|
||||||||
But they look smaller than they really are, on that account, said Quilp pressing his arm. Youll have no conception of the value of your prize until you draw close to it. Mark that. Dye think not? said Dick. Aye, I do; and I am certain of what I say, thats better, returned the dwarf. You bring Trent to me. Tell him I am his friend and yours why shouldnt I be? Theres no reason why you shouldnt, certainly, replied Dick, and perhaps there are a great many why you should at least there would be nothing strange in your wanting to be my friend, if you were a choice spirit, but then you know youre not a choice spirit. I not a choice spirit? cried Quilp. Devil a bit, Sir, returned Dick. A man of your appearance couldnt be. If youre any spirit at all, Sir, youre an evil spirit. Choice spirits, added Dick, smiting himself on the breast, are quite a different looking sort of people, you may take your oath of that, Sir. Quilp glanced at his free-spoken friend with a mingled expression of cunning and dislike, and wringing his hand almost at the same moment, declared that he was an uncommon character and had his warmest esteem. With that they parted; Mr Swiveller to make the best of his way home and sleep himself sober; and Quilp to cogitate upon the discovery he had made, and exult in the prospect of the rich field of enjoyment and reprisal it opened to him. It was not without great reluctance and misgiving that Mr Swiveller, next morning, his head racked by the fumes of the renowned Schiedam, repaired to the lodging of his friend Trent (which was in the roof of an old house in an old ghostly inn), and recounted by very slow degrees what had yesterday taken place between him and Quilp. Nor was it without great surprise and much speculation on Quilps probable motives, nor without many bitter comments on Dick Swivellers folly, that his friend received the tale. I dont defend myself, Fred, said the penitent Richard; but the fellow has such a queer way with him and is such an artful dog, that first of all he set me upon thinking whether there was any harm in telling him, and while I was thinking, screwed it out of me. If you had seen him drink and smoke, as I did, you couldnt have kept anything from him. Hes a Salamander you know, thats what he is. Without inquiring whether Salamanders were of necessity good confidential agents, or whether a fire- proof man was as a matter of course trustworthy, Frederick Trent threw himself into a chair, and, burying his head in his hands, endeavoured to fathom the motives which had led Quilp to insinuate himself into Richard Swivellers confidence; for that the disclosure was of his seeking, and had not been spontaneously revealed by Dick, was sufficiently plain from Quilps seeking his company and enticing him away. The dwarf had twice encountered him when he was endeavouring to obtain intelligence of the fugitives. This, perhaps, as he had not shown any previous anxiety about them, was enough to awaken suspicion in the breast of a creature so jealous and distrustful by nature, setting aside any additional impulse to curiosity that he might have derived from Dicks incautious manner. But knowing the scheme they had planned, why should he offer to assist it? This was a question more difficult of solution; but as knaves generally overreach themselves by imputing their own designs to others, the idea immediately presented itself that some circumstances of irritation between Quilp and the old man, arising out of their secret transactions and not unconnected perhaps with his sudden disappearance, now rendered the former desirous of revenging himself upon him by seeking to entrap the sole object of his love and anxiety into a connection of which he knew he had a dread and hatred. As Frederick Trent himself, utterly regardless of his sister, had this object at heart, only second to the hope of gain, it seemed to him the more likely to be Quilps main principle of action. Once investing the dwarf with a design of his own in abetting them, which the attainment of their purpose would serve, it was easy to believe him sincere and hearty in the cause; and as there could be no doubt of his proving a powerful and useful auxiliary, Trent determined |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details. | ||||||||