|
||||||||
sir? He looked round at the waiter as he said, My lady, as much as to say, Hark ye, John, I have friends still, and persons of rank and reputation, too. Are you come to do anything in my way, sir? My young friends Dale and Spiggot do all my business for me now, until my new offices are ready; for Im only here temporarily, you know, Captain. What can we do for you. sir? Will you like to take anything? Dobbin, with a great deal of hesitation and stuttering, protested that he was not in the least hungry or thirsty; that he had no business to transact; that he only came to ask if Mr. Sedley was well, and to shake hands with an old friend; and, he added, with a desperate perversion of truth, My mother is very wellthat is, shes been very unwell, and is only waiting for the first fine day to go out and call upon Mrs. Sedley. How is Mrs. Sedley, sir? I hope shes quite well. And here he paused, reflecting on his own consummate hypocrisy; for the day was as fine, and the sunshine as bright as it ever is in Coffin Court, where the Tapioca Coffee-house is situated: and Mr. Dobbin remembered that he had seen Mrs. Sedley himself only an hour before, having driven Osborne down to Fulham in his gig, and left him there tête-à- tête with Miss Amelia. My wife will be very happy to see her ladyship, Sedley replied, pulling out his papers. Ive a very kind letter here from your father, sir, and beg my respectful compliments to him. Lady D. will find us in rather a smaller house than we were accustomed to receive our friends in; but its snug, and the change of air does good to my daughter, who was suffering in town ratheryou remember little Emmy, sir?yes, suffering a good deal. The old gentlemans eyes were wandering as he spoke, and he was thinking of something else, as he sate thrumming on his papers and fumbling at the worn red tape. Youre a military man, he went on; I ask you, Bill Dobbin, could any man ever have speculated upon the return of that Corsican scoundrel from Elba? When the allied sovereigns were here last year, and we gave em that dinner in the City, sir, and we saw the Temple of Concord, and the fireworks, and the Chinese bridge in St. Jamess Park, could any sensible man suppose that peace wasnt really concluded, after wed actually sung Te Deum for it, sir? I ask you, William, could I suppose that the Emperor of Austria was a damned traitora traitor, and nothing more? I dont mince wordsa double-faced infernal traitor and schemer, who meant to have his son- in-law back all along. And I say that the escape of Boney from Elba was a damned imposition and plot, sir, in which half the powers of Europe were concerned, to bring the funds down, and to ruin this country. Thats why Im here, William. Thats why my names in the Gazette. Why, sir?because I trusted the Emperor of Russia and the Prince Regent. Look here. Look at my papers. Look what the funds were on the 1st of March what the French fives were when I bought for the count. And what theyre at now. There was collusion, sir, or that villain never would have escaped. Where was the English Commissioner who allowed him to get away? He ought to be shot, sirbrought to a court-martial, and shot, by Jove. Were going to hunt Boney out, sir, Dobbin said, rather alarmed at the fury of the old man, the veins of whose forehead began to swell, and who sate drumming his papers with his clenched fist. We are going to hunt him out, sirthe Dukes in Belgium already, and we expect marching orders every day. Give him no quarter. Bring back the villains head, sir. Shoot the coward down, sir, Sedley roared. Id enlist myself, by; but Im a broken old manruined by that damned scoundreland by a parcel of swindling thieves in this country whom I made, sir, and who are rolling in their carriages now, he added, with a break in his voice. Dobbin was not a little affected by the sight of this once kind old friend, crazed almost with misfortune and raving with senile anger. Pity the fallen gentleman: you to whom money and fair repute are the chiefest good; and so, surely, are they in Vanity Fair. Yes, he continued, there are some vipers that you warm, and they sting you afterwards. There are some beggars that you put on horseback, and theyre the first to ride you down. You know whom I mean, William Dobbin, my boy. I mean a purse-proud villain in Russell Square, whom I knew without a shilling, and whom I pray and hope to see a beggar as he was when I befriended him. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
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. | ||||||||