knocking at it two or three times without receiving an answer she pushed it gently open and looked in the lady lay with closed eyes on the outside of the bed protected from the cold by the blankets and with which she had been little covered when she revived from her fainting fit a dull light placed in the deep recess of the window made little impression on the arched room the visitor timidly stepped to the bed and said in a soft whisper are you better r the lady had fallen into a slumber and the whisper was too low to awake her her visitor standing quite still looked at her attentively she is very pretty she said to herself i never saw so beautiful a face how unlike me it was a curious thing to say but it had some hidden meaning for it filled her eyes with tears i know i must be right i know he spoke of her that evening i could very easily be wrong on any other subject but not on this not on this with a quiet and tender hand she put aside a fold of the s hair and then touched the hand that lay outside the covering i like to look at her she breathed to herself i like to see what has affected him so much she had not her hand when the opened her eyes and started pray don t be alarmed i am only one of the travellers from down stairs i came to ask if you were better and if i could do anything for you i think you have already been so kind as to send your servants to my assistance no not i that was my sister are you better much better it is only a slight and has been well looked to and is almost easy now it made me giddy and faint in a moment it had hurt me before but at last it overpowered me all at once may i stay with you until some one comes would you like it i should like it for it is lonely here but i am afraid you will feel the cold too much i don t mind cold i am not delicate if i look so she quickly moved one of the two rough chairs to the bedside and sat down the other as quickly moved a part of some travelling from herself and drew it over her so that her arm in keeping it about her rested on her shoulder you have so much the air of a kind nurse said the lady smiling on her that you seem as if you had come to me from home i am very glad of it i was dreaming of home when i woke just now of my old home i mean before i was married and before you were so far away from it i have been much farther away from it than this but then i took the best part of it with me and missed nothing i felt solitary as i dropped asleep here and missing it a little wandered back to it there was a sorrowfully affectionate and sound in her little voice which made her visitor refrain from looking at her for the moment it is a curious chance which at last brings us together under this covering in which you have wrapped me said the visitor after a pause for do you know i think i have been looking for you some time looking for me i believe i | 8 |
have a little note here which i was to give to you whenever i found you this is it unless i greatly mistake it is addressed to you is it not the lady took it and said yes and read it her visitor watched her as she did so it was very short she flushed a little as she put her lips to her visitor s cheek and pressed her hand the dear young friend to whom he presents me may be a comfort to me at some time he says she is truly a comfort to me the first time i see her perhaps you don t said the visitor hesitating perhaps you don t know my story perhaps he never told you my story no no why should he i have scarcely the right to tell it myself at present because i have been not to do so there is not much in it but it might account to you for my asking you not to say anything about the letter here you saw my family with me perhaps some of them i only say this to you are a little proud a little prejudiced you shall take it back again said the other and then my husband is sure not to see it he might see it and speak of it otherwise by some accident will you put it in your bosom again to be certain she did so with great care her small slight hand was still upon the letter when they heard some one in the gallery outside i promised said the visitor rising that i would write to him after seeing you i could hardly fail to see you sooner or later and tell him if you were well and happy i had better say you were well and happy yes yes yes say i was very well and very happy and that i thanked him affectionately and would never forget him i shall see you in the morning after that we are sure to meet again before very long good night good night thank you thank you good night my dear both of them were hurried and fluttered as they exchanged this parting and as the visitor came out at the door she had expected to meet the lady s husband approaching it but the person in the gallery was not he it was the traveller who had wiped the wine drops from his moustache with the piece of bread when he heard the step behind him he turned round for he was walking away in the dark his politeness which was extreme would not allow of the s lighting herself down stairs or going down alone he took her lamp held it so as to throw the best light on the stone steps and followed her all the way to the supper room she went down not easily hiding how much she was inclined to shrink and tremble for little the appearance of this traveller was particularly disagreeable to her she had sat in her quiet corner before supper imagining what he would have been in the scenes and places within her experience until he inspired her with an aversion that made him little less than terrific he followed her down with his smiling politeness followed her in and resumed his seat in the best place on the hearth there with the wood fire which was beginning to burn low rising and falling upon him in the dark room he sat with his legs thrust out to warm drinking the hot wine down to the with a monstrous shadow him on the wall and ceiling the tired company had broken up and all the rest were gone to bed except the young lady s father who in his chair by the fire the traveller had been at the pains of going a long way up stairs to his sleeping room to fetch his pocket of brandy he told them so as he poured its contents into what was left of the wine and drank with a new relish may i ask sir if you are on your way to italy the grey haired gentleman had roused himself and was preparing to withdraw he answered in the affirmative u i also said the traveller i shall hope to have the honor of offering my compliments in fairer scenes and under softer circumstances than on this dismal mountain the gentleman bowed enough and said he was obliged to him we poor gentlemen sir said the traveller pulling his moustache dry with his hand for he had dipped it in the wine and brandy we poor gentlemen do not travel like princes but the and graces of life are precious to us to your health sir sir i thank you to the health of your distinguished family of the fair ladies your daughters sir i thank you again i wish you good night my dear are our ha our people in attendance they are close by father u permit me said the traveller rising and holding the door open as the gentleman crossed the room towards it with his arm drawn through his daughter s good repose to the pleasure of seeing you once more to to morrow as he kissed his hand with his best manner and his smile the young lady drew a little nearer to her father and passed him with a dread of touching him said the traveller whose manner shrunk and whose voice dropped when he was left alone if they all go to bed why i must go they are in a devil of a hurry one would think the night would be long enough in this silence and solitude if one went to bed two hours hence throwing back his head in his glass he cast his eyes upon the travellers book which lay on the piano open with pens and | 8 |
him for one that little i could have with his company with the greatest pleasure he then that gross outrage upon our feelings which he never could or would have committed hut for the delight he took in exposing us and then we are to be for the service of his friends why i don t wonder at this mr s conduct towards you else was to be expected when he was enjoying our past misfortunes over them at the moment father edward no indeed pleaded little neither mr nor mrs had ever heard our name they were and they are quite ignorant of our history so much the worse retorted determined not to admit anything in for then you have no excuse if they had known about us you might have felt yourself called upon to them that would have been a weak and ridiculous mistake but i can respect a mistake whereas i can t respect a wilful and deliberate of those who should be nearest and dearest to us no i can t respect that i can do nothing but that i never offend you said little though you are so hard with me then you should be more careful returned her sister if you do such things by accident you should be more careful if i happened to have been born in a peculiar place and under peculiar circumstances that my knowledge of propriety i fancy i should think myself bound to consider at every step am i going to compromise any near and dear relations that is what i fancy should do if it was my case mr now interposed at once to stop these painful subjects by his authority and to point their moral by his wisdom my dear said he to his younger daughter i beg you to ha to say no more your sister expresses herself strongly but not without considerable reason you have now a hum a great position to support that great position is not occupied by yourself alone but by ha by me and ha hum by us us now it is incumbent upon all people in an exalted position but it is particularly so on this family for reasons which i ha will not dwell upon to make themselves respected to be in making themselves respected to respect us must be ha kept at a distance and hum kept down down therefore your not exposing yourself to the remarks of our attendants by appearing to have at any time with their services and performed them for yourself is ha highly important why who can doubt it cried miss it s the essence f everything returned her father give me leave my dear we then come to ha to mr i am free to say that i do not share your sister s sentiments that is to say altogether hum altogether in reference to mr i am content to regard that individual in the light of ha generally a well behaved person hum a well behaved person nor will i whether mr did at any time himself on ha my society he knew my society to be hum sought and his plea might be that little he regarded me in the light of a public character but there were circumstances attending my ha slight knowledge of mr it was very slight which here mr became extremely grave and impressive would render it highly in mr to ha to seek to renew communication with me or with any member of my family under existing circumstances if mr has sufficient delicacy to perceive the of any such attempt i am bound as a responsible gentleman to ha to that delicacy on his part if on the other hand mr has not that delicacy i cannot for a moment ha hold any correspondence with so hum coarse a mind in either case it would appear that mr is put altogether out of the question and that we have nothing to do with him or he with us ha mrs general the entrance of the lady whom he announced to take her place at the breakfast table terminated the discussion shortly afterwards the announced that the and the footman and the two maids and the four guides and the fourteen were in readiness so the breakfast party went out to the door to join the mr stood aloof with his cigar and pencil but mr was on the spot to pay his respects to the ladies when he gallantly pulled off his hat to little she thought he had even a more sinister look standing and in the snow than he had had in the fire light over night but as both her father and her sister received his homage with some favor she refrained from expressing any distrust of him lest it should prove to be a new derived from her prison birth nevertheless as they wound down the rugged way while the was yet in sight she more than once looked round and mr backed by the smoke which rose straight and high from the in a golden always standing on one point looking down after them long after he was a mere black stick in the snow she felt as though she could yet see that smile of his that high nose and those eyes that were too near it and even after that when the was gone and some light morning clouds veiled the pass below it the ghastly skeleton arms by the seemed to be all pointing up at him more treacherous than snow perhaps colder at heart and harder to melt of paris by degrees passed out of her mind as they came | 8 |
down into the softer regions again the sun was warm again the streams descending from and snowy were refreshing to drink at again they came among the pine trees the rocky the heights and the wooden and rough fences of country sometimes the way so that she and her father could ride abreast and then to look at him handsomely clothed in his and rich free served and attended his eyes far away among the glories of the landscape no miserable screen before them to his sight and cast its shadow on him was enough her uncle was so far rescued from that shadow of old that he wore the clothes they gave him and performed some as a sacrifice to the family credit and went where he was taken with a certain little patient animal enjoyment which seemed to express that the air and change did him good in all other respects save one he shone with no light bnt as was reflected from his brother his brother s greatness wealth freedom and grandeur pleased him without any reference to himself silent and retiring he had no use for speech when he could hear his brother speak no desire to be waited on so that the servants devoted themselves to his brother the only noticeable change he originated in himself was an alteration in his manner to his younger niece every day it refined more and more into a marked respect very rarely by age to youth and still more rarely susceptible one would have said of the fitness with which he invested it on those occasions when miss did declare once for all he would take the next opportunity of his grey head before his younger niece and of helping her to alight or handing her to the carriage or her any other attention with the deference yet it never appeared or forced being always heartily simple spontaneous and genuine neither would he ever consent even at his brother s request to be helped to any place before her or to take of her in anything so jealous was he of her that on this very journey down from the great saint he took sudden and violent at the footman s being to hold her though standing near when she dismounted and astonished the whole by charging at him on a hard headed mule riding him into a corner and threatening to him to death they were a goodly company and the all but worshipped them wherever they went their importance preceded them in the person of the riding before to see that the rooms of state were ready he was the herald of the family procession the great travelling carriage came next containing inside mr miss miss and mrs general outside some of the and in fine weather edward for whom the box was reserved then came the chariot containing and an empty place occupied by edward in wet weather then came the with the rest of the the heavy baggage and as much as it could carry of the mud and dust which the other left behind these adorned the yard of the hotel at on the return of the family from their mountain excursion other were there much company being on the road from the patched italian like the body of a swing from an english fair put upon a wooden tray on wheels and having another wooden tray without wheels put of it to the trim english carriage but there was another of the hotel which mr had not for two strange travellers one of his rooms the hat in hand in the yard swore to the that he was that he was that he was profoundly afflicted that he was the most miserable and unfortunate of beasts that he had the head of a wooden pig he ought never to have made the concession he said but the very genteel lady had so passionately little prayed him for the accommodation of that room to dine in only for a little half hour that he had been the little half hour was expired the lady and gentleman were taking their little and half cup of coffee the note was paid the horses were ordered they would depart immediately but owing to an unhappy destiny and the curse of heaven they were not yet gone nothing could exceed mr s indignation as he turned at the foot of the staircase on hearing these apologies he felt that the family dignity was struck at by an s hand he had a sense of his dignity which was of the most exquisite nature he could detect a design upon it when nobody else had any perception of the fact his life was made an agony by the number of line that he felt to be incessantly engaged in his dignity is it possible sir said mr excessively that you have ha had the audacity to place one of my rooms at the disposition of any other person thousands of it was the host s profound misfortune to have been overcome by that too genteel lady he not to himself he threw himself on for if would have the distinguished goodness to occupy the other especially reserved for him for but five minutes all would go well no sir said mr i will not occupy any i will leave your house without eating or drinking or setting foot in it how do you dare to act like this who am i that you ha separate me from other gentlemen alas the host called all the universe to witness that was the most amiable of the whole body of nobility the most important the most the most honoured if he separated from others it was only because he was more distinguished more cherished more generous more renowned don t tell me so sir returned mr in a mighty heat you have me you | 8 |
have heaped upon me how dare you explain yourself ah just heaven then how could the host explain himself when he had nothing more to explain when he had only to and confide himself to the so well known of i tell you sir said mr panting with anger that you separate me ha from other gentlemen that you make distinctions between me and other gentlemen of fortune and station i demand of you why i wish to know on ha what authority on whose authority reply sir explain answer why permit the landlord humbly to submit to the then that ordinarily so gracious enraged himself without cause there was no why the would represent to that he deceived himself in suspecting that there was any why but the why his devoted servant had already had the honor to present to him the very genteel lady silence cried mr hold your tongue i will hear no more of the very genteel lady i will hear no more of you look at this family my family a family more genteel than any lady you s m b little d r it have treated this family with you have been insolent to this family i ll ruin you ha send for the horses pack the carriages i ll not set foot in this man s house again n o one had interfered in the dispute which was beyond the french powers of edward and scarcely within the province of the ladies miss however now supported her father with great bitterness declaring in her native tongue that it was quite clear there was something in this man s impertinence and that she considered it important that he should be by some means forced to give up his authority for making distinctions between that family and other wealthy families what the reasons of his presumption could be she was at a loss to imagine but reasons he must have and they ought to be torn from him all the guides mule drivers and in the yard had made themselves parties to the angry conference and were much impressed by the s now himself to get the carriages out with the aid of some dozen people to each wheel this was done at a great cost of noise and then the was proceeded with the arrival of the horses from the post house but the very genteel lady s english chariot being already and at the inn door the landlord had slipped up stairs to represent his hard case this was to the yard by his now coming down the staircase in attendance on the gentleman and the lady and by his pointing out the offended majesty of mr to them with a significant motion of his hand beg your pardon said the gentleman himself from the lady and coming forward i am a man of few words and a bad hand at an explanation but lady here is extremely anxious that there should be no lady a mother of mine in point of fact wishes me to say that she hopes no row mr still panting under his injury saluted the gentleman and saluted the lady in a distant final and invincible manner to but really here old you this was the gentleman s way of appealing to edward on whom he as a great and relief let you and i try to make this all right lady so very much wishes no edward led a little apart by the button assumed a expression of countenance in replying why you must confess that when you a lot of rooms beforehand and they belong to you it s not pleasant to find other people in em no said the other i know it isn t i admit it still let you and i try to make it all right and avoid the fault is not this chap s at all but my mother s being a remarkably fine woman with no nonsense about her well educated too she was too many for this chap regularly him if that s the case edward don it began assure you my soul tis the case consequently said the other gentleman retiring on his main position why said the lady from the doorway i hope you have explained or are explaining to the satisfaction of this gentleman and his family that the civil landlord is not to blame little assure you ma am returned perfectly myself with trying it on he then looked at edward j for some seconds and suddenly added in a burst of confidence old is it all right i don t know after all said the lady gracefully advancing a step or two towards mr but that i had better say myself at once that i assured this good man i took all the consequences on myself of occupying one of a stranger s of rooms during his absence for just as much or as little time as i could dine in i had no idea the owner would come back so soon nor had i any idea that he had come back or i should have hastened to make restoration of my ill gotten chamber and to have offered my explanation and apology i trust in saying this a moment the lady with a glass at her eye stood and speechless before the two miss at the same moment miss in the of a grand composition formed by the family the family and the family servants held her sister tight under one arm to detain her on the spot and with the other arm herself with a distinguished air and surveyed the lady from head to foot the lady recovering herself quickly for it was mrs and she was not easily dashed went on to add that she trusted in saying this she for her boldness and restored | 8 |
