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- it is limited), to your advantage.’
.five minutes came back, glorious.’
.;l7:4c.<.LITTLEsD0RRI2"; ,
: '.5Ha.u: lferytliandsome, indeed!” cried Mr‘. Dorrit.
“Ha. Most handsome !” ' ' ' S ' ' ' .
- ‘,‘ It would not,3’- said Mr. Merdle, ,“r.be,at‘the present‘
moment easy for what I may call a'mere outsider to come
into any of the good things-'-of course Ispeak of my
0Wl1‘gO0(l.'l4lllDgS’+"‘-'3' -, .;. ,... :‘ ,- L V
H? Of‘. course, ofwcourse I” cried Mr. Dorrit, in.a .tone.
implying that there were no othergood things. .
2 ‘.f -Unless at a-highprice. rAt what .we'are accus-
tomed tofterm a very low figure.’: r . .. . 2 Z ’ '
‘r..ltIr.wDorrit laughedin the buoyancy of his spirit. : Ha,
ha, ha! Long figure. Good.- Ha. ‘Veryexpressive to
besure!” v- - w - ,. 3 ‘
'.' .“. However,’,’ said Mr. Merdle, .‘ ‘I do generally. retain
in‘my own hands the.power of exercising some‘prefer-
ence-people in general would be pleasedto call it favour
-as a sort of compliment for my care and trouble. ”. .
-. -‘..‘:And public spirit and genius,’.’.-Mr. Dorritsuggested.
.’Mr.=Merdle,.with a dry, swallowing action, seemed to
dispose of those qualities like it bolus ; theifadded,‘ “ As
a sort’ of return for it. Iwillisee, if you please, how I
can exert this limited power (for, people are ‘jealous and
,i..‘.‘, You are very,good,.’.’.replied Mr. Dorrit. ,“‘ You are
ccrggood.’.’, ,i,<, mu .. ... ; , T. '
“Of course,”. said‘Mr.' Merdle, "there must be the
strictest integrity, and uprightness inlthese transactions ;
there must be the purest .faith,between' man and man ;
there. mustbeluiiimpeaclied and unimpeachable confi-
dence; or business could not be carried on.” . ‘ ‘
wiMr. .Dorrit hailed these generous sentiments with’fer-
v.our.u!'-.'.J- w i- - .- .. ‘ , ‘
n: f.‘ .'l‘herefore,'-’ said-,Mr. Merdle,’ “ I canonly give you
a preference'to a certain extent.” s '
ffl perceive.’ 7 To a defined extent,"'.
Dorrit.?: 17 . ..' .
-:'-. ,.‘.‘.‘Delined extent. And perfectly above-board. As to
m'yiadvice,.liowever,-” said Mr. Merdle, .‘.‘ that is another
matter. :sThat, such as it is-” , Z fl...
::0h'l Such as itwas I (Mr. Dorrit could not bear the
faintest appearance of its being depreciated, even by Mr.‘
Merdle himself.) ‘ V ' ‘ ' .
x‘?-‘V’-Tliat, there is nothing in the bonds of spotless hon-
ounbetween myself and my fellow-man toiprevent my
partinggwitli, if.iI‘ choose.‘ And that.”. said Mr. Merdle,
now deeply intent upon a dust-cart that waspassing the
windows, ‘.‘ shall be at your command whenever you
think proper." ' ' ' .
New acknowledrrments from Mr. Dorrit. ,New.pas-'
sages of Mr. MerdIe’s hand over his forehead. Calm
and-silencem Contemplation of Mr. Dorrit’s waistcoat-,
buttons, by Mr. Merdle.: ;: 2 f -' ' s ‘ ’ . i, .
.-, “ My-time, being rather recious,” said Mr; Merdle,
suddenly getting up, as if ie had been waiting in the
interval for his legs, and they had just come, “ I must
be moving towards the City.- Can I take you anywhere,
sir ‘I. I shall be happy to sot you down, or send you on.
Myzcarriage is at your dis osa.” . 1 I .- . -. .
=‘:‘Mr.'7Dorrit betliought himself that he had business at
his--banker’s. His banker’s‘was iii the'City.. That was
fortunate; Mr. Merdlo would take him into .tbe'City.
But, surely he might not detain Mr. Merdle while he as-
observed rhfr.
-sumed his coat? Yes, he might, and must ; Mr. Merdle
insisted .on ’ it.
So, Mr. Dorrit,’ retiring into the next
room, put himself under the‘hands of his valet, and in
.-v.Then, said Mr. Merdle, f.‘ Allow me, sir.’ Take my
armil", f’l‘lieii, leaning on-Mr. Merdle’s arm, did Mr.
Dorrit descend the staircase, seeing the worshippers on
‘the steps, and feeling that the light of Mr.'Merdle shone
byireilection in himself. ,.Th‘en, tlie'carriage,- and the
ride into the City; and the people who looked at them ;
andtlie hats that flew. off gre heads ; and the‘ general
: bowing and crouching before t is wonderful mortal, the
like of which prostration of spirit was not to be seen-
.'no,wby high Heaven, no! It maybe worth thinking of
by Fawners of all denominations-in “festminster Abbey
and Saint Paul’s“Cathedral put together, on any Sunday
in the year. It was a rapturous dream to Mr. Dorrit, to
E findihimself set aloft in this public "car of triumph, mak-
‘ ing a magnificent progress to that befitting destination, .
