Towards this most unhappy Moddle, Miss Pecksniff conducted herself at first with distant haughtiness, being in no humour to be entertained with dirges in honour of her married sister. The poor young gentleman was additionally crushed by this, and remonstrated with Mrs. Todgers on the subject.

`Even she turns from me, Mrs. Todgers,' said Moddle.

`Then why don't you try and be a little bit more cheerful, sir?' retorted Mrs. Todgers.

`Cheerful, Mrs. Todgers! cheerful!' cried the youngest gentleman; `when she reminds me of days for ever fled, Mrs. Todgers!'

`Then you had better avoid her for a short time, if she does,' said Mrs Todgers, `and come to know her again, by degrees. That's my advice.'

`But I can't avoid her,' replied Moddle, `I haven't strength of mind to do it. Oh, Mrs. Todgers, if you knew what a comfort her nose is to me!'

`Her nose, sir!' Mrs. Todgers cried.

`Her profile, in general,' said the youngest gentleman, `but particularly her nose. It's so like;' here he yielded to a burst of grief. `it's so like hers who is Another's, Mrs. Todgers!'

The observant matron did not fail to report this conversation to Charity, who laughed at the time, but treated Mr. Moddle that very evening with increased consideration, and presented her side-face to him as much as possible. Mr. Moddle was not less sentimental than usual; was rather more so, if anything; but he sat and stared at her with glistening eyes, and seemed grateful.

`Well, sir!' said the lady of the Boarding-House next day. `You held up your head last night. You're coming round, I think.'

`Only because she's so like her who is Another's, Mrs. Todgers,' rejoined the youth. `When she talks, and when she smiles, I think I'm looking on HER brow again, Mrs. Todgers.'

This was likewise carried to Charity, who talked and smiled next evening in her most engaging manner, and rallying Mr. Moddle on the lowness of his spirits, challenged him to play a rubber at cribbage. Mr. Moddle taking up the gauntlet, they played several rubbers for sixpences, and Charity won them all. This may have been partially attributable to the gallantry of the youngest gentleman, but it was certainly referable to the state of his feelings also: for his eyes being frequently dimmed by tears, he thought that aces were tens, and knaves queens, which at times occasioned some confusion in his play.

On the seventh night of cribbage, when Mrs. Todgers, sitting by, proposed that instead of gambling they should play for `love,' Mr. Moddle was seen to change colour. On the fourteenth night, he kissed Miss Pecksniff's snuffers, in the passage, when she went upstairs to bed: meaning to have kissed her hand, but missing it.

In short, Mr. Moddle began to be impressed with the idea that Miss Pecksniff's mission was to comfort him; and Miss Pecksniff began to speculate on the probability of its being her mission to become ultimately Mrs. Moddle. He was a young gentleman (Miss Pecksniff was not a very young lady) with rising prospects, and `almost' enough to live on. Really it looked very well.

Besides, besides, he had been regarded as devoted to Merry. Merry had joked about him, and had once spoken of it to her sister as a conquest. He was better looking, better shaped, better spoken, better tempered, better mannered than Jonas. He was easy to manage, could be made to consult the humours of his Betrothed, and could be shown off like a lamb when Jonas was a bear. There was the rub!


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