english girl such people were all unknown to her she would watch the sunset in its long low lines of purple and red and its burning flush high up into little the sky so glowing on the buildings and so their structure that it made them look as if their strong walls were transparent and they shone from within she would watch those glories and then after looking at the black underneath taking guests to music and dancing would raise her eyes to the shining stars was there no party of her own in other times on which the stars had shone to think of that old gate now she would think of that old gate and of herself sitting at it in the dead of the night s head and of other places and of other scenes associated with those different times and then she would lean upon her balcony and look over at the water as though they all lay underneath it when she got to that she would watch its running as if in the general vision it might run dry and show her the prison again and herself and the old room and the old inmates and the old visitors all lasting realities that had never changed iv a letter little dear me i write to you from my own room at thinking you will be glad to hear from me but i know you cannot be so glad to hear from me as i am to write to you for every thing about you is as you have been accustomed to see it and you miss nothing unless it should be me which can only be for a very little while together and very seldom while everything in my life is so strange and i miss so much when we were in which appears to have been years ago though it was only weeks i met young mrs who was on a mountain excursion like ourselves she told me she was very well and very happy she sent you the message by me that she thanked you affectionately and would never forget you she was quite confiding with me and i loved her almost as soon as i spoke to her but there is nothing singular in that who could help loving so beautiful and winning a creature i could not wonder at any one loving her no indeed it will not make you uneasy on mrs s account i hope for i remember that you said you had the interest of a true friend in her if i tell you that i wish she could have married some one better suited to her mr seems fond of her and of course she is very fond of him but i thought he was not earnest enough i don t mean in that respect i mean in anything i could not keep it out of my mind that if i was mrs what a change that would be and how i must alter to become like her i should feel that i was rather lonely and lost for the want of some one who was and firm in purpose i even thought she felt this want a little almost without knowing it but mind you are not made uneasy by this for she was very well and very happy and she looked most beautiful i expect to meet her again before long and indeed have been ex little for some days past to see her here i will ever be as good a friend to her as i can for your sake dear mr i dare say you think little of having been a friend to me when i had no other not that i have any other now for i have made no new friends but think much of it and i never can forget it i wish i knew but it is best for no one to write to me how mr and mrs prosper in the business which my dear father bought for them and that old mr lives happily with them and his two and sings all his songs over and over again i cannot quite keep back the tears from my eyes when i think of my poor and of the blank she must have felt at first however kind they all are to her without her little mother will you go and tell her as a strict secret with my love that she never can have regretted our separation more than i have regretted it and will you tell them all that i have thought of them every day and that my heart is faithful to them everywhere if you could know how faithful you would almost pity me for being so far away and being so grand you will be glad i am sure to know that my dear father is very well in health and that all these changes are highly to him and that he is very different indeed from what he used to be when you used to see him there is an improvement in my uncle too i think though he never complained of old and never now is very graceful quick and clever it is natural to her to be a lady she has adapted herself to our new fortunes with wonderful case this reminds me that i have not been able to do so and that i sometimes almost despair of ever being able to do so i find that i cannot learn mrs general is always with us and we speak french and speak italian and she takes pains to form us in many ways when i say we speak french and italian i mean they do as for me i am so slow that i scarcely get on at all as soon as i begin to plan and think and try all my | 8 |
planning thinking and trying go in old directions and i begin to feel careful again about the expenses of the day and about my dear father and about my work and then i remember with a start that there are no such cares left and that in itself is so new and improbable that it sets me wandering again i should not have the courage to mention this to any one but you it is the same with all these new countries and wonderful sights they are very beautiful and they astonish me but i am not collected enough not familiar enough with myself if you can quite understand what i mean to have all the pleasure in them that i might have what i knew before them with them too so curiously for instance when we were among the mountains i often felt i hesitate to tell such an idle thing dear mr even to you as if the must be behind that great rock or as if mrs s room where i have worked so many days and where i first saw you must be just beyond that snow do you remember one night when i came with to your lodging in garden that room i have often and often fancied i have seen before me travelling along for miles by the side of our carriage when i have looked out of the carriage window after dark we were shut out that night and sat at little the iron gate and walked about till morning i often look up at the stars even from the balcony of this room and believe that i am in the street again shut out with it is the same with people that i left in england when i go about here in a i surprise myself looking into other as if i hoped to see them it would overcome me with joy to see them but i don t think it would surprise me much at first in my fanciful times i fancy that they might be anywhere and i almost expect to see their dear faces on the bridges or the another difficulty that i have will seem very strange to you it must seem very strange to any one but me and does even to me i often feel the old sad pity for i need not write the word for him changed as he is and and thankful as i always am to know it the old sorrowful feeling of compassion comes upon me sometimes with such strength that i want to put my arms round his neck tell him how i love him and cry a little on his breast i should be glad after that and proud and happy but i know that i must not do this that he would not like it that would be angry that mrs general would be amazed and so i quiet myself yet in doing so i struggle with the feeling that i have come to be at a distance from him and that even in the midst of all the servants and attendants he is deserted and in want of me dear mr i have written a great deal about myself but i must write a little more still or what i wanted most of all to say in this weak letter would be left out of it in all these foolish thoughts of mine which i have been so hardy as to confess to you because i know you will understand me if anybody can and will make more allowance for me than anybody else would if you cannot in all these thoughts there is one thought scarcely ever never out of my memory and that is that i hope you sometimes in a quiet moment have a thought for me i must tell you that as to this i have felt ever since i have been away an anxiety which i am very very anxious to relieve i have been afraid that you may think of me in a new light or a new character don t do that i could not bear that it would make me more unhappy than you can suppose it would break my heart to believe that you thought of me in any way that would make me stranger to you than i was when you were so good to me what i have to pray and entreat of you is that you will never think of me as the daughter of a rich person that you will never think of me as dressing any better or living any better than when you first knew me that you will remember me only as the little shabby girl you protected with so much tenderness from whose dress you have kept away the rain and whose wet feet you have dried at your fire that you will think of me when you think of me at all and of my true affection and devoted gratitude always without change as of your poor child little p s particularly remember that you are not to be uneasy about mrs go wan her words were very well and very happy and she looked most beautiful little chapter y something wrong somewhere the family had been a month or two at when mr who was much among counts and and had but scant leisure set an hour of one day apart beforehand for the purpose of holding some conference with mrs general the time he had reserved in his mind arriving he sent mr his to mrs general s apartment which would have absorbed about a third of the area of the to present his compliments to that lady and represent him as desiring the favor of an interview it being that period of the when the various members of the family had coffee in their own chambers some | 8 |
couple of hours before at breakfast in a faded hall which had once been but was now the prey of watery and a settled melancholy mrs general was accessible to the that found her on a little square of carpet so extremely in reference to the size of her stone and marble floor that she looked a if she might have had it spread for the trying on of a ready made pair of shoes or as if she had come into possession of the enchanted piece of carpet bought for forty by one of the three princes in the nights and had that moment been transported on it at a wish into a saloon with which it had no mrs general replying to the as she set down her empty coffee cup that she was willing at once to proceed to mr s apartment and spare him the trouble of coming to her which in his gallantry he had proposed the threw open the door and escorted mrs general to the presence it was quite a walk by mysterious and from mrs general s apartment by a narrow side street with a low gloomy bridge in it and like opposite their walls with a thousand downward and streaks as if every crazy in them had been weeping tears of into the for centuries to mr s apartment with a english house front of window a prospect of beautiful church rising into the blue sky sheer out of the water which reflected them and a hushed murmur of the grand canal the below where his and attended his pleasure swinging in a little forest of piles mr in a dressing gown and cap the that had so long its time among the had burst into a rare butterfly rose to receive mrs general a chair to mrs general an easier chair sir what are you doing w r hat are you about what do vou mean now leave us mrs general said mr i took the liberty w little by no means mrs general interposed i was quite at your disposition i had had my coffee i took the liberty said mr again with the magnificent of one who was above to the favor of a little private conversation with you because i feel rather worried respecting my ha my younger daughter you will have observed a great difference of temperament madam between my two daughters said mrs general in response crossing her hands she was never without gloves and they never and always fitted there is a great difference may i ask to be favored with your view of it said mr with a deference not with majestic serenity returned mrs general has force of character and none none mrs general ask the stones and bars mrs general ask the who taught her to work and the dancing master who taught her sister to dance mrs general mrs general ask me her father what i owe to her and hear my testimony touching the life of this little creature from her childhood up no such entered mr s head he looked at mrs general seated in her usual erect attitude on her behind the and he said in a thoughtful manner true madam i would not said mrs general be understood to say observe that there is nothing to improve in but there is material there perhaps indeed a little too much will you be kind enough madam said mr to be ha more explicit i do not quite understand my elder daughter s having hum too much material what material returned mrs general at present forms too many opinions perfect breeding forms none and is never lest he himself should be found deficient in perfect breeding mr hastened to reply unquestionably madam you are right mrs general returned in her and manner i believe so but you are aware my dear madam said mr that my daughters had the misfortune to lose their lamented mother when they were very young and that in consequence of my not having been until lately the recognised heir to my property they have lived with me as a comparatively poor though always proud gentleman in ha hum retirement i do not said mrs general lose sight of the circumstance madam pursued mr of my daughter under her present guidance and with such an example constantly before her mrs general shut her eyes i have no there is of character in but my younger daughter mrs general rather and my thoughts i must inform you that she has always been my favorite little there is no said mrs general for these ha no assented mr no madam i am troubled by noticing that is not so to speak one of ourselves she does not care to go about with us she is lost in the society we have here our tastes are evidently not her tastes which said mr up with gravity is to say in other words that there is something wrong in ha may we incline to the supposition said mrs general with a little touch of that something is to the novelty of the position excuse me madam observed mr rather quickly the daughter of a gentleman though ha himself at one time comparatively far from comparatively and herself reared in hum retirement need not of necessity find this position so very novel true said mrs general true therefore madam said mr i took the liberty he laid an emphasis on the phrase and repeated it as though he with firmness that he must not be contradicted again i took the liberty of this interview in order that i might mention the topic to you and how you would advise me mr returned mrs general i have conversed with several times since we have been | 8 |
instance in point that it is scarcely delicate to look at with the attention which i have seen bestowed upon them by a very dear young friend of mine they should not be looked at nothing disagreeable should ever be looked at apart from such a habit standing in the way of that graceful of surface which is so expressive of good breeding it hardly seems with refinement of mind a truly refined mind will seem to be ignorant of the existence of anything that is not perfectly proper placid and pleasant having delivered this exalted sentiment mrs general made a sweeping and retired with an expression of mouth of and little whether speaking or silent had preserved her quiet earnestness and her loving look it had not been clouded except for a passing moment now but now that she was left alone with him the fingers of her lightly folded hands were agitated and there was repressed emotion in her face not for herself she might feel a little wounded but her care was not for herself her thoughts still turned as they always had turned to him a faint which had hung about her since their accession to fortune that even now she could never see him as he used to be before the prison days had gradually begun to assume form in her mind she felt that in what he had just now said to her and in his whole bearing towards her there was the well known shadow of the wall it took a new shape but it was the old sad shadow she began with sorrowful to acknowledge to herself that she was not strong enough to keep off the fear that no space in the life of man could overcome that quarter of a century behind the prison bars she had no blame to bestow upon him therefore nothing to reproach him with no emotions in her faithful heart but great compassion and unbounded tenderness this is why it was that even as he sat before her on his sofa in the little brilliant light of a bright italian day the wonderful city without and the of an old palace within she saw him at the moment in the long familiar gloom of his lodging and wished to take her seat beside him and comfort him and be again full of confidence with him and of usefulness to him if he divined what was in her thoughts his own were not in tune with it after some uneasy moving in his seat he got up and walked about looking very much dissatisfied is there anything else you wish to say to me dear father no no nothing else i am sorry you have not been pleased with me dear i hope you will not think of me with displeasure now i am going to try more than ever to myself as you wish to what me for indeed i have tried all along though i have failed i know he returned turning short upon her you ha habitually hurt me hurt you father i there is a hum a topic said mr looking all about the ceiling of the room and never at the attentive shocked face a painful topic a series of events which i wish ha altogether to this is understood by your sister who has already remonstrated with you in my presence it is understood by your brother it is understood by ha hum by every one of delicacy and except yourself ha i am sorry to say except yourself you hum you alone and only you constantly revive the topic though not in words she laid her hand on his arm she did nothing more she gently touched him the trembling hand may have said with some expression think of me think how i have worked think of my many cares but she said not a syllable herself there was a reproach in the touch so addressed to him that she had not foreseen or she would have withheld her hand he began to justify himself in a heated stumbling angry manner which made nothing of it i was there all those years i was ha universally acknowledged as the head of the place i hum i caused you to be respected there i ha hum i gave my family a position there i deserve a return i claim a return i say sweep it off the face of the earth and begin afresh is that much i ask is that much he did not once look at her as he on in this way but at and appealed to the empty air i have suffered probably i know how much i have suffered better than any one ha i say than any one if can put that aside if i can the marks of what i have endured and can before the world a ha gentleman is it a great deal to expect i say again is it a great deal to expect that my children should hum do the same and sweep that accursed experience off the face of the earth in spite of his state he made all these exclamations in a carefully suppressed voice lest the should anything accordingly they do it your sister does it your brother does little it you alone my favorite child whom i made the friend and companion of my life when yon were a mere hum baby do not do it you alone say you can t do it i provide you with valuable assistance to do it i attach an accomplished and highly bred lady ha mrs general to you for the purpose of doing it is it surprising that i should be displeased is it | 8 |