. severe regard, as he replied, “ A lady, sir."' '
the golden street of the Lombards.
‘Mr.'Dorrit did not. like.
' There, Mr. Merdle‘ insisted on Valigliting and going his
, way a‘-foot, and leavinghis poor equipage at Mr. Dorrit’s;
So,’ the dream increased in-rapture‘ when‘
Mr. Dorrit came out of the blank alone,’ and people looked s
disposition.
at him ‘in default of Mr. liIerdle,.and .ivhen,)vith the
ears of his mind, he heard ‘the‘frequent exclamation as.
he rolled glibly along, “A wonderful man‘ toibe Mrw
rMerdle’sfriendpl”‘ . 5 1' '
' At dinnerthat day,‘ although the occasion was not fore-r
seen and provided for,‘a brilliant company of such as are
not made of the dust of the earth, but of some superior,
article for"the present unknown, shed‘ their ‘lustrous
benediction upon Mr. Dorrit’s daughter’s marriage. -And
Mr. Dorrit’s daughter that day began, in earnest,.her
competition with that woman not present ; and began it
so ’well,'that Mr. Dorrit could all but have takeuhis aili-
davit, if required, that Mrs. Sparkler had all her life
been’lying at full length in'the lap of luxury, and had
never heard of such a rough word in the English tongue
as Marshalsea.‘ ' , ‘ . " M A
‘Next day, and the day after, and every day,‘ all graced
by more dinner company, cards descended on Mr. Dorrit,;
like theatrical snow.. As the friend and relative by mar-
riage’of the illustrious Merdle, Bar, Bishop,’ Treasury,
Chorus, Everybody, wanted to make or improve Mr. Dor-
rit’s acquaintance. , In Mr. Merdle’s heaps ofroliices in
the City,‘ when Mr. Dorrit appeared at any of them on-his
business taking him Eastward (wliichit frequently did,
for it tlirove amazingly), the name of Dorrit was always
a passport to the’ greater presence of Merdle. So the
dream increased inirapture everyhour, as Mr. Dorrit felt
increasingly. sensible thatethis connection had brought
himforwardindeedQ > >- ‘w y A .- :,
‘Only one thing sat otherwise than auriferously, and . at
the same time lightly, on Mr. Dorrit’s mind. ' It was the
Chief Butler. That stupendous character looked at him,
in the course of his official looking ‘at the dinners, in a
manner that Mr. Dorrit considered -questionable. rIIe
looked at him, as he passed through the hall and up the
staircase, going to dinner,'with a glazed fixediiess. that
Seated at table in the act of
drinking, Mr.‘Dorrit still saw him through his wine-glass
regarding him with a cold and ‘ ghostly eye. . Itmisgaro
him that the Chief Butler must have known a Collegian,
and must ‘have seen hiinin the College-perhaps had
been presented to‘him. .,Ilo looked ‘as closely at‘ the
Chief Butler as such aman could be looked at, and yet he
. did not recall ‘that he had ever seen-him elsewhere.
Ultimately he was inclinedto think thatthere was no
reverence in thepmang no sentiment in the great crea-
ture. ‘ But,vhe was not relieved by that; for, let him
: think what he would, the Chief Butler llnd--lllm-.lll
his supercilious eye,‘even‘ when that ‘eye-was on‘ the
plate and other,table-gamiture ; and he never let him’
out of it.‘.’To hint to him that this confinement in-his
eye was disagreeable, or to aslrhim what he meant, was
an act too daring to venture upon; his severity with
hislemployers and their visitorsibeing terrific, and he
never‘pcrmitting himself to be‘ approached with ,the
slightest liberty.- ’ - 1 ‘ ‘ ' i 7 v
7 CHAPTER XVII.
. he , Missing. I I ,, ,‘ . ,
' .'1‘IiE term of ‘Mr. Dorrit’s visit was within two days of
being out, and he was about to dress for another inspec-
tion by the Chief Butler (wliosevictims were always
drcssedexpressly for him), when one of the . servants of
the hotel presented himself bearing a card. :Mr. Dorrit,
taking it, read:" ’ ’ ' " " -r ‘=-
, “Mrs. Finchirig.” .
The servant waited in speechless deference.-i .
“Man, man,” said Mr. Dorrit, turning upon him with
grievous indignation, “ explain your motive in bringing
me this ridiculous name. -I am wholly unacquainte
with it,- Finching, sir?” said Mr. Dorrit, perhaps as-eng-
ing himself on’ the Chief ‘Butler>by Substitute.‘ .‘.‘ Hal
iVliat do you mean by Fiiicliing?’f > . > - A .v J.-
‘ The man,'man,‘seemed to; mean Finching as much as
anything else’, for he backed away from Mr.‘Dorrit’s
8,89];