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pected home until late at night ; so the landlady being by
this time prettywell beside herself, gdespatched the same
messenger-in allzhaste-for Mr. Pecksniff, as‘a learned
man‘,r,who ; could bear a deal of e respohsibility, and a
moral rnan‘;.who could administer a word‘ of , "comfort; to a
troubled mindqi Tl1at.her‘guest,'had need of some edi-
cient services under the latter head, was obvious enough
, from thearestlcss expressions, importing, however, rather
a1worldly’than a spiritual anxiety; to which he gave fre-
quent utterance. , , v i, ' H " g. t A I, ,1 ,7
g:.From this last-mentioned secret "errand,,thve messenger
returned‘with:no,better news than from the first; Mr.
Pecksniffzwasmoti at, home.‘ However,‘ they got the
patient into bed, ‘without’ him; and, in the. course’ of
two hours, he graduallyvbecame so far better that there
were much longer intervals than at first [between ,his
terms of suffering.‘ By degrees, hemceased to suofereat
all: though his exhaustion was occasionally. so great,
that itsuggested hardly less alarm than his actual endu-
rance had done. ' :
round>with'great’caution, and reaching uneasily‘ out of
his'-- nest- of ipillows, he endeavoured, with a”. strange air
ofsecrecy and distrust,‘ to make, use 7of ,‘the. writing
materialswhich he had ordered to be placed onea table
beside him, that the young lady and the mistress of the
Blue Dragon, found themselvessitting side by side‘be-
fore the fire in the sick chamber. V " ‘V V ‘H ‘ ’
y:‘Thc ,mistrcss,of ‘the Blue Dragonwas in outward ap-
pearance just what a landlady should be : broad, buxom,
comfortable, and good-looking, with a face of clear,red
and white, which by its jovial aspect, at onc'e‘b'ore' testi-
mony,to,l1er,hearty‘ participation; in the. good things ‘of
the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful
influences. Shewas a widow, but years ago had passed
. through herystateeof weeds, and burst intoflowcr again ;
and in full bloom she had continued ever since ; and in
full bloom she was'now ; with roses onher ample skirts,’
and roses on her bodice, roses in,her cap, [roses in her
cheeks-ay, and roses worth the ‘gathering too, onher
lipsffor that matter.'; She had still a bright black eye,
and jct'black hair; was comely, ‘dimpled, plump, and
ti ht as a gooseberry; and though she wasdnot exactly
what‘ the world calls young, you make an ailidavit, on
trust, before any 'mayor or, magistrate in ‘Christendom,
that there are a great‘ many young ladies in the world
(blessings on them one and all I) whom you wouldn't like
half: as,,well,,or admire half as,’ much, as, the beaming
hostess of the Blue Dragon. 3 ., V”: ‘f , D
' this fair matron sat beside the fire,’ sho glanced
occasionally, with all thepride of ownership‘,'about‘ the
room ; which, was a. large'apartmlent,,‘such aswone may
seewuin country places, ‘with alow, roof andeia ‘sunken
flooring,,all down-hill from the door, and ‘a dcsceintof
two steps on the inside, solgexquisitely,unexpected, that
strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning,‘usually
dived in head-first, asinto a plunging-bath. It was
none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bed-
rooms,,where nobody can close an eye with any kind of
proprietyordecent regard to the association of‘ ideas ;
but.-it‘ was a good. dull, leadengdrowsy place, where
every articlegof ‘furniture reminded you that you came
there to sleep, and‘ that you were expected to go to slee .
There was no walreful reflection of the fire 'there,‘,:as In
your, modem chambers, which upon the,'d,arkest' nights
have,a,watcbful consciousness of French potlish; the old
Spanish mahogany winked at it now andthca, as a‘,doz‘-
ing cat or dog might, nothing more. The very size and
shape, and hopeless immovability, of the bedstead,-’ and
wardrobc,‘and in a minor degree of even the chairs and
tables, provoked sleep ; they were plainly apoplectic and
disposed to snore. There were no‘, staring portraits ‘to
remonstrate with you,,for being lazy; no round‘-eyed
birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide ‘awake, and
insulferably prying. u The thick ‘neutral hangings, and
thedark blinds, and the heavy heap,,of'bed-clothes,"
were all designed to hold in sleep, andact as noncon-
ductors to the day and getting up. ,Evcn‘the old stuiled
fox upon the top of t e ,wardrobe was devoid of any
spark of vigilance, for his glass 'eyehad.' fallen out, and
he slumbcred as he stood. , ' e (7 ‘ .
The wandering attention of the Mistress of the Blue
--ix‘ g
"1l[A‘RTIN=,-0HUZZLEW,IT."
,It,was in one of his intervals oflrepose, wlieri,’ looking it
' s'u.s.a...' mm...