necessary that i should defend myself for expressing my displeasure no notwithstanding which he continued to defend himself without any of his flushed mood i c am careful to appeal to that lady for confirmation before i express any displeasure at all i hum i necessarily make that appeal within limited bounds or i ha should render by that lady what i desire to be blotted out am i selfish do i complain for my own sake no no principally for ha hum your sake this last consideration plainly appeared from his manner of pursuing it to have just that instant come into his head i said i was hurt am so i ha am determined to be whatever is advanced to the contrary i am hurt that my daughter seated in the hum lap of fortune should and retire and proclaim herself unequal to her destiny i am hurt that she should ha what the rest of us blot out and seem hum i had almost said positively anxious to announce to wealthy and distinguished society that she was born and bred in ha hum a place that i myself decline to name but there is no ha not the least in my feeling hurt and yet complaining principally for your sake i do i say again i do it is for your sake that i wish you under the of mrs general to form a hum a surface it is for your sake that i wish you to have a ha truly refined mind and in the striking words of mrs general to be ignorant of everything that is not perfectly proper placid and pleasant he had been running down by during his last speech like a sort of ill adjusted the touch was still upon his arm he fell silent and after looking about the ceiling again for a little while looked down at her her head drooped and he could not see her face but her touch was tender and quiet and in the expression of her dejected figure there was no blame nothing but love he began to just as he had done that night in the prison when she afterwards sat at his bedside till morning exclaimed that he was a poor ruin and a poor wretch in the midst of his wealth and clasped her in his arms hush hush my own dear kiss me was all she said to him his tears were soon dried much sooner than on the former occasion and he was presently afterwards very high with his as a way of himself for having shed any with one remarkable exception to be recorded in its place this was the only time in his life of freedom and fortune when he spoke to his daughter of the old days but now the breakfast hour arrived and with it miss from her apartment and mr edward from his apartment both these young persons of distinction were something the worse for late hours little as to miss she had the victim of an for what she called going into society and would have gone into it head foremost fifty times between sunset and sunrise if so many opportunities had been at her disposal as to mr edward he too had a large acquaintance and was generally engaged for the most part in circles or others of a kindred nature during the greater part of every night for this gentleman when his fortunes changed had stood at the great advantage of being already prepared for the highest associates and having little to learn so much was he indebted to the happy accidents which had made him acquainted with horse dealing and marking at breakfast mr likewise appeared as the old gentleman inhabited the highest story of the palace where he might have practised pistol shooting without much chance of discovery by the other inmates his younger niece had taken courage to propose the restoration to him of his which mr had ordered to be but which she had ventured to preserve notwithstanding some objections from miss that it was a low instrument and that she detested the sound of it the concession had been made but it was then discovered that he had had enough of it and never played it now that it was no longer his means of getting bread he had acquired a new habit of shuffling into the always with his twisted paper of in his hand much to the indignation of miss who had proposed the purchase of a gold box for him that the family might not be which he had absolutely refused to carry when it was bought and of passing hours and hours before the portraits of renowned it was never made out what his dazed eyes saw in them whether he had an interest in them merely as pictures or whether he identified them with a glory that was departed like the strength of his own mind but he paid his court to them with great and clearly derived pleasure from the pursuit after the first few days little happened one morning to assist at these attentions it so evidently heightened his gratification that she often accompanied him afterwards and the greatest delight of which the old man had shown himself susceptible since his ruin arose out of these excursions when he would carry a chair about for her from picture to picture and stand behind it in spite of all her silently presenting her to the noble it fell out that at this family breakfast he referred to their having seen in a gallery on the previous day the lady and gentleman whom they had encountered on the great saint i forget the name said he i dare say you remember them i dare say you do edward | 8 |
remember em well enough said the latter i should think so observed miss with a toss of her head and a glance at her sister but they would not have been recalled to our remembrance i suspect if uncle hadn t tumbled over the subject my dear what a curious phrase said mrs general would not lighted upon or accidentally referred to be better little thank you very much mrs general returned the young lady u no i think not on the whole i prefer my own expression this was always miss s way of receiving a suggestion from mrs general but she always stored it up in her mind and adopted it at another time i should have mentioned our having met mr and mrs go wan said little even if uncle had not i have scarcely seen you since you know i meant to have spoken of it at breakfast because i like to pay a visit to mrs and to become better acquainted with her if papa and mrs general do not object well said lam sure i am glad to find you at last expressing a wish to become better acquainted with anybody in though whether mr and mrs are desirable acquaintances remains to be determined mrs i spoke of dear no doubt said but you can t separate her from her husband i believe without an act of parliament do you think papa little with and hesitation there is any objection to my making this visit he replied i ha what is mrs general s view mrs general s view was that not having the honor of any acquaintance with the lady and gentleman referred to she was not in a position to the present article she could only remark as a general principle observed in the trade that much depended on the quarter from which the lady under consideration was to a family so in the social temple as the family of at this remark the face of mr considerably he was about connecting the with an person of the name of whom he imperfectly remembered in some former state of existence to the name of finally when edward came into the conversation with his glass in his eye and the preliminary remark of i say you there go out will you which was addressed to a couple of men who were handing the dishes round as a courteous intimation that their services could be temporarily with those having obeyed the edward proceeded perhaps it s a matter of policy to let you all know that these go in whose favor or at least the gentleman s i can t be supposed to be much myself are known to people of importance if that makes any difference that i would say observed the fair makes the greatest difference the in question being really people of importance and consideration as to that said edward i ll give you the means of judging for yourself you are acquainted perhaps with the famous name of the great exclaimed mrs general the said edward they are known little to him mrs i mean the my polite friend s mother is intimate with mrs and i know these two to be on their visiting list if so a more could not be given said mrs general to mr raising her gloves and bowing her head as if she were doing homage to some visible image i beg to ask my son from motives of ha curiosity mr observed with a decided change in his manner how he becomes possessed of this hum information it s not a long story sir returned edward and you shall have it out of hand to begin with mrs is the lady you had the with at what s his name place interposed miss with an air of infinite languor assented her brother with a slight nod and a slight wink in acknowledgment of which miss looked surprised and laughed and how can that be edward said mr you informed me that the name of the gentleman with whom you conferred was ha indeed you showed me his card hum no doubt of it father but it doesn t follow that his mother s name must be the same mrs was married before and he is her son she is in rome now where probably we shall know more of her as you decide to winter there is just come here i passed last evening in company with is a very good fellow on the whole though rather a bore on one subject in consequence of being smitten with a certain young lady here edward eyed miss through his glass across the table we happened last night to compare notes about our travels and i had the information i have given you from himself here he ceased continuing to eye miss through his glass with a face much twisted and not so in part by the action of keeping his glass in his eye and in part by the great of his smile under these circumstances said mr i believe i express the sentiments of ha mrs general no less than my own when i say that there is no objection but ha hum quite the contrary to your gratifying your desire i trust i may ha hail this desire said mr in an encouraging and manner as an omen it is quite right to know these people it is a very proper thing mr s is a name of ha world wide mr s are immense they bring him in such vast sums of money that they are regarded as hum national benefits mr is the man of this time the name of is the name of the age pray do everything on my behalf that is civil to | 8 |
the scene edward saying nothing throughout but looking to the last perplexed and doubtful miss awakened much affectionate uneasiness in her sister s mind that day by passing the greater part of it in violent fits of embracing her and in alternately giving her and wishing herself dead little d t o chapter vi something right to be in the halting state of mr henry to have left one of two powers in disgust to want the necessary for finding promotion with another and to be about on ground cursing both is to be in a situation for the mind which time is not likely to improve the worst class of sum worked in the every day world is by the who are always in the rule of as to the merits and of others and never in addition as to their own the habit too of seeking some sort of in the discontented boast of being disappointed is a habit with a certain idle carelessness and of soon comes of it to bring deserving things down by setting things up is one of its delights and there is no playing fast and loose with the truth in any game without growing the worse for it in his expressed opinions of all performances in the art of painting that were completely destitute of merit was the most liberal fellow on earth he would declare such a man to have more power in his little finger provided he had none than such another had provided he had much in his whole mind and body if the objection were taken that the thing commended was he would reply on behalf of his art my good fellow what do we all turn out but turn out nothing else and i make you a present of the confession to make a of being poor was another of the incidents of his state though this may have had the design in it of showing that he ought to be rich just as he would publicly and the lest it should be forgotten that he belonged to the family these two subjects were very often on his lips and he managed them so well that he might have praised himself by the month together and not have made himself out half so important a man as he did by his light of his claims on anybody s consideration out of this same airy talk of his it always soon came to be understood wherever he and his wife went that he had married against the wishes of his exalted relations and had had much to prevail on them to countenance her he never made the representation on the contrary seemed to laugh the idea to scorn but it did happen that with all his pains to himself he was always in the superior position the days of their felt sensible of being usually regarded as wife of a man who had made a descent in marrying her but whose love for her had that to they had been accompanied by of paris and at of paris was very much in the society of when they had first met this gallant gentleman little at had been whether to kick him or encourage him and had remained for about four and y hours so troubled to settle the point to his satisfaction that he had thought of tossing up a five piece on the terms tails kick heads encourage and abiding by the voice of the it chanced however that his wife expressed a dislike to the engaging and that the balance of feeling in the hotel was against him upon that resolved to encourage him why this if it were not in a generous fit which it was not why should very much the superior of of paris and very well able to pull that gentleman to pieces and find out the stuff he was made of take up with such a man in the first place he opposed the first separate wish he observed in his wife because her father had paid his debts and it was desirable to take an early opportunity of asserting his independence in the second place he opposed the feeling because with many of being otherwise he was an ill man he found a pleasure in declaring that a with the refined manners of ought to rise to the greatest distinction in any polished country he found a pleasure in setting up as the type of elegance and making him a satire upon others who themselves on personal graces he seriously protested that the bow of was perfect that the address of was irresistible and that the picturesque ease of would be purchased if it were not a gift and for a hundred thousand that exaggeration in the manner of the man which has been noticed as to him and to every such man whatever his original breeding as certainly as the sun belongs to this system was acceptable to as a which he found it a humorous resource to have at hand for the of numbers of people who necessarily did more or less of what over did thus he had taken up with him and thus these inclinations with habit and idly some amusement from his talk he had glided into a way of having him for a companion this though he supposed him to live by his wits at play tables and the like though he suspected him to be a coward while he himself was daring and courageous though he thoroughly knew him to be disliked by and though he cared so little for him after all that if he had given her any personal cause to regard him with aversion he would have had no whatever in flinging him out of the highest window in into the deepest water of the city little would have been glad to make her visit to mrs alone | 8 |
a hat standing on a throne platform in a corner as he had stood on the great saint when the warning arms seemed to be all pointing up at him she from this figure as it smiled at her don t be alarmed said coming from his behind the door it s only he is doing duty as a model to day i am making a study of him it me money to turn him to some use we poor painters have none to spare of paris pulled off his hat and saluted the ladies without coming out of his corner a thousand said he but the here is so inexorable with me that i am afraid to stir little d t don t stir then said go wan coolly as the sisters approached the let the ladies at least see the original of the that they may know what it s meant for there he stands you see a waiting for his prey a distinguished noble waiting to save his country the common enemy waiting to do somebody a bad turn an messenger waiting to do somebody a good turn whatever you think he looks most like ay a poor gentleman waiting to do homage to elegance and remarked or say returned go wan touching the painted face with his brush in the part where the real face had moved a murderer after the fact show that white hand of yours put it outside the cloak keep it still hand was unsteady but he laughed and that would naturally shake it he was formerly in some with another murderer or with a victim jou observe said go wan putting in the of the hand with a quick impatient touch and these are the tokens of it outside the cloak man di san what are you thinking of of paris shook with a laugh again so that his hand shook more now he raised it to twist his moustache which had a damp appearance and now he stood in the required position with a little new his face was so directed in reference to the spot where little stood by the that throughout lie looked at her once attracted by his peculiar eyes she could not remove her own and they had looked at each other all the time she trembled now feeling it and supposing her to be alarmed by the large dog beside him whose head she in her hand and who had just uttered a low growl glanced at her to say he won t hurt you miss lam not afraid of him she returned in the same breath but will you look at him in a moment had thrown down his brush and seized the dog with both hands by the collar how can you be such a fool as to provoke him by heaven and the other place too he ll tear you to bits lie down lion do you hear my voice you rebel the great dog regardless of being half choked by his collar was pulling with his dead weight against his master resolved to get across the room he had been crouching for a spring at the moment when his master caught him lion lion he was up on his hind legs and it was a between master and dog get back down lion get out of his sight what devil have you into the dog i have done nothing to him get out of his sight or i can t hold the wild beast get out of the room by my soul he ll kill you the dog with a ferocious bark made one other struggle as vanished then in the moment of the dog s submission the little master little less angry than the dog him with a blow on the head and standing over him struck him many times severely with the heel of his boot so that his mouth was presently bloody now get you into that corner and lie down said or i ll take you out and shoot you lion did as he was ordered and lay down his mouth and chest lion s master stopped for a moment to take breath and then recovering his usual coolness of manner turned to speak to his frightened wife and her visitors probably the whole occurrence had not occupied two minutes come come you know he is always good and must have irritated him made faces at him the dog has his and and is no great favorite of his but i am sure you ll give him a character for never having been like this before was too much disturbed to say anything connected in reply little was already occupied in soothing her who had cried out twice or thrice held s arm for protection lion deeply ashamed of having caused them this alarm came trailing himself along the ground to the feet of his mistress you furious brute said striking him with his foot again you shall do penance for this and he struck him again and yet again pray don t punish him any more cried little don t hurt him see how gentle he is at her entreaty spared him and he deserved her for truly he was as and as sorry and as wretched as a dog could be it was not easy to recover this shock and make the visit even though had not been under the best of circumstances the least trifle in the way in such further communication as passed among them before the sisters took their departure little fancied it was revealed to her that mr treated his wife even in his very fondness too much like a beautiful child he seemed so of the depths of feeling which she knew must lie below that surface that she doubted if there could be any such depths in himself she wondered whether his want of earnestness might | 8 |
