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' out asunder.
L with more affection than at any previous time.
T - I JIIARTIN 0IIUZZLE>W'I‘T... ..
needn't fear to tellimefhe whole stale : for you saw .me
- - with him face to face, ‘hearin him speak and nottaking
him by the throat ; what is t e history of his pursuit of
you?Y Is it known to my grandfather ‘l” ' - . ' '
"- es." . i .,. e 1
I.“ And heassists him in it?.”- , .
“ No,” she answered, ea erly. ' ‘ ‘ I
‘(Thank Heaven‘! ” crie Martin,‘ “that it leaves‘ his
.mind unclouded in that