957;
Dragon roved to these, things but .t,wice.or,tlu'ice,‘and,
then for but'an'instant at atime. 7,lt‘sooh'deserteil'theni,,.
and even7tl1e'distant bedfwitli its fstran e"burden, for,‘
the young‘ creature immediately‘ before 'er,'who, with
her‘ downcast eyesjntently 1ixed;upon the fire, sat"
wrapped in‘ silent meditation. ' , N, , , F
"She was very young ‘;'apparently not mor'e',than seven-,
teen.;‘timid and shrinking in her manner, and yet witha
greater share‘ of ‘self-possession. and control over her
emotions than usually belongs to’a,far,morefadvanc'ed
period of female life. This she had abundantly shown,
but now, in her tending of the sick gentleman. ,,She'
was short in stature‘; and her figure was ‘slight,’ as be-
came her years ; but all the charms of- youth and maiden-1‘
hood set it oii, and clusteredon her gentle'.brow.x,'He'r
face was very pale, in part no doubt from recent agita-,
tion. ' Her dark brown hair, disorderedfrom the same‘
cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds,’ and hung,
upon her neck ; for which instance of its 'w'aywardness,;
ho male observer would have had the heartlto‘ blame,
Herattire was that of a lad , but extremely plain A;',
andvin her manner, even when s e sat as still as she did
then, there was an indefinable something which appeared,
to be in kindred with'lier scrupulously unpretending
dress. 'She'had sat at first’ looking anxiously towards‘
the bed ; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and‘
was busy with-his writing, she thud softly movedher,
chair into its present place :[ partly, as" it seemed, from?
an instinctive consciousnesstliat he desired to avoid ob-,,
servation; and partly that she might, unseen by him,”
give some vent tothe natural feelings ' shehad hitherto ,l
suppressed. ‘, ‘V I” "’ ; e ‘ , ‘ , i
Of all this, and much‘ more,’ the rosy landlady of,the'
Blue Dragon took as accurate noteand observation ‘as
only woman‘ can ‘take of woman; . And ‘at lengtli she,
said, in a voice too low, she knew‘, to reach the bed: V‘ l ,'
“You have ‘seen the gentleman in jtl1is’,wa'y'before‘,4
miss‘: Is he used to these attacl:s‘?"f ' ' , I , v ' ',
“I have'secn him very ill beforc,,but not so‘ill as he;
has been to-night.”' ‘ ‘ " i " ‘
l
"iVhat ' a‘ Providence 1'’ said the, landlady ‘of the,‘
Dragon, “that you’ had the prescriptions and the rnedi-’,'
cineswith you, missl" H ' , ' . ‘ , ,,
ff They ‘are intended for, such an, emergency. WVci
never travel ‘without them.” ’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ V‘ I, ,
“Oh!” thought the hostess, "then we are in7the
habit of travelling. and of travelling tdgethcr."' ’. ,'
She was,so conscious of expressin this in her face,
that meeting ‘the young lady's eyes‘ 1mmcdiately'after- ,
wards, and being a very honcsthostess, she was rather '
confused. “ V W’ ‘J i‘ I ."
“The gentleman-your grandpapa?-V-she, resumed,"
aftcra short pause, ‘f being so bent on having no assist-
ance, mustterrify you very much: missif’ , ' ' '
‘f I have been very much, alarmed to-‘night.
is not my grandfather.” f , ‘ ’ g M“ ', p ‘
“Father, Ishould have‘ said,"’rc'tnrned:tlxe hostess,‘
sensible of having made an awkward mistake; " ‘ , . .
“Nor my father," said the'young lady.‘ "fNor," she
added, slightly smiling ‘with, a nick perception of what‘:
thelandlady was‘ ‘going to: add,‘ “ Nor‘ my, uncle. f lVe ;
are not related.” j Q,‘ "i ' ' ,
‘ f“Oh dear me I" ' returned the'landlady,"still more i
embarrasscdthan before : ,“ how, could I be so very much"
mistakeni knowing,‘ as anybodyin their proper senses.
might,'that when a gentleman is ill, he looks so'much ‘
older than he really is I That I‘ should have calledyou .
5Miss,’ too,‘ Ma’am 1” But when she had proceeded ,
thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of '
the young lady’s leftlhand, and faultered again: for
therowasnoringupon it. A‘ ' "' V ‘ ‘.
3-“,,VVben I told you we werotnot relatedfj said the
other mildly, but not, without confusion, on her own .
part, “I meant not in any way.‘ Not even bymarriage; ,
Did you call me, Martini”, , q l , ‘ p ‘ >
"‘Call you?” cried‘ the old man,‘lookinrr quickly, up
and hurriedl ‘drawing beneath the cover ct, the paper“
on which he ad been writing." 'f‘ N07’. [ , " ‘“
‘She had moved ‘a paceuor two towards the bed, but",
stop ed immediately,’ and went no farther. ' ‘ " " ’ ‘ ‘
.He‘-'.I+cZZ
“ 0,” be repeated, with apetulant crnphasis. 3' "
.
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