the other as if she were crushing mrs no repeated she shall find me go her way she took it and i ll follow it and with the blessing of fate and fortune i ll go on improving that woman s acquaintance until i have given her maid before her eyes things from my s ten times as handsome and expensive as she once gave me from hers little was silent sensible that she was not to be heard on any question affecting the family dignity and unwilling to lose to no purpose her sister s newly and unexpectedly restored favor she could not but she was silent well knew what she was thinking of so well that she soon asked her her reply was do you mean to encourage mr encourage him my dear said her sister smiling contemptuously that depends upon what you call encourage no i don t mean to encourage him but i ll make a slave of him little glanced seriously and doubtfully in her face but n i i i m v k m little was not to be so brought to a check she her fan of black and gold and used it to tap her sister s nose with the air of a proud beauty and a great spirit who with and instructed a homely companion i shall make him fetch and carry my dear and i shall make him subject to me and if i don t make his mother subject to me too it shall not be my fault do you think dear don t be offended we are so comfortable together now that you can quite see the end of that course i can t say i have so much as looked for it yet my dear answered with supreme indifference all in good time such are my intentions and really they have taken me so long to develop that here we are at home and young at the door who is within by the merest accident of course in effect the was standing up in his card case in hand affecting to put the question to a servant this of circumstances led to his immediately afterwards presenting himself before the young ladies in a posture which in ancient times would not have been considered one of favorable for his suit since the of the young ladies having been put to some inconvenience by the so neatly brought their own boat into the collision with the bark of mr as to tip that gentleman over like a large species of and cause him to exhibit the of his shoes to the object of his dearest wishes while the nobler portions of his struggled at the bottom of his boat in the arms of one of his men however as miss called out with much concern was the gentleman hurt mr rose more restored than might have been expected and stammered for himself with not at all so miss had no recollection of having ever seen him before and was passing on with a distant inclination of her head when himself by name even then she was in a difficulty from being unable to call it to mind until he explained that he had had the honor of seeing her at then she remembered him and hoped his lady mother was well thank you stammered mr she s uncommonly well at least poorly in said miss in borne mr answered i am here by myself myself i came to call upon mr edward myself indeed upon mr likewise in fact upon the family turning graciously to the attendants miss whether her papa or brother was within the reply being that they were both within mr humbly offered his arm miss accepting it was up the great staircase by mr who if he still believed which there is not any reason to doubt that she had no nonsense about her rather deceived himself arrived in a reception room where the faded of a sad sea green had worn and withered until they looked as if they might have claimed kindred with the of sea weed drifting under the windows or clinging to the walls and weeping for their little imprisoned relations miss for her father and brother whose appearance she showed to great advantage on a sofa mr s conquest with some remarks upon known to that gentleman as an eccentric man in the nature of an old pile who used to put leaves round his head and sit upon a stool for some unaccountable purpose outside the cathedral at mr welcomed the visitor with his highest and most manners he particularly after mrs he particularly after mr mr said or rather out of himself in small pieces by the shirt collar that mrs having completely used up her place in the country and also her house at and being of course unable don t you see to remain in london when there wasn t a soul there and not feeling herself this year quite up to visiting about at people s places had resolved to have a touch at where a woman like herself with a fine appearance and with no nonsense about her couldn t fail to be a great acquisition as to mr he was so much wanted by the men in the city and the rest of those places and was such a extraordinary phenomenon in buying and and that that mr doubted if the system of the country would be able to spare him though that hi work was occasionally one too many for him and that he would be all the better for a temporary shy at an entirely new scene and climate mr did not conceal as to himself mr conveyed to the family that he was going on rather particular business wherever they were going this immense achievement required time but was effected being effected mr expressed his | 8 |
hope that mr would shortly dine with them mr received the idea so kindly that mr asked what he was going to do that day for instance as he was going to do nothing that day his usual occupation and one for which he was particularly qualified he was secured without being further bound over to accompany the ladies to the opera in the evening at dinner time mr rose out of the sea like s son taking after his mother and made a splendid appearance ascending the great staircase if had been charming in the morning she was now thrice charming very dressed in her most suitable colors and with an air of upon her that doubled mr s and them i hear you are acquainted mr said his host at dinner with ha mr mr henry perfectly sir returned mr his mother and my mother are in fact if i had thought of it said mr with a patronage as magnificent as that of lord himself you should have a note to them asking them to dine to day some of our people could have ha fetched them and taken them home we could have spared a hum for that purpose i am sorry to have forgotten this pray remind me of them to morrow little d little was not without doubts how mr henry might take their patronage but she promised not to fail in the pray does mr henry paint ha portraits mr mr that he painted anything if he could get the job he has no particular walk said mr mr stimulated by love to brilliancy replied that for a particular walk a man ought to have a particular pair of shoes as for example shooting shooting shoes shoes whereas he believed that henry had no particular pair of shoes no said mr this being a very long word for mr and his mind being exhausted by his late effort he replied no thank you i seldom take it well said mr it would be very agreeable to me to present a gentleman so connected with some ha of my desire to further his interests and develop the hum of his genius i think i must engage mr to paint my picture if the result should be ha satisfactory i might afterwards engage him to try his hand upon my family the exquisitely bold and original thought presented itself to mr that there was an opening here for saying there were some of the family some in a marked manner to whom no painter could render justice but for want of a form of words in which to express the idea it returned to the skies this was the more to be regretted as miss greatly applauded the notion of the portrait and urged her papa to act upon it she she said that mr had lost better and higher opportunities by marrying his pretty wife and love in a cottage painting pictures for dinner was so delightfully interesting that she begged her papa to give him the commission whether he could paint a likeness or not though indeed both she and knew he could from having seen a speaking likeness on his that day and having had the opportunity of comparing it with the original these remarks made mr as perhaps they were intended to do nearly distracted for while on the one hand they expressed miss s to the tender passion she herself showed such an innocent of his admiration that his eyes in his head with jealousy of an unknown rival descending into the sea again after dinner and ascending out of it at the opera staircase preceded by one of their like an attendant with a great linen lantern they entered their box and mr entered on an evening of agony the theatre being dark and the box light several visitors in during the representation in whom was so interested and in conversation with whom she fell into such charming attitudes as she had little confidences with them and little concerning the identity of people in distant boxes that the wretched hated all mankind but he had two at the close of the performance she gave him her fan to hold while she adjusted her cloak and it was his blessed privilege to give her his arm down stairs again these little of encouragement mr thought would just keep him going and it is not impossible that miss thought so too the with his light was ready at the box door and other with other lights were ready at many of the doors the held his lantern low to show the steps and mr put on another heavy set of over his former set as he watched her radiant feet twinkling down the stairs beside him among the here was of paris he spoke and moved forward beside little was in front with her brother and mrs general mr had remained at home but on the brink of the they all came together she started again to find close to her handing into the boat has had a loss he said since he was made happy to day by a visit from fair ladies a loss repeated by the and taking her seat a loss said his dog lion little s hand was in his as he spoke he is dead said dead echoed little that noble dog faith dear ladies said smiling and his shoulders somebody has poisoned that noble dog he is as dead as the chapter vii mostly and c general always on her coach box keeping the well together took pains to form a surface on her very dear young friend and mrs general s very dear young friend tried hard to receive it hard as she had tried in her laborious life to attain many ends she had never tried harder than | 8 |
no knowing what might happen especially as i should have many opportunities afterwards of treating that woman his mother in her own style which i most decidedly should not be slow to avail myself of no more passed between the sisters then but what had passed gave the two subjects of mrs general and mr great in little s mind and she thought very much of both mrs general having long ago formed her own surface to such perfection that it hid whatever was below it if anything no observation was to be made in that quarter mr was very polite to her and had a high opinion of her but impetuous at most times might easily be wrong for all that whereas the question was on the different footing that any one could see what was going on there and little saw it and pondered on it with many doubts and wondering little the devotion of mr was only to be equalled by the caprice and cruelty of his sometimes she would prefer him to such distinction of notice that he would chuckle aloud with joy next day or next hour she would overlook him so completely and drop him into such an abyss of obscurity that he would groan under a weak pretence of the constancy of his attendance never touched though he was so inseparable from edward that when that gentleman wished for a change of society he was under the irksome necessity of gliding out like a in disguised boats and by secret doors and back ways though he was so to know how mr was that he called every other day to inquire as if mi were the prey of an fever though he was so constantly being up and down before the principal windows that he might have been supposed to have made a for a large stake to be a thousand miles in a thousand hours though whenever the of his mistress left the gate the of mr shot out from some watery and gave chase as if she were a fair and he a custom house officer it was probably owing to this of the natural strength of his constitution with so much exposure to the air and the salt sea that mr did not pine outwardly but whatever the cause he was so far from having any prospect of moving his mistress by a state of health that he grew every day and that peculiarity in his appearance of seeming rather a swelled boy than a young man became developed to an extraordinary degree of ruddy calling to pay his respects mr received him with as the friend of mr and mentioned to him his idea of mr to him to posterity highly it it occurred to mr that it might be agreeable to to communicate to his friend the great opportunity reserved for him accepted the commission with his own free elegance of manner and swore he would discharge it before he was an hour older on his the news to that master gave mr to the devil with great liberality some round dozen of times for he resented patronage almost as much as he resented the want of it and was inclined to quarrel with his friend for bringing him the message it may be a defect in my mental vision said he but may i die if i see what you have to do with this death of my life replied nor i neither except that i thought i was serving my friend by putting an s hire in his pocket said frowning do you mean that tell your other friend to get his head painted for the sign of some public house and to get it done by a sign painter who am i and who is he returned the and who is without appearing at all interested in the latter question angrily whistled mr away but next day he resumed the subject by saying in his off hand manner and with a laugh well when shall we go to this of yours we must take when we can get them when shall we go and look after this job little when you will said the injured as you please what have i to do with it what is it to me i can tell you what it is to me said go wan bread and cheese one must eat so come along my mr received them in the presence of his daughters and of mr who happened by some surprising accident to be calling there how are you said go wan carelessly when you have to live by your mother wit old boy i hope you may get on better than i do mr then mentioned his proposal sir said laughing after receiving it gracefully enough i am new to the trade and not expert at its mysteries i believe i ought to look at you in various lights tell you you are a capital subject and consider when i shall be sufficiently disengaged to devote myself with the necessary enthusiasm to the fine picture i mean to make of you i assure you and he laughed again i feel quite a traitor in the camp of those dear gifted good noble fellows my brother artists by not doing the better but i have not been brought up to it and it s too late to learn it now the fact is i am a very bad painter but not much worse than the if you are going to throw away a hundred guineas or so i am as poor as a poor relation of great people usually is and i shall be very much obliged to you if you ll throw them away upon me i ll do the best i can for the money and if the best should be bad why even then you may probably have a bad picture with a small | 8 |
name to it instead of a bad picture with a large name to it this tone though not what he had expected on the whole suited mr remarkably well it showed that the gentleman highly connected and not a mere workman would be under an obligation to him he expressed his satisfaction himself in mr s hands and trusted that he would have the pleasure in their characters as private gentlemen of improving his acquaintance you are very good said i have not society since i joined the brotherhood of the brush the most delightful fellows on the face of the earth and am glad enough to smell the old fine now and then though it did blow me into mid air and my present calling you ll not think mr and here he laughed again in the easiest way that i am into the of the craft for it s not so upon my life i can t help betraying it wherever i go though by i love and honor the craft with all my might if i propose a as to time and place ha mr could erect no hum suspicion of that kind on mr s frankness again you are very good said mr i hear you are going to borne i am going to rome having friends there let me begin to do you the injustice i have to do you there not here we shall all be hurried during the rest of our stay here and though there s not a poorer man with whole elbows in than myself i have not quite got all the amateur out of me yet the trade again you see and can t fall on to order in a hurry for the mere sake of the little these remarks were not less received by mr than their they were the to the first reception of mr and mrs at dinner and they placed on his usual ground in the new family his wife too they placed on her usual ground miss understood with particular distinctness that mrs s good looks had cost her husband veiy dear that there had been a great disturbance about her in the family and that the mrs nearly heart broken had resolutely set her face against the marriage until overpowered by her maternal feelings mrs general likewise clearly understood that the attachment had occasioned much family grief and of honest mr no mention was made except that it was natural enough that a person of that sort should wish to raise his daughter out of his own obscurity and that no one could blame him for trying his best to do so little s interest in the fair subject of this easily accepted belief was too earnest and watchful to fail in accurate observation she could see that it had its part in throwing upon mrs the touch of shadow under which she lived and she even had an instinctive knowledge that there was not the least truth in it but it had an influence in placing obstacles in the way of her association with mrs by making the and school excessively polite to her but not very intimate with her and little as an enforced of that college was obliged to submit herself humbly to its nevertheless there was a sympathetic understanding already established between the two which would have carried them over greater difficulties and made a friendship out of a more intercourse as though accidents were determined to be favorable to it they had a new assurance of in the aversion which each perceived that the other felt towards of paris an aversion to the and horror of a natural towards an odious creature of the kind and there was a passive between them besides this active one to both of them behaved in exactly the same manner and to both of them his manner had uniformly something in it which they both knew to be different from his bearing towards others the difference was too minute in its expression to be perceived by others but they knew it to be there a mere trick of his evil eyes a mere turn of his smooth white hand a mere hair s breadth of addition to the fall of his nose and the rise of his moustache in the most frequent movement of his face conveyed to both of them equally a personal to themselves it was as if he had said i have a secret power in this quarter i know what i know this had never been felt by them both in so great a degree and never by each so perfectly to the knowledge of the other as on a day when he came to mr s to take his leave before mrs was herself there for the same purpose and he came upon the two together the rest of the family being out the two had not been together five minutes and the peculiar manner seemed to convey to them you were going to talk about me behold me here to prevent it little is coming here said with his smile mrs replied he was not coming not coming said permit your devoted servant when you leave here to escort you home thank you i am not going home not going home said then i am forlorn that he might be hut he was not so forlorn as to away and leave them together he sat entertaining them with his finest compliments and his conversation but he conveyed to them all the time no no no dear ladies behold me here expressly to prevent it he conveyed it to them with so much meaning and he had such a in him that at length mrs rose to depart on his offering his hand to mrs to lead her down the staircase she retained little s hand in hers with a cautious | 8 |
pressure and said no thank you but if you will please to see if my is there i shall be obliged to you it left him no choice but to go down before them as he did so hat in hand mrs whispered he killed the dog does mr know it little whispered no one knows it don t look towards me look towards him he will turn his face in a moment no one knows it but i am sure he did you are i i think so little answered henry likes him and will not think ill of him he is so generous and open himself but you and i feel sure that we think of him as he deserves he argued with henry that the dog had been already poisoned when he changed so and sprung at him henry believes it but we do not i see he is listening but can t hear good bye my love good bye the last words were spoken aloud as the stopped turned his head and looked at them from the bottom of the staircase assuredly he did look then though he looked his as if any real could have desired no better employment than to lash a great stone to his neck and drop him into the water flowing beyond the dark arched in which he stood no such benefactor to mankind being on the spot he handed mrs to her boat and stood there until it had shot out of the narrow view when he handed himself into his own boat and followed little had sometimes thought and now thought again as she her steps up the staircase that he had made his way too easily into her father s house but so many and such varieties of people did the same through mr s in his elder daughter s society that it was hardly an exceptional case a perfect fury for making acquaintances on whom to impress their riches and importance had seized the house of it appeared on the whole to little herself that this same society in which they lived greatly resembled a superior sort of numbers of people seemed to come abroad pretty much as people had come into the prison through debt through idleness relationship curiosity and general for getting on at home little they were brought into these foreign towns in the of and local followers just as the had been brought into the prison they about the churches and picture galleries much in the old dreary prison yard manner they were usually going away again to morrow or next week and rarely knew their own minds and seldom did what they said they would do or went where they said they would go in all this again very like the prison they paid high for poor accommodation and a place while they pretended to like it which was exactly the custom they were envied when they went away by people left behind not to want to go and that again was the habit invariably a certain set of words and phrases as much belonging to as the college and the belonged to the jail was always in their mouths they had precisely the same for settling down to anything as the prisoners used to have they rather one another as the prisoners used to do and they wore dresses and fell into a way of life still always like the people in the the period of the family s stay at came in its course to an end and they moved with their to rome through a repetition of the former italian scenes growing more dirty and more haggard as they went on and bringing them at length to where the very air was they passed to their destination a fine residence had been taken for them on the and there they took up their abode in a city where everything seemed to be trying to stand still for ever on the ruins of something else except the water which following eternal laws tumbled and rolled from its glorious multitude of fountains here it seemed to little that a change came over the spirit of their society and that and got the upper hand everybody was walking about st peter s and the on somebody else s cork legs and straining every visible object through somebody else s nobody said what anything was but everybody said what the mrs mr or somebody else said it was the whole body of travellers seemed to be a collection of voluntary human sacrifices bound hand and foot and delivered over to mr and his attendants to have the of their arranged according to the taste of that sacred through the rugged remains of temples and and palaces and halls and theatres and of ancient days hosts of and were carefully feeling their way incessantly repeating and in the endeavour to set their lips according to the received form mrs general was in her pure element nobody had an opinion there was a formation of surface going on around her on an amazing scale and it had not a flaw of courage or honest free speech in it another of and itself on little s notice very shortly after their arrival they received an early visit from mrs who led that extensive department of life in the eternal city that winter and the skilful manner in which she and with one another on the little occasion almost made her quiet sister wink like the glittering of small swords so delighted said mrs to resume an acquaintance so begun at at of course said charmed i am sure i understand said mrs from my son that he has already improved that chance occasion he has returned quite transported with indeed returned the careless was he there long i might refer that question to mr said mrs turning the bosom towards that gentleman having been | 8 |
