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“trust me,‘ you shouldn't ask in vain: ; Butl am far more
ignorantand weak than you.”' ."' 1 " ‘ ’ i '
V . She withdrewiuto ‘=the coach"aga1n; and he saw- the
hand waving towards him for a moment’; but whether
in reproachfuhiess or -incredulity, or misery, or grief, or
sad adieu, or what else, he could not, being so hurried,
understand. " She was gone now ; and Ruth and he were
left to walk away, and wonder. ‘ " i‘ ' ‘ " “
-'5 ‘Had Mr.’ Nadgett appointed the man wlio.never came,
to meet him upon London Bridge, that uiorningii He was
certainly looking over the parapet, and down upon the
steamboat-wharf at that moment.‘ It could not have been
for pleasure; lienever took pleasure. " No. f'H6.‘1IJU$t
have had some business there. ‘-’ ‘ ‘-3 ‘A’ ‘ ' 7 ‘
,, ,,
. 1
.. i i...
,,, . , K ;,i "ouAi>rER.XLL ,
Mr. Jonas and his Friend. an-icing at a Plegzsmit L'nder.;landing, set
‘ . , forth upon an Ente1pme.. . ‘ t
‘ THE office of the Anglo-Boiigalgce Disinterested Loan
and Life Insurance Company being near athand, ‘ and
Mr. Montague, driving Jonas straight there, they had
very little‘ way to go. ‘ I But, the-journey might have been
one of ‘several hours‘ duration,‘ without provoking ‘a re-
mark fromcither : for it was clear that 'Jonasi did. not
mean to break the silence which prevailed between them,
and that it was not, as yet, his dear friend’s cue to tempt
him into conversation. “ H '5“ vi rvr‘ "7 '
‘ He had thrown aside his cloak, as having now ‘no mo-
tive for concealment, and with that garment huddled on
his knees, sat as far removed from his companion as the
limited space in such‘ 3. carriage would allow: '. There
was a striking didereuce in his manner, comparedwith
.what it had been, within a few minutes, when Tom en-
countered him so unexpectedly on '- board‘ thewpacket, or
when the uglychaiige had ‘fallen’ on? him ',in Mr. Mon-
tague’s dressing-room‘.'? He‘ had the - aspect"of ‘a. nfan
found out, and held at"bay; of being baffled, hunted,
and beset; but there was now a dawning and increasing
purpose in his face, whiclrclianged it very ?much.‘ “It
' . was gloomy, distrustful, lowering - pale with anger; and
defeat ; it still was humbled, abject, cowardlyfand
mean ; but, let tlieconliict go on as it ‘would, there was
one stronrr purposejwrestling- with every emotion 051113
mind, and casting the whole series down as they arose.’
I. hot prepossessing in appearance, at the best of times,
it may be readily supposed that lie was not so now. ‘He
had left deep marks of I his front teeth in his nether lip’-
and those tokens of the agitation he had lately undergone:
improved his looks as little as the heavy corrugations in
his forehead. But he was self-possessed now; unuaturally
self-possessecl, indeed, as men quite otherwise than brave
are known to be in desperate extremities; and when the
carriage stopped, he waited for no invitation,’ but leaped
ImI'(llly out, and went up-stairs. ' 3-’ A -“ v r- ‘ ' I u -.1 '
- The chairman followed him; and closing the board-
room door as soon as they had entered,=threw himself
upon a. sofa.. i Jonas stood'before' the window, looking
down into the street ; and leaned against the sash, rest.
ing his head upon his arms. rs . . > H -‘-
i “ This is not handsome, Chuzzlewit ! " said Montaxrue,‘
at length. “ Not handsome, upon my soul 1'’ 3 2
“ What -would you have me do?” heranswered, look-‘
ing around abruptly ; “ what do you expect?"
V "'Coufidenco,‘ mygood fellow.’ "Some confidence I”
said Montague, in an injured tone. ' ‘ ‘ u
7 "Ecodl You show great confidence in rue,” retorted
Jonas. “Don’tyou?” ‘ ' ' ‘ w
“ Do I not?" said his companion, raising his liead,‘2'1nd
looking at liini,‘but he had turned again. ’ “ Do I not?
Have I not confidedtoyou the'easy' schemes I ?have
formed for our advantage; our advantage, mind ;'-not
mine alone ; and what is‘ my return? Attempted
flightl” ' ::r -, r n. ' X. -' u '
;11‘;IIoiv do you know that? ‘ 3‘Vll0"S21Id -Imeant to
y I < ‘- ; . . ,. .. V. I j . I : V
" Who said I Come,con1e. 'A'foreign bout, my friend,
an early hour, a figure Wrapped up for’ disouiso I VVho
said! If you didn't mean‘! to: jilt me, why werez you
OHA R-LES‘ DIUKEN 1’. awoizirs.
there 7 ' If you didn't mean to jilt me; why did you come
back?” . ’ = 3‘ "‘ V ’
V-“‘ I came back,”"’said Jonas, “to avoid disturbance."