so much indebted to him for rendering his stay agreeable oh pray don t speak of it returned i believe papa had the pleasure of inviting mr twice or thrice but it was nothing we had so many people about us and kept such open house that if he had that pleasure it was less than nothing except my dear said mr except ha as it afforded me unusual gratification to hum show by any means however alight and worthless the ha hum high estimation in which in ha common with the rest of the world i hold so distinguished and a character as mr s the bosom received this tribute in its most engaging manner mr observed as a means of mr into the background is quite a theme of papa s you must know mrs i have been ha disappointed madam said mr to understand from mr that there is no great hum probability of mr s coming abroad why indeed said mrs he is so much engaged and in such request that i fear not he has not been able to get abroad for years you miss i believe have been almost continually abroad for a long time oh dear yes with the greatest an immense number of years so i should have inferred said mrs exactly said i trust however resumed mr that if i have not the hum great advantage of becoming known to mr on this side of the or i shall have that honor on returning to england it is an honor i particularly desire and shall particularly esteem mr said mrs who had been looking at through her eye glass will esteem it i am sure no less little still habitually thoughtful and solitary though no longer alone at first supposed this to be mere and but as her father when they had been to a brilliant reception at mrs s at their own family breakfast table on his wish to know mr with the view of by the advice of that wonderful man in the disposal of his fortune she began to think it had a real meaning and to entertain a curiosity on her own part to see the shining light of the time little d t chapter viii the mrs is reminded that it never does while the waters of and the ruins of rome were themselves for the pleasure of the family and were daily being out of all earthly proportion and likeness by travelling innumerable the firm of and away in bleeding heart yard and the vigorous of iron upon iron was heard there through the working hours the younger partner had by this time brought the business into sound trim and the elder left free to follow his own ingenious devices had done much to the character of the factory as an ingenious man he had necessarily to encounter every that the ruling powers for a length of time had been able by any means to put in the way of his class of but that was only reasonable self defence in the powers since how to do it must obviously be regarded as the natural and mortal enemy of how not to do it in this was to be found the basis of the wise system by tooth and nail by the office of warning every ingenious british subject to be ingenious at his peril of him him inviting robbers by making his remedy uncertain difficult and expensive to plunder him and at the best of his property after a short term of enjoyment as though invention were on a par with the system had uniformly found great favor with the and that was only reasonable too for one who must be in earnest and the and dreaded nothing half so much that again was very reasonable since in a country suffering under the affliction of a great amount of earnestness there might in an exceeding short space of time be not a single left sticking to a post daniel faced his condition with its pains and attached to it and worked on for the work s sake cheering him with a hearty co operation was a moral support to him besides doing good service in his business relation the concern and the partners were fast friends but daniel could not forget the old design of so many years it was not in reason to be expected that he should if he could have lightly forgotten it he could never have conceived it or had the patience and perseverance to work it out so thought when he sometimes observed him of an evening looking over the models and drawings and himself by muttering with a sigh as he put them away again that the thing was as true as it ever was to show no sympathy with so much endeavour and so much disappointment would have been to fail in what regarded as among the implied obligations of his a revival of the passing interest in the subject which had been by chance awakened at the door little of the office originated in this feeling he asked his partner to explain the invention to him having a consideration he for my being no workman so workman said you would have been a thorough workman if you had given yourself to it you have as good a head for understanding such things as i have met with a totally one i am sorry to add said i don t know that returned and i wouldn t have you say that no man of sense who has been generally improved and has improved himself can be called quite as to anything i don t particularly favor mysteries i would as soon on a fair and clear explanation be judged by one class of man as another provided he had the | 8 |
i have named at all events said this sounds as if we were exchanging compliments but we know we are not i shall have the advantage of as plain an explanation as can be given well said daniel in his steady even way i ll try to make it so he had the power often to be found in union with such a character of explaining what he himself perceived and meant with the direct force and distinctness with which it struck his own mind his manner of demonstration was so orderly and neat and simple that it was not easy to mistake him there was something almost ludicrous in the complete of a vague conventional notion that he must be a visionary man with the precise sagacious travelling of his eye and thumb over the plans their patient at particular points their careful returns to other points whence little channels of explanation had to be traced up and his steady manner of making everything good and everything sound at each important stage before taking his on a line s breadth further his dismissal of himself from his description was hardly less remarkable he never said i discovered this or invented that combination but showed the whole thing as if the divine had made it and he had happened to find it so modest he was about it such a pleasant touch of respect was mingled with his quiet admiration of it and so calmly convinced he was that it was established on laws not only that evening but for several succeeding evenings was quite charmed by this investigation the more he pursued it and the oftener he glanced at the grey head bending over it and the shrewd eye with pleasure in it and love of it instrument for his heart though it had been made for twelve long years the less he could reconcile it to his younger energy to let it go without one effort more at length he said it came to this at last that the business was to be sunk with heaven knows how many more or begun all over again yes returned that s what the and gentlemen made of it after a dozen years and pretty fellows too said bitterly the usual thing observed i must not make a martyr of myself when i am one of so large a little it or begin it all over again mused that was exactly the long and the short of it said then my friend cried starting up and taking his work hand it shall be begun all over again looked alarmed and replied in a hurry for him no no better put it by par better put it by it will be heard of one day i can put it by you forget my good i hare put it by it s all at an end yes returned at an end as far as your efforts and are concerned i admit but not as far as mine are i am younger than you i have only once set foot in that precious office and i am fresh game for them come i ll try them you shall do exactly as you have been doing since we have been together i will add as i easily can to what i have been doing the attempt to get public justice done to you and unless i have some success to report you shall hear no more of it daniel was still reluctant to consent and again and again urged that they had better put it by but it was natural that he should gradually allow himself to be over persuaded by and should yield yield he did so arthur resumed the long and hopeless labor of striving to make way with the office the waiting rooms of that department soon began to be familiar with his presence and he was generally ushered into them by its much as a might be shown into a police office the principal difference being that the object of the latter class of public business is to keep the while the object was to get rid of however he was resolved to stick to the great department and so the work of form filling corresponding making counter referring backwards and forwards and referring sideways and here arises a feature of the office not previously mentioned in the present record when that admirable department got into trouble and was by some member of parliament whom the smaller almost suspected of laboring under possession attacked on the merits of no individual case but as an institution wholly abominable and then the noble or right honorable who represented it in the house would that member and him asunder with a statement of the quantity of business for the of business done by the office then would that noble or right honorable hold in his hand a paper containing a few figures to which with the permission of the house he would entreat its attention then would the inferior exclaim obeying orders hear hear hear and bead then would the noble or right honorable perceive sir from this little document which he thought might carry conviction even to the mind laughter and cheering from the that within the short compass of the last financial half year this much department cheers had written and received fifteen thousand letters loud cheers twenty four thousand c c little minutes louder cheers and thirty two thousand five hundred and seventeen vehement cheering nay an ingenious gentleman connected with the department and himself a valuable public servant had done him the favor to make a curious calculation of the amount of consumed in it during the same period it formed a part of this same short document and he derived from it the remarkable fact that the sheets of paper it had devoted to the public service would the on both sides of | 8 |
by making mr out to be an artful how can you talk about their managing their little means my poor dear fellow the idea of his managing hundreds and the sweet pretty creature too the notion of her managing papa don t well ma am said mr gravely lam sorry to admit then that henry certainly does anticipate his means my dear good man i use no ceremony with you because we are a kind of relations positively exclaimed mrs cheerfully as if the absurd coincidence then flashed upon her for the first time a kind of relations my dear good man in this world none of us can have everything our own way this again went to the former point and showed mr with all good breeding that so far he had been brilliantly successful in his deep designs mrs thought the hit so good a one that she dwelt upon it repeating not everything no in this world we must not expect everything papa and may i ask ma am retorted mr a little heightened in color who does expect everything oh nobody nobody said mrs i was going to say but you put me out you interrupting papa what was i going to say drooping her large green fan she looked at mr while she thought about it a performance not tending to the of that gentleman s rather heated spirits ah yes to be sure said mrs you must remember that my poor fellow has always been accustomed to expectations they may have been or they may not have been let us say then may not have been observed mr the for a moment gave him an angry look but tossed it off with her head and her fan and pursued the tenor of her way in her former manner it makes no difference my poor fellow has been accustomed to that sort of thing and of course you knew it and were prepared for the consequences i myself always clearly foresaw the consequences and am not surprised and you must not be surprised in fact can t be surprised must have been prepared for it mr looked at his wife and at bit his lip and and now here s my poor fellow mrs pursued receiving notice that he is to hold himself in expectation of a baby and all the expenses attendant on such an addition to his family poor henry put it can t be helped now it s too late to help it now only don t talk of means papa as a discovery because that would be too much too much ma am said mr as seeking an explanation there there said mrs putting him in his inferior place with an expressive action of her hand too much for my poor little fellow s mother to bear at this time of day they are fast married and can t be unmarried there there i know that you needn t tell me that papa i know it very well what was it i said just now that it was a great comfort they continued happy it is to be hoped they will still continue happy it is to be hoped pretty one will do everything she can to make my poor fellow happy and keep him contented papa and we had better say no more about it we never did look at this subject from the same side and we never shall there there i am good truly having by this time said everything she could say in maintenance of her wonderfully position and in to mr that he must not expect to bear his honors of alliance too mrs was disposed to forego the rest if mr had submitted to a glance of entreaty from mrs and an expressive gesture from he would have left her in the undisturbed enjoyment of this state of mind but pet was the darling and pride of his heart and if he could ever have her more or loved her better than in the days when she was the sunlight of his house it would have been now when in its daily grace and delight she was lost to it mrs ma am said mr i have been a plain man all my life if i was to try no matter whether on myself or somebody else or both any genteel i should probably not succeed in them papa returned the with an smile but with the bloom on her cheeks standing out a little more vividly than usual as the neighbouring surface became paler probably not therefore my good madam said mr at great pains to restrain himself i hope i may without offence ask to have no such played off upon me observed mrs your good man is incomprehensible her turning to that worthy lady was an to bring her into the discussion quarrel with her and her mr interposed to prevent that mother said he you are my dear and it is not a fair match let me beg of you to remain quiet come mrs come let us try to be sensible let us try to be good natured let us try to be fair don t you pity henry and i won t pity pet and don t be one sided my dear madam it s not considerate it s not kind don t let us say that we hope pet will make henry happy or even that we hope henry will make pet happy mr himself did not look happy as he spoke the words but let us hope they will make each other happy yes sure and there leave it father said mrs the kind hearted and comfortable why mother no returned mr not exactly there i can t quite leave it there i must say just half a dozen words more mrs i hope i am not over sensitive i believe | 8 |
cordial desire of his heart in reference to their little daughter s husband was to exchange friendship for friendship and confidence for confidence within a few hours the cottage furniture began to be wrapped up for preservation in the family absence or as mr expressed it the house began to put its hair in papers and within a few days father and mother were gone mrs and dr were posted as of behind the parlor blind and arthur s solitary feet were rustling among the dry fallen leaves in the garden walks as he had a liking for the spot he seldom let a week pass without paying it a visit sometimes he went down alone from saturday to monday sometimes his partner accompanied him sometimes he merely strolled for an hour or two about the house and garden saw that all was right and returned to london again at all times and under all circumstances mrs with her dark row of curls and doctor sat in the parlor window looking out for the family return on one of his visits mrs received him with the words i have something to tell you mr that will surprise you so surprising was the something in question that it actually brought mrs out of the parlor window and produced her in the garden walk when went in at the gate on its being opened for him what is it mrs said he sir returned that faithful housekeeper having taken him into the parlor and closed the door if ever i saw the led away and child in my life i saw her in the dusk of yesterday evening you don t mean yes i do mrs clearing the disclosure at a leap where mr returned mrs i was a little heavy in my eyes being that i was waiting longer than customary for my cup of tea which was then preparing by mary jane i was not sleeping nor what a person would term correctly i was more what a person would strictly call watching with my eyes closed without entering upon an into this curious condition said exactly well well sir proceeded mrs i was thinking of one thing and thinking of another just as you yourself might just as anybody might precisely so said m well and when i do think of one thing and do think of another pursued mrs i hardly need to tell you mr that i think of the family because dear me a person s thoughts mrs said this with an and philosophic air however they may stray will go more or less on what is uppermost in their minds they will do it sir and a person can t prevent them arthur to this discovery with a nod you find it so yourself sir i ll be bold to say said mr and we all find it so it an t our stations in life that little us mr thoughts is free as i was saying i was thinking of one thing and thinking of another and thinking very much of the family not of the family in the present times only but in the past times too for when a person does begin thinking of one thing and thinking of another in that manner as it s getting dark what i say is that all times seem to be present and a person must get out of that state and consider before they can say which is which he nodded again afraid to utter a word lest it should present any new opening to mrs s powers in consequence of which said mrs when i quivered my eyes and saw her actual form and figure looking in at the gate i let them close again without so much as starting for that actual form and figure came so pat to the time when it belonged to the house as much as mine or your own that i never thought at the moment of its having gone away but sir when i quivered my eyes again and saw that it wasn t there then it all upon me with a fright and i jumped up you ran out directly said i ran out assented mrs as fast as ever my feet would carry me and if you ll credit it mr there wasn t in the whole shining heavens no not so much as a finger of that young woman passing over the absence from the of this novel arthur of mrs if she herself went beyond the gate went to and fro and high and low said mrs and saw no sign of her he then asked mrs how long a space of time she supposed there might have been between the two sets of she had experienced mrs though in her reply had no settled opinion between five seconds and ten minutes she was so plainly at sea on this part of the case and had so clearly been startled out of slumber that was much disposed to regard the appearance as a dream without mrs s feelings with that solution of her mystery he took it away from the cottage with him and probably would have retained it ever afterwards if a circumstance had not soon happened to change his opinion he was passing at nightfall along the strand and the was going on before him under whose hand the street lamps by the air burst out one after another like so many blazing coming into full blow all at once when a on the pavement caused by a train of coal toiling up from the at the river side brought him to a stand still he had been walking quickly and going with some current of thought and the sudden check given to both operations caused him to look about him as people under such circumstances usually do immediately he saw in advance a few | 8 |
people intervening but still o near to him that he could have touched them by stretching out his arm and a strange man of a remarkable appearance little a man with a high nose and a black moustache as false in its color as his eyes were false in their expression who wore his heavy cloak with the air of a foreigner his dress and general appearance were those of a man on travel and he seemed to have very recently joined the girl in bending down being much taller than she was listening to whatever she said to him he looked over his shoulder with the suspicious glance of one who was not unused to be that his footsteps might be dogged it was then that saw his face as his eyes lowered on the people behind him in the without particularly resting upon s face or any other he had scarcely turned his head about again and it was still bent down listening to the girl when the ceased and the stream of people flowed on still bending his head and listening to the girl he went on at her side and followed them resolved to play this unexpected play out and see where they went he had hardly made the determination though he was not long about it when he was again as suddenly brought up as he had been by the they turned short into the the girl evidently leading and went straight on as if they were going to the terrace which the river there is always to this day a sudden pause in that place to the roar of the great the many sounds become so that the change is like putting cotton in the ears or having the head thickly muffled at that time the contrast was far greater there being no small steam boats on the river no landing places but slippery wooden stairs and foot no railroad on the opposite bank no hanging bridge or fish market near at hand no traffic on the nearest bridge of stone nothing moving on the stream but s and coal long and broad black of the latter fast in the mud as if they were never to move again made the shore and silent after dark and kept what little water movement there was far out towards mid stream at any hour later than sunset and not least at that hour when most of the people who have anything to eat at home are going home to eat it and when most of those who have nothing have hardly yet out to beg or steal it was a deserted place and looked on a deserted scene such was the hour when stopped at the corner observing the girl and the strange man as they went down the street the man s footsteps were so noisy on the echoing stones that he was unwilling to add the sound of his own but when they had passed the turning and were in the darkness of the dark corner leading to the terrace he made after them with such indifferent appearance of being a casual passenger on his way as he could assume when he rounded the dark corner they were walking along the terrace towards a figure which was coming towards them if he had seen it by itself under such conditions of gas lamp mist and distance he might not have known it at first sight but with the figure of the girl to prompt him he at once recognised miss little he stopped at the comer seeming to up the street as if he had made an appointment with some one to meet him there but he kept a careful eye on the three when they came together the man took off his hat and made miss a bow the girl appeared to say a few words as though she presented him or accounted for his being late or early or what not and then fell a pace or so behind bv herself miss and the man then began to walk up and down the man having the appearance of being extremely courteous and complimentary in manner miss having the appearance of being extremely haughty when they came down to the corner and turned she was saying if i pinch myself for it sir that is my business confine yourself to yours and ask me no question by heaven ma am he replied making her another bow it was my profound respect for the strength of your character and my admiration of your beauty i want neither the one nor the other from any one said she and certainly not from you of all creatures go on with your report am i he asked with an air of half abashed gallantry you are paid said and that is all you want whether the girl hung behind because she was not to hear the business or as already knowing enough about it could not determine they turned and she turned she looked away at the river as she walked with her hands folded before her and that was all he could make of her without showing his face there happened by good fortune to be a really waiting for some one and he sometimes looked over the railing at the water and sometimes came to the dark corner and looked up the street rendering arthur less conspicuous when miss and the man came back again she was saying you must wait until to morrow a thousand he returned my faith then it s not convenient to night no i tell you i must get it before i can give it to you she stopped in the as if to put an end to the conference he of course stopped too and the girl stopped it s a little inconvenient said the man a little but holy blue that s nothing in such | 8 |
a service i am without tonight by chance i have a banker in this city but i would not wish to draw upon the house until the time when i shall draw for a round sum said miss arrange with him this gentleman here for sending him some money to morrow she said it with a of the word gentleman which was more contemptuous than any emphasis and walked slowly on the man bent his head again and the girl spoke to him as they both followed her ventured to look at the girl as they moved away he could note that her rich black eyes were fastened upon the man with a expression and that she kept at a little little ut distance from him as they walked side by side to the further end of the terrace a loud and altered upon the pavement warned him before he could discern what was passing there that the man was coming back alone into the road towards the railing and the man passed at a quick swing with the end of his cloak thrown over his shoulder singing a scrap of a french song the whole vista had no one in it now but himself the had out of view and miss and were gone more than ever bent on seeing what became of them and on having some information to give his good friend mr he went out at the further end of the terrace looking cautiously about him he rightly judged that at first at all events they would go in a contrary direction from their late companion he soon saw them in a neighbouring bye street which was not a evidently allowing time for the man to get well out of their way they walked leisurely arm in arm down one side of the street and returned on the opposite side when they came back to the street corner they changed their pace for the pace of people with an object and a distance before them and walked steadily away no less steadily kept them in sight they crossed the strand and passed through garden under the windows of his old lodging where dear little had come that night and away north east until they passed the great building whence derived her name and turned into the gray s inn road was quite at home here in right of not to mention the and and kept them in view with ease he was beginning to wonder where they might be going next when that wonder was lost in the greater wonder with which he saw them turn into the street that wonder was in its turn swallowed up in the greater wonder with which he saw them stop at the door a low double knock at the bright brass a gleam of light into the road from the opened door a brief pause for and answer and the door was shut and they were after looking at the surrounding objects for assurance that he was not in an odd dream and after pacing a little while before the house arthur knocked at the door it was opened by the usual maid servant and she showed him up at once with her usual alacrity to s there was no one with but mi f s aunt which respectable in a atmosphere of tea and toast was in an easy chair by the fireside with a little table at her elbow and a clean white handkerchief spread over her lap on which two pieces of toast at that moment awaited consumption bending over a steaming vessel of tea and looking through the steam and breathing forth the steam like a malignant chinese engaged in the performance of rites mr f s aunt put down her great and exclaimed him if he an t come back again it would seem from the foregoing exclamation that this relative of the lamented mr f measuring time by the little d of her sensations and not by the clock supposed to have lately gone away whereas at least a quarter of a year had elapsed since he had had the to present himself before her my goodness arthur cried rising to give him a cordial reception and what a start and a surprise for though not far from the machinery and business and surely might be taken sometimes if at no other time about mid day when a glass of and a humble of whatever cold meat in the might not come amiss nor taste the worse for being friendly for you know you buy it somewhere and wherever bought a profit must be made or they would never keep the place it stands to reason without a motive still never seen and learnt now not to be expected for as mr f himself said if seeing is believing not seeing is believing too and when you don t see you may fully believe you re not remembered not that i expect you arthur and to remember me why should i for the days are gone but bring another here directly and tell her fresh toast and pray sit near the fire arthur was in the greatest anxiety to explain the object of his visit but was put off for the moment in spite of himself by what he understood of the purport of these words and by the genuine pleasure she in seeing him and now pray tell me something all you know said drawing her chair near to his about the good dear quiet little thing and all the changes of her fortunes carriage people now no doubt and horses without number most romantic a coat of arms of course and wild beasts on their hind legs showing it as if it was a copy they had done with mouths from ear to ear good gracious and has she her health which is the first consideration after all for | 8 |
what is wealth without it mr f himself so often saying when his came that sixpence a day and find yourself and no so much not that he could have lived on anything like it being the last man or that the precious little thing though far too familiar an expression now had any tendency of that sort much too slight and small but looked so fragile bless her mr f s aunt who had eaten a piece of toast down to the crust here solemnly handed the crust to who ate it for her as a matter of business mr f s aunt then her ten fingers in slow succession at her lips and wiped them in exactly the same order on the white handkerchief then took the other piece of toast and fell to work upon it while pursuing this routine she looked at with an expression of such intense severity that he felt obliged to look at her in return against his personal inclinations she is in italy with all her family he said when the dread lady was occupied again in italy is she really said with the grapes and growing everywhere and and too that land of poetry with burning mountains picturesque beyond belief though if the come away from the neighbourhood not to be nobody can wonder being so young and bringing their white with them most humane and is she really in that favored land with nothing but blue about her and dying and though mr f him little self did not believe for his objection when in spirits was that the images could not be true there being no medium between expensive quantities of linen badly got up and all in and none whatever which certainly does not seem probable though perhaps in consequence of the extremes of rich and poor which may account for it arthur tried to edge a word in but hurried on again preserved too said she i think you have been there is it well or ill preserved for people differ so and if they really eat it like the why not cut it shorter you are acquainted arthur dear and at least not dear and most assuredly not for i have not the pleasure but pray excuse me acquainted i believe with what has it got to do with making for i never have been able to conceive i believe there is no between the two arthur was beginning when she caught him up again upon your word no isn t there i never did but that s like me i run away with an idea and having none to spare i keep it alas there was a time dear arthur that is to say decidedly not dear nor arthur neither but you understand me when one bright idea gilded the what s his name horizon of et but it is darkly clouded now and all is over arthur s increasing wish to speak of something very different was by this time so plainly written on his face that stopped in a tender look and asked him what it was i have the greatest desire to speak to some one who is now in this house with mr no doubt some one whom i saw come in and who in a and deplorable way has deserted the house of a friend of mine papa sees so many and such odd people said rising that i shouldn t venture to go down for any one but you arthur but for you i would willingly go down in a bell much more a and will come back directly if you ll mind and at the same time not mind mr f s aunt while i m gone with those words and a parting glance out leaving under dreadful apprehensions of his terrible charge the first which manifested itself in mr f s aunt s when she had finished her piece of toast was a loud and prolonged finding it impossible to avoid this demonstration into a defiance of himself its gloomy significance being looked at the excellent though prejudiced lady from whom it in the hope that she might be by a meek submission none of your eyes at me said mr f s aunt shivering with hostility take that that was the crust of the piece of toast accepted the boon with a look of gratitude and held it in his hand under the pressure of a little embarrassment which was not relieved when mr f s aunt her voice into a cry of considerable power exclaimed he has a proud stomach this chap he s too proud a chap to eat it and coming out of her chair shook her venerable fist so very close to his nose as to the surface but for little the return of to find him in this difficult situation further consequences might have ensued without the least or surprise but the old lady in an manner on being very lively to night handed her back to her chair he has a proud stomach this chap said mr f s relation on being give him a meal of oh i don t think he would like that aunt returned give him a meal of i tell you said mr f s aunt glaring round on her enemy it s the only thing for a proud stomach let him eat it up every morsel him give him a meal of under a general pretence of helping him to this refreshment got him out on the staircase mr f s aunt even then constantly with bitterness that he was a chap and had a proud stomach and over and over again on that provision being made for him which she had already so strongly prescribed such an inconvenient staircase and so many corner stairs arthur whispered would you object to putting your arm round me under my with a | 8 |
sense of going downstairs in a highly ridiculous manner descended in the required attitude and only released his fair burden at the dining room door indeed even there she was rather difficult to get rid of remaining in his embrace to murmur arthur for mercy s sake don t breathe it to papa she accompanied arthur into the room where the sat alone with his list shoes on the his as if he had never left off the youthful aged ten looked out of his picture frame above him with no calmer air than he both smooth heads were alike beaming and mr i am glad to see you i hope you are well sir i hope you are well please to sit down please to sit down i had hoped sir said doing so and looking round with a face of blank disappointment not to find you alone ah indeed said the sweetly ah indeed i told you so you know papa cried ah to be sure returned the yes just so ah to be sure pray sir demanded anxiously is miss gone miss oh you call her returned mr highly proper arthur quickly returned what do you call her said mr oh always after looking at the and the long white hair for a few seconds during which mr his and smiled at the fire as if he were wishing it to burn him that he might forgive it arthur began i beg your pardon mr not so not so said the not so little but miss had an attendant with her a young woman brought up by friends of mine over whom her influence is not considered very and to whom i should be glad to have the opportunity of giving the assurance that she has not yet the interest of those lt really returned the will you therefore be so good as to give me the address of miss dear dear dear said the how very unfortunate if you had only sent in to me when they were here i observed the young woman mr a fine full colored young woman mr with very dark hair and very dark eyes if i mistake not if i mistake not arthur assented and said once more with new expression if you will be so good as to give me the address dear dear dear exclaimed the in sweet regret tut tut tut what a pity what a pity i have no address sir miss mostly lives abroad mr she has done so for some years and she is if i may say so of a fellow creature and a lady fitful and uncertain to a fault mr i may not see her again for a long long time i may never see her again what a pity what a pity saw now that he had as much hope of getting assistance out of the portrait as out of the but he said nevertheless mr could you for the satisfaction of the friends i have mentioned and under any obligation of that you may consider it your duty to impose give me any information at all touching miss i have seen her abroad and i have seen her at home but i know nothing of her could you give me any account of her whatever none returned the shaking his big head with his utmost benevolence none at all dear dear dear what a real pity that she stayed so short a time and you delayed as confidential agency business agency business i have occasionally paid this lady money but what satisfaction is it to vou sir to know that truly none at all said truly assented the with a shining face as he smiled at the fire none at all sir you hit the wise answer mr truly none at all sir his turning of his smooth over one another as he sat there was so typical to of the way in which he would make the subject if it were pursued never showing any new part of it nor allowing it to make the smallest advance that it did much to help to convince him of his labor having been in vain he might have taken any time to think about it for mr well accustomed to get on anywhere by leaving everything to his and his white hair knew his strength to lie in silence so there and and making his polished head and forehead look largely benevolent in every with this spectacle before him arthur had risen to go when from the inner dock where the good ship was ho e down little when out in no ground the noise was heard of that steamer laboring towards them it struck arthur that the noise began far off as though mr sought to impress on any one who might happen to think about it that he was working on from out of hearing mr and he shook hands and the former brought his employer a letter or two to sign mr in shaking hands merely scratched his with his left forefinger and once but who understood him better now than of old comprehended that he had almost done for the evening and wished to say a word to him outside therefore when he had taken his leave of mr and which was a more difficult process of he sauntered in the neighbourhood on mr s line of road he had waited but a short time when mr appeared mr shaking hands again with another expressive and taking off his hat to put his hair up arthur thought he received his cue to speak to him as one who knew pretty well what had just now passed therefore he said without any preface i suppose they were really gone yes replied they were really gone does he know where to find that lady can t say i should think so mr did not no mr | 8 |