- “ You were wise,”-' rejoined his friend. n ‘ r i v
Jonas stoodquite silent ;‘still looking down into the
street, and resting his head upon his arms. V 1 : .3 "
’ “Now, Cliuzzlewit,” said Montague, "notwithstand-
ing what haspassed, lwillbe plain with you. w Are you
attending to me there ‘2 -= Ionly see your back." i ' " '7
. "Ihearyoun Go onl” ; - ii
“ I- say that-notwithstanding what has passed, I will
be plain with you.”r ' ' " H I 7 ‘ ‘
“ You said that before.
heard you say it. Go on.”‘ . I
“Youare a little cliafed,‘ but I can make allowances
for that,‘and am, fortunately, myself in the veryrbest of
tempers. '
day or two ago, I mentioned to you, my dear-fellow, that
I thought Ihad discovered--” i ’ ' v ' ' “ '- r J v V
“VVill you hold ‘your tongue?” said’ Jonasylooking
fiercely round, and glancing at the door."r 5 ‘ "
i “ ‘Veil, well 1” said Montague. “ Judicious ! -Quite
correct I My discoveries being published, would be like
many other men’s discoveries in this honest world; of
no further use to me. ‘ You see, Chuzzlewit, how" in-
genuous and frank I am in showing youthe weakness of
my own position I To return‘. I make, or think I make,
a. certain discovery, which I take an early opportunity
of mentioning in your 'ear,.in. that spirit of confidence
which I really hoped did prevail between us, and was
reciprocated by you. ' ‘ ‘Perhaps there is‘ something in it;
perhaps there isnothing. I have my knowledge-‘and
opinion on the subject; " You have yours. ‘-VVe will not
discuss thelquestion- -‘But, my-goodwfellow, you have
been weak ; what I wish to point out to you is, that you
have been weak. I may desire to turn this little incident
to my account-(indeed, Ido. ' I’ll“ not deny it), but my
account does not lie in probing it, or using it against
on... I I r V, g . ;. ,
‘ “ Wm do you call using it against me ? ”. asked J onus,
who had not‘yet'clianged his attitude. ‘ ‘ ' '
‘I “ Oh I ” said Montague’, with a laugh. ‘ “ VVe’ll not eu-
terintotliat.” " I V ' ‘H I W
“ Using it, to make a beggar of me. Is that ‘the use
youmean?" it - W’ r
‘C No.” V l . K ' - a p I
V“ Ecod,”- muttered ‘Jonas, bitterly. “That's the‘ use
ipl which your account does lie. You speak the truth
t ere.” ‘ w ' -V '‘ wn I -- ’ ‘Ta-1'1!
“ I wish you to venture (it’s a very safe venture) a lit-
tle more with us, certainly, and to keep quiet,” said Mon-
tague. “ You promised me you would ; and‘ you must.
I say it plainly, Chuzzlewit, you MUST. -' Reason the inat-
ter. If you don’t, my secret is worthless to me ; and be-
ing so,‘it may as well become the public property as
mine: better, for I shall gain some credit,’ bringing it to
light.’ ' I‘wa’nt you, besides,’ to act as 11 decoy in. a case I
have already told you of. You don’t mind that, I know.
You care nothing for the man‘ (you care nothing for any
man; you are too sharp; so am ‘I, I hope); and ecould
bear any loss of his, with pious fortitude.“ Ha, ha, ha!
You have tried to escape fromithoi first‘Iconsequcnc6-
‘And have told you once, I
' You cannotescape it, I assure you. I I have sliownf you
that, to-day. ‘ Now, I am not a moral man, you know. =
am not the least in the worldaffected by anything you
may have done ; by any little indiscretion voumay have
committed ; but I wish toprofit -b ' it, if 'I.can';‘ and to 1!
man of your intelligence I make t at free confessioni I
am not at all singular in that infirmity.’ Evervbody pro-
fits by the indiscretion of his neighbour : and the people
in the best repute, the most.‘ i Why dotyou give me ‘this
trouble? ‘It must come- to ii. ' frieridly agreement. or an
unfriendly crash. ‘ -It must: If the former,‘ you are very’
little hurt. If the latter-well I you know best’ what ‘is
likely to happen then I ” w‘ x ' V ; vi V 17 ‘ ,
Jonas left the window, and walked up closofto him.
He did not lookliim in the face; it was not liis'habit' to
do that ; but he kept his eyes towards liim-on his breast.
or thereabouts-and was at great pains to speiil:‘slowl.(
and distinctly, in reply. .?Just as a man ina state of con-
scious drunkenness miglit be. i I ‘ ‘ ' ’ 7" '
- “Lying is of 3 no use, now," he said.’ v‘ “I think of
iNow, let us see how circumstances stand. r- ‘A ’