did not did mr know anything about her i expect rejoined that worthy i know as much about her as she knows about herself she is somebody s child anybody s nobody s put her in a room in london here with any six people old enough to be her parents and her parents may be there for anything she knows they may be in any house she sees they may be in any churchyard she passes she may run against em in any street she may make chance acquaintances of em at any time and never know it she knows nothing about em she knows nothing about any relative whatever did never will mr could her perhaps may be said i expect so but don t know he has long had money not as i make out in trust to out to her when she can t do without it sometimes she s proud and won t touch it for a length of time sometimes she s so poor that she must have it she under her life a woman more angry passionate reckless and never lived she came for money to night said she had peculiar occasion for it i think observed musing i by chance know what occasion i mean into whose pocket the money is to go indeed said if it s a compact i d recommend that party to be exact in it i wouldn t trust myself to that woman young and handsome as she is if i had wronged her no not for twice my proprietor s money unless added as a saving i had a lingering illness on me and wanted to get it over arthur hurriedly his own observation of her found it to pretty nearly with mr s view u the wonder is to me pursued that she has never done little for my proprietor as the only person connected with her story she can lay hold of mentioning that i may tell you between ourselves that i am sometimes tempted to do for him myself arthur started and said dear me don t say that understand me said extending five finger nails on arthur s arm i don t mean cut his throat but by all that s precious if he goes too far i ll cut his hair having exhibited himself in the new light of this tremendous threat mr with a countenance of grave import several times and away chapter x the dreams of mrs fl the shady waiting rooms of the office where he passed a good deal of time in company with various troublesome who were under sentence to be broken alive on that wheel had afforded arthur ample leisure in three or four successive days to the subject of his late glimpse of miss and he had been able to make no more of it and no less of it and in this unsatisfactory condition he was fain to leave it during this space he had not been to his mother s dismal old house one of his customary evenings for thither now coming round he left his dwelling and his partner at nearly nine o clock and slowly walked in the direction of that grim home of his youth it always affected his imagination as mysterious and sad and his imagination was sufficiently to see the whole neighbourhood under some tinge of its dark shadow as he went along upon a dreary night the dim streets by which he went seemed all of oppressive secrets the deserted counting houses with their secrets of books and papers locked up in and the houses with their secrets of strong rooms and wells the keys of which were in a very few secret pockets and a very few secret breasts the secrets of all the dispersed in the vast mill among whom there were doubtless and trust of many sorts whom the light of any day that dawned might reveal he could have fancied that these things in hiding imparted a to the air the shadow and as he approached its source he thought of the secrets of the lonely where the people who had and in iron were in their turn not yet at rest from doing harm and then of the secrets of the river as it rolled its tide between two frowning of secrets extending thick and dense little for many miles and off the free air and the free country swept by winds and wings of birds the shadow still darkening as he drew near the house the melancholy room which his father had once occupied haunted by the appealing face he had himself seen fade away with him when there was no other by the bed arose before his mind its close air was secret the gloom and must and dust of the whole were secret at the heart of it his mother presided of face of will firmly holding all the secrets of her own and his father s life and opposing herself front to front to the great final secret of all life he had turned into the narrow and steep street from which the court or wherein the house stood opened when another footstep turned into it behind him and so close upon his own that he was to the wall as his mind was with these thoughts the encounter took him altogether unprepared so that the other passenger had had time to say pardon not my fault and to pass on before the instant had elapsed which was requisite to his of the realities about him when that moment had flashed away he saw that the man on before him was the man who had been so much in his mind during the last few days it was no casual resemblance helped out by the force of the impression the man had made upon him it was the man the man he had followed | 8 |
in company with the girl and whom he had overheard talking to miss the street was a sharp descent and was crooked too and the man who although not drunk had the air of being flushed with some strong drink went down it so fast that lost him as he looked at him with no intention of following him but with an impulse to keep the figure in view a little longer quickened his pace to pass the twist in the street which hid him from his sight on turning it he saw the man no more standing now close to the of his mother s house he looked down the street but it was empty there was no projecting shadow large enough to obscure the man there was no turning near that he could have taken nor had there been any audible sound of the opening and closing of a door nevertheless he concluded that the man must have had a key in his hand and must have opened one of the many house doors and gone in on this strange chance and strange glimpse he turned into the as he looked by mere habit towards the windows of his mother s room his eyes encountered the figure he had just lost standing against the iron of the little waste looking up at those windows and laughing to himself some of the many cats who were always about there by night and who had taken fright at him appeared to have stopped when he had stopped and were looking at him with eyes by no means unlike his own from tops of walls and and other safe points of pause he had only halted for a moment to entertain himself thus he immediately went forward throwing the end of his cloak off his little shoulder as he went ascended the sunken steps and knocked a sounding knock at the door s surprise was not so absorbing but that he took his resolution without any he went up to the door too and ascended the steps too his friend looked at him with a air and sang to himself who passes by this road so late de la who passes by this road so late always gay after which he knocked again you are impatient sir said arthur i am sir death of my life sir returned the stranger it s my character to be impatient the sound of mistress cautiously the door before she opened it caused them both to look that way opened it a very little with a candle in her hands and asked who was that at that time of night with that knock why arthur she added with astonishment seeing him first not you sure ah lord save us no she cried out seeing the other him again it s true him again dear mrs cried the stranger open the door and let me take my dear friend to my arms open the door and let me hasten myself to embrace my he s not at home said fetch him cried the stranger fetch my tell him that it is his old who comes from arriving in england tell him that it is his little boy who is here his his well beloved open the door beautiful mrs and in the meantime let me to pass upstairs to present my compliments homage of to my lady my lady lives always it is well open then to arthur s increased surprise mistress stretching her eyes wide at himself as if in warning that this was not a gentleman for him to interfere with drew back the chain and opened the door the stranger without any ceremony walked into the hall leaving arthur to follow him then achieve then bring my announce me to my lady cried the stranger about the stone floor pray tell me said arthur aloud and sternly as he surveyed him from head to foot with indignation who is this gentleman pray tell me the stranger repeated in his turn who ha ha ha who is this gentleman the voice of mrs called from her chamber above let them both come up arthur come straight to me arthur exclaimed taking off his hat at arm s length and bringing his heels together from a great stride in making him a little flourishing bow the son of my lady i am the all devoted of the son of my lady arthur looked at him again in no more flattering manner than before and turning on his heel without acknowledgment went up stairs the visitor followed him up stairs mistress took the key from behind the door and slipped out to fetch her lord a informed of the previous appearance of in that room would have observed a difference in mrs s present reception of him her face was not one to betray it and her suppressed manner and her set voice were equally under her control it wholly consisted in her never taking her eyes off his face from the moment of his entrance and in her twice or thrice when he was becoming noisy swaying herself a very little forward in the chair in which she sat upright with her hands immovable upon its elbows as if she gave him the assurance that he should be presently heard at any length he would arthur did not fail to observe this though the difference between the present occasion and the former was not within his power of observation madame said do me the honor to present me to your son it appears to me madame that your son is disposed to complain of me he is not polite sir said arthur striking in whoever you are and however you come to be here if i were the master of this house i would lose no time in placing you on the outside of it but you are not said his | 8 |
mother without looking at him unfortunately for the gratification of your unreasonable temper you are not the master arthur i make no claim to be mother if i object to this person s manner of conducting himself here and object to it so much that if i had any authority here i certainly would not suffer him to remain a minute i object on your account in the case of objection being necessary she returned i could object for myself and of course i should the subject of their dispute who had seated himself laughed loud and his leg with his hand you have no right said mrs always intent on however directly she addressed her son to speak to the prejudice of any gentleman least of all a gentleman from another country because he does not to your standard or square his behaviour by your rules it is possible that the gentleman may on similar grounds object to you i hope so returned arthur the gentleman pursued mrs on a former occasion brought a letter of recommendation to us from highly esteemed and responsible i am perfectly with the gentleman s object in coming here at present i am entirely ignorant of it and cannot be supposed likely to be able to form the remotest guess at its nature her habitual frown became stronger as she very slowly and those words but when the gentleman proceeds to explain his object as i shall beg him to have little the goodness to do to myself and when returns it will prove no doubt to be one more or less in the usual way of our business which it will be both our business and our pleasure to advance it can be nothing else we shall see madame said the man of business we shall see she assented the gentleman is acquainted with and when the gentleman was in london last i remember to have heard that he and had some entertainment or good fellowship together i am not in the way of knowing much that passes outside this room and the of little worldly things beyond it does not much interest me but i remember to have heard that eight madame it is true he laughed again and whistled the burden of the tune he had sung at the door therefore arthur said his mother the gentleman comes here as an acquaintance and no stranger and it is much to be regretted that your unreasonable temper should have found offence in trim i regret it i say so to the gentleman you will not say so i know therefore i say it for myself and since with us two the gentleman s business lies the key of the door below was now heard in the lock and the door was heard to open and close in due mr appeared on whose entrance the visitor rose from his chair laughing loud and folded him in a close embrace how goes it my cherished friend said he how goes the world my rose colored so much the better so much the better ah but you look charming ah but you look young and fresh as the flowers of spring ah good little boy brave child brave child while these compliments on mr he rolled him about with a hand on each of his shoulders until the of that gentleman who under the circumstances was and more twisted than ever were like those of a nearly spent i had a last time that we should be better and more intimately acquainted is it coming on you is it yet coming on why no sir retorted mr not unusually hadn t you better be seated you have been calling for some more of that port sir i guess ah little little pig cried the visitor ha ha ha ha and throwing mr away as a closing piece of he sat down again the amazement suspicion resentment and shame with which arthur looked on at all this struck him dumb mr who had spun backward some two or three yards under the last given to him brought himself up with a face completely unchanged in its except as it was affected by of breath and looked hard at arthur not a whit less and wooden was mr outwardly than in the usual course of things the only perceptible difference in him being that the knot of which was generally under his ear had worked round to the back of his little head where it formed an ornamental not unlike a bag wig and gave him something of a appearance as mrs never removed her eyes from on whom they had some effect as a steady look has oh a lower sort of dog so never removed his from arthur it was as if they had agreed to take their different provinces thus in the silence stood his chin and looking at arthur as though he were trying to screw his thoughts out of him with an instrument after a little the visitor as if he felt the silence irksome rose and impatiently put himself with his back to the sacred fire which had burned through so many years thereupon mrs said of her hands for the first time and moving it very slightly with an action of dismissal please to leave us to our business arthur mother i do so with reluctance never mind with what she returned or with what not please to leave us come back at any other time when you may consider it a duty to bury half an hour wearily here good night she held up her muffled fingers that he might touch them with his according to their usual custom and he stood over her wheeled chair to touch her face with his lips he thought then that her cheek was more strained than usual and that it was colder as he followed the direction of her eyes in | 8 |
rising again towards mr s good friend mr mr snapped his finger and thumb with one loud contemptuous snap i leave your your business acquaintance in my mother s room mr said with a great deal of surprise and a great deal of the person referred to snapped his finger and thumb again good night mother i had a friend once my good comrade said standing before the fire and so evidently saying it to arrest s retreating steps that he lingered near the door i had a friend once who had heard so much of the dark side of this city and its ways that he wouldn t have confided himself alone by night with two people who had an interest in getting him under the ground my faith not even in a respectable house like this unless he was bodily too strong for them what a my eh a cur sir agreed a cur but he wouldn t have done it my unless he had known them to have the will to silence him without the power he wouldn t have drunk from a glass of water under such circumstances not even in a respectable house like this my unless he had seen one of them drink first and swallow too to speak and indeed not very well able for he was only glanced at the visitor as he passed out the visitor saluted him with another parting snap and his nose came down little oyer his moustache and his moustache went up under his nose in an ominous and ugly smile for heaven s sake whispered as she opened the door for him in the dark hall and he his way to the sight of the night sky what is going on here her own appearance was sufficiently ghastly standing in the dark with her apron thrown over her head and speaking behind it in a low voice don t ask me anything arthur i ve been in a dream for ever so long go away he went out and she shut the door upon him he looked up at the windows of his mother s room and the dim light by the j blinds seemed to say a response after and to don t ask me anything go away chapter xi a letter from little dear mil as i said in my last that it was best for nobody to write to me and as my sending you another little letter can therefore give you no other trouble than the trouble of reading it perhaps you may not find leisure for even that though i hope you will some day i am now going to devote an hour to writing to you again this time i write from home we left before mr and mrs did but they were not so long upon the road as we were and did not travel by the same way and so when we arrived we found them in a lodging here in a place called the i dare say you know it now i am going to tell you all i can about them because i know that is what you most want to hear theirs is not a very comfortable lodging but perhaps i thought it less so when i first saw it than you would have done because you have been in many countries and have seen many different customs of course it is a far far better place millions of times than any i have ever been used to until lately and i fancy i don t look at it with my own eyes but with hers for it would be easy to see that she has always been brought up in a tender and happy home even if she had not told me so with great love for it well it is a rather bare lodging up a rather dark common staircase and it is nearly all a large dull room where mr the windows are blocked up where any one could look out and the walls have been all drawn over with chalk and by others who have lived there before oh i should think for years there is a curtain more dust colored than red which it and the part behind the little d t curtain makes the private sitting room when i first saw her there she was alone and her work had fallen out of her hand and she was looking up at the sky shining through the tops of the windows pray do not be uneasy when i tell you but it was not quite so airy nor so bright nor so cheerful nor so happy and youthful altogether as i should have liked it to be on account of mr painting papa s picture which i am not quite convinced i should have known from the likeness if i had not seen him doing it i have had more opportunities of being with her since then than i might have had without this fortunate chance she is very much alone very much alone indeed shall i tell you about the second time i saw her i went one day when it happened that i could run round by myself at four or five o clock in the afternoon she was then dining alone and her solitary dinner had been brought in from somewhere over a kind of with a fire in it and she had no company or prospect of company that i could see but the old man who had brought it he was telling her a long story of robbers outside the walls being taken up by a stone statue of a saint to entertain her as he said to me when i came out because he had a daughter of his own though she was not so pretty i ought now to mention mr before i say | 8 |
what little more i have to say about her he must admire her beauty and he must be proud of her for everybody praises it and he must be fond of her and i do not doubt that he is but in his way you know his way and if it appears as careless and discontented in your eyes as it does in mine i am not wrong in thinking that it might be better suited to her if it does not seem so to you i am quite sure i am wholly mistaken for your unchanged poor child in your knowledge and goodness more than she could ever tell you if she was to try but don t be frightened i am not going to try owing as i think if you think so too to mr s unsettled and dissatisfied way he applies himself to his profession very little he does nothing steadily or patiently but equally takes things up and throws them down and does them or leaves them undone without caring about them when i have heard him talking to papa during the for the picture i have sat wondering whether it could be that he has no belief in anybody else because he has no belief in himself is it so i wonder what you will say when you come to this i know how yon will look and i can almost hear the voice in which you would tell me on the iron bridge mr goes out a good deal among what is considered the best company here though he does not look as if he enjoyed it or liked it when he is with it and she sometimes him but lately she has gone out very little i think i have noticed that they have an inconsistent way of speaking about her as if she had made some great success in marrying mr though at the same time the very same people would not have dreamed of taking him for themselves or their daughters then he goes into the country besides to think about making sketches and in all places where there are visitors he has a large acquaintance and is very well known besides all this little he has a friend who is much in his society both at home and away from home though he treats this friend very coolly and is very uncertain in his behaviour to him i am quite sure because she has told me so that she does not like this friend he is so to me too that his being away from here at present is quite a relief to my mind how much more to hers but what i particularly want you to know and why i have resolved to tell you so much even while i am afraid it may make you a little uncomfortable without occasion is this she is so true and so devoted and knows so completely that all her love and duty are his for ever that you may be certain she will love him admire him praise him and conceal all his faults until she dies i believe she them and always will conceal them even from herself she has given him a heart that can never be taken back and however much he may try it he will never wear out its affection you know the truth of this as you know everything far far better than i but i cannot help telling you what a nature she shows and that you can never think too well of her i have not yet called her by her name in this letter but we are such friends now that i do so when we are quietly together and she speaks to me by my name i mean not my christian name but the name you gave me when she began to call me i told her my short story and that you had always called me little i told her that the name was much dearer to me than any other and so she calls me little too perhaps you have not heard from her father or mother yet and may not know that she has a baby son he was born only two days ago and just a week after they came it has made them very happy however i must tell you as i am to tell you all that i fancy they are under a with mr and that they feel as if his mocking way with them was sometimes a slight given to their love for her it was but yesterday when i was there that i saw mr change color and get up and go out as if he was afraid that he might say so unless he prevented himself by that means yet i am sure they are both so considerate good and reasonable that he might spare them it is hard in him not to think of them a little more i stopped at the last full stop to read all this over it looked at first as if i was taking on myself to understand and explain so much that i was half inclined not to send it but when i had thought it over a little i felt more hopeful of your knowing at once that i had only been watchful for you and had only noticed what i think i have noticed because i was quickened by your interest in it indeed you may be sure that is the truth and now i have done with the subject in the present letter and have little left to say we are all quite well and every day you can hardly think how kind she is to me and what pains she takes with me she has a lover who has followed her first all the way from and then all the way from and who has | 8 |
just confided to me that he means to follow her everywhere i was much uttle confused by his speaking to me about it bat he would i did not know what to say but at last i told him that i thought he had better not for but i did not tell him this is much too spirited and clever to suit him still he said he would all the same i have no lover of course if you should ever get so far as this in this long letter you will perhaps say surely little will not leave off without telling me something about her travels and surely it is time she did i think it is indeed but i don t know what to tell you since we left we have been in a great many wonderful places and among them and have seen so many wonderful sights that i am almost giddy when i think what a crowd they make but you could tell me so much more about them than i can tell you that why should i tire you with my accounts and descriptions dear mr as i had the courage to tell you what the familiar difficulties in my travelling mind were before i will not be a coward now one of my frequent thoughts is this old as these cities are their age itself is hardly so curious to my reflections as that they should have been in their places all through those days when i did not even know of the existence of more than two or three of them and when i scarcely knew of anything outside our old walls there is something melancholy in it and i don t know why when we went to see the famous leaning tower at it was a bright sunny day and it and the buildings near it looked so old and the earth and sky looked so young and its shadow on the ground was so soft and retired i could not at first think how beautiful it was or how curious but i thought how many times when the shadow of the wall was falling on our room and when that weary tread of feet was going up and down the yard how many times this place was just as quiet and lovely as it is to day it quite overpowered me my heart was so full that tears burst out of my eyes though i did what i could to restrain them and i have the same feeling often often do you know that since the change in our fortunes though i appear to myself to have dreamed more than before i have always dreamed of myself as very young indeed i am not very old you may say no but that is not what i mean i have always dreamed of myself as a child learning to do i have often dreamed of myself as back there seeing faces in the yard little known and which i should have thought i had quite forgotten but as often as not i have been abroad here in or or italy somewhere where we have been yet always as that little child i have dreamed of going down to mrs general with the patches on my clothes in which i can first remember myself i have over and over again dreamed of taking my place at dinner at when we have had a large company in the mourning for my poor mother which i wore when i was eight years old and wore long after it was and would mend no more it has been a great distress to me to think how the company would consider it with my father s wealth and how i should and disgrace him and and edward by so plainly what they wished to keep secret but i have not grown out of the little child in thinking little of it and at the self same moment i have dreamed that i have sat with the heart ache at table calculating the expenses of the dinner and quite myself with thinking how they were ever to be made good i have never dreamed of the change in our fortunes itself i have never dreamed of your coming back with me that memorable morning to break it i have never even dreamed of you dear mr it is possible that i have thought of you and others so much by day that i have no thoughts left to wander round you by night tor i must now confess to you that i suffer from that i long so and earnestly for home as sometimes when no one sees me to pine for it i cannot bear to turn my face further away from it my heart is a little lightened when we turn towards it even for a few miles and with the knowledge that we are soon to turn away again so dearly do i love the scene of my poverty and your kindness so dearly so dearly heaven knows when your poor child will see england again we are all fond of the life here except me and there are no plans for our return my dear father talks of a visit to london late in this next spring on some affairs connected with the property but i have no hope that he will bring me with him i have tried to get on a little better under mrs general s instruction and i hope i am not quite so dull as i used to be i have begun to speak and understand almost easily the hard languages i told you about i did not remember at the moment when i wrote last that you know them both but i remembered it afterwards and it helped me on god bless you dear mr do not forget your | 8 |
ever grateful and affectionate little p s particularly remember that deserves the best remembrance in which you can hold her you cannot think too generously or too highly of her i forgot mr last time please if you should see him give him your little s kind regard he was very good to little d little chapter xii in which a great patriotic conference is the famous name of became every day more famous in the land nobody knew that the of such high renown had ever done any good to any one alive or dead or to any earthly thing nobody knew that he had any capacity or utterance of any sort in him which had ever thrown for any creature the candle ray of light on any path of duty or diversion pain or pleasure toil or rest fact or fancy among the of paths in the trodden by the sons of adam nobody had the smallest reason for supposing the clay of which this object of worship was made to be other than the commonest clay with as a inside of it as ever kept an image of humanity from tumbling to pieces all people knew or thought they knew that he had made himself immensely rich and for that reason alone themselves before him more and less than the darkest savage out of his hole in the ground to in some log or the deity of his soul nay the high priests of this worship had the man before them as a protest against their meanness the multitude worshipped on trust though always distinctly knowing why but the at the altar had the man habitually in their view they sat at his and he sat at theirs there was a always attendant on him saying to these high priests are such the signs you trust and love to honor this head these eyes this mode of speech the tone and manner of this man you are the of the office and the rulers of men when half a dozen of you fall out by the ears it seems that mother earth can give birth to no other rulers does your lie in the superior knowledge of men which courts and this man or if you are competent to judge aright the signs i never fail to show you when he appears among you is your superior honesty your two rather ugly questions these always going about town with mr and there was a agreement that they must be stifled in mrs s absence abroad mr still kept the great house open for the passage through it of a stream of visitors a few of these took possession of the establishment three or four ladies of distinction and used to say to one another let us dine at our dear s next thursday whom shall we have our dear would then receive his instructions and would sit heavily among the company at table and wander about his drawing rooms afterwards only remarkable for appearing to have nothing to do with the entertainment beyond being in its way little the chief butler the spirit of this great man s life relaxed nothing of his severity he looked on at these dinners when the bosom was not there as he looked on at other dinners when the bosom was there and his eye was a to mr he was a hard man and would never an of plate or a bottle of wine he would not allow a dinner to be given unless it was up to his mark he set forth the table for his own dignity if the guests chose to partake of what was served he saw no objection but it was served for the maintenance of his rank as he stood by the he seemed to announce i have accepted office to look at this which is now before me and to look at nothing less than this if he missed the bosom it was as a part of his own state of which he was from circumstances temporarily deprived just as he might have missed a centre piece or a choice wine cooler which had been sent to the banker s mr issued invitations for a dinner lord was to be there mr was to be there the pleasant young was to be there and the chorus of who went about the provinces when the house was up the praises of their chief were to be represented there it was understood to be a great occasion mr was going to take up the some delicate little had occurred between him and the noble the young of engaging manners acting as and mr had decided to cast the weight of his great and great riches into the scale was suspected by the malicious perhaps because it was that if the of the immortal enemy of mankind could have been secured by a job the would have him for the good of the country for the good of the country mrs had written to this magnificent of hers whom it was to regard as anything less than all the british merchants since the days of rolled into one and gilded three feet deep all over had written to this of hers several letters from rome in quick succession urging upon him with that now or never was the time to provide for mrs had shown him that the case of was urgent and that infinite advantages might result from his having some good thing directly in the grammar of mrs s on this momentous subject there was only one mood the imperative and that mood has only one tense the present mrs s were so presented to mr to that his blood and his long coat became quite agitated in which state of agitation mr rolling his eyes round the chief butler s shoes without raising them to the index | 8 |
of that creature s thoughts had signified to him his intention of giving a special dinner not a very large dinner but a very special dinner the chief butler had signified in return that he had no objection to look on at the most expensive thing in that way that could be done and the day of the dinner was now come mr stood in one of his drawing rooms with his back to the fire waiting for the arrival of his important guests he seldom or s little d e ut never took the liberty of standing with his back to his fire unless he was quite alone in the presence of the chief butler he could not have done such a deed he would have clasped himself by the wrists in that manner of his and have paced up and down the or gone creeping about among the rich objects of furniture if his oppressive had appeared in the room at that very moment the sly shadows which seemed to dart out of hiding when the fire rose and to dart back into it when the fire fell were sufficient witnesses of his making himself so easy they were even more than sufficient if his uncomfortable glances at them might be taken to mean anything mr s right hand was filled with the evening paper and the evening paper was full of mr his wonderful enterprise his wonderful wealth his wonderful bank were the food of the evening paper that night the wonderful bank of which he was the chief and manager was the latest of the many wonders so modest was mr withal in the midst of these splendid achievements that he looked far more like a man in possession of his house under a than a commercial his own while the little ships were sailing in to dinner behold the vessels coming into port the engaging young was the first arrival but bar overtook him on the staircase bar strengthened as usual with his double eye glass and his little jury was to see the engaging young and that we were going to sit in as we lawyers called it to take a special argument indeed said the young whose name was how so nay smiled bar if you don t know how can know you are in the of the temple am one of the admiring on the plain without bar could be light in hand or heavy in hand according to the customer he had to deal with with he was bar was likewise always modest and self in his way bar was a man of great variety but one leading thread ran through the of all his patterns every man with whom he had to do was in his eyes a and he must get that over if he could s our illustrious host and friend said bar our shining star going into politics going he has been in parliament some time you know returned the engaging young true said bar with his light comedy laugh for special which was a very different thing from his low comedy laugh for comic on common he has been in parliament for some time yet hitherto our star has been a and wavering star an average witness would have been by the into an affirmative answer but looked at bar as they strolled up stairs and gave him no answer at all e e little t just so just so said bar nodding his head for he was not to off in that way and therefore i spoke of our sitting in to take a special argument meaning this to be a high and solemn occasion when as captain says the judges are met a terrible show we lawyers are sufficiently liberal you see to quote the captain though the captain is severe upon us nevertheless i think i could put in evidence an admission of the captain s said bar with a little roll of his head for in his legal current of speech he always assumed the air of himself with the best grace in the world an admission of the captain s that law in the gross is at least intended to be impartial for what says the captain if i quote him correctly and if not with a light comedy touch of his double eye glass on his companion s shoulder my learned friend will set me right since laws were made for every degree to vice in others as well as in me i wonder we ha n t better company upon tree p these words brought them to the drawing room where mr stood before the fire so immensely astounded was mr by the entrance of bar with such a reference in his mouth that bar explained himself to have been quoting gay assuredly not one of our westminster hall authorities said he but still no one to a man possessing the largely practical mr s knowledge of the world mr looked as if he thought he would say something but subsequently looked as if he thought he wouldn t the interval afforded time for bishop to be announced bishop came in with and yet with a strong and rapid step as if he wanted to get his seven league dress shoes on and go round the world to see that everybody was in a satisfactory state bishop had no idea that there was anything significant in the occasion that was the most remarkable trait in his he was crisp fresh cheerful bland but so innocent bar up to prefer his in reference to the health of mrs bishop mrs bishop had been a little unfortunate in the article of taking cold at a confirmation but otherwise was well young mr bishop was also well he was down with his young wife and little family at his cure of souls the representatives of the chorus dropped | 8 |
state of checking and counter checking and counter that it was six months before we knew how to take the money or how to give a receipt for it it was a triumph of public business said this handsome young laughing heartily you never saw such a lot of forms in your life why the attorney said to me one day if i wanted this office to give me two or three thousand pounds instead of take it i couldn t have more trouble about it you are right old fellow i told him and in future you ll know that we have something to do here the pleasant young finished by once more laughing heartily he was a very easy pleasant fellow indeed and his manners were exceedingly winning mr s view of the business was of a less airy character he took it ill that mr had troubled the department by wanting to pay the money and considered it a thing to do after so many years but mr was a up man and consequently a one all up men are all up men are believed in whether or no the reserved and never exercised power of mankind whether or no wisdom is supposed to and when up and to when it is certain that the man to whom importance is accorded is the up man mr never would have passed for half his current value unless his coat had been always up to his white little may i ask said lord if mr or has any family nobody else replying the host said he has two daughters my lord oh you are acquainted with him asked lord mrs is mr is too in fact said mr i rather believe that one of the young ladies has made an impression on he is susceptible and i think the conquest here mr stopped and looked at the as he usually did when he found himself observed or listened to bar was uncommonly pleased to find that the family and this family had already been brought into contact he submitted in a low voice across the table to bishop that it was a kind of illustration of those physical laws in virtue of which like flies to like he regarded this power of attraction in wealth to draw wealth to it as something remarkably interesting and curious something allied to the and bishop who had back to earth again when the present theme was he said it was indeed highly important to society that one in the trying situation of unexpectedly finding himself invested with a power for good or for evil in society should become as it were in the superior power of a more legitimate and more gigantic growth the influence of which as in the case of our friend at whose board we sat was habitually exercised in harmony with the best interests of society thus instead of two rival and flames a larger and a lesser each burning with a lurid and uncertain glare we had a blended and a softened light whose genial ray diffused an warmth throughout the land bishop seemed to like his own way of putting the case very much and rather dwelt upon it bar meanwhile not to throw away a making a show of sitting at his feet and feeding on his the dinner and being three hours long the member cooled in the shadow of lord faster than he warmed with food and drink and had but a chilly time of it lord like a tall tower in a flat country seemed to project himself across the table cloth hide the light from the honorable member cool the honorable member s and give him a idea of distance when he asked this unfortunate traveller to take wine he his faltering steps with the of shades and when he said your health sir all around him was and desolation at length with a coffee cup in his hand began to about among the pictures and to cause an interesting speculation to arise in all minds as to the of his ceasing to and the smaller birds to flutter up stairs which could not be done until he had urged his noble in that direction after some delay and several stretches of his wings which came to nothing he to the drawing rooms and here a difficulty arose which always does arise when two people are specially brought together at a dinner to confer with one g little another everybody except bishop who had no suspicion of it knew perfectly well that this dinner had been eaten and drunk to the end that lord and mr should have five minutes conversation together the opportunity so prepared was now arrived and it seemed from that moment that no merely human ingenuity could so much as get the two into the same room mr and his noble guest persisted in about at opposite ends of the perspective it was in vain for the engaging to bring lord to look at the bronze horses near mr then mr and wandered away it was in vain for him to bring mr to lord to tell him the history of the unique then lord and wandered away while he was getting his man up to the mark did you ever see such a thing as this said to bar when he had been baffled twenty times often returned bar unless i butt one of them into an appointed comer and you butt the other said it will not come after all very good said bar i ll butt if you like but not my lord laughed in the midst of his vexation confound them both said he looking at his watch i want to get away why the deuce can t they come together they both know what they want and mean to do look at them they were still | 8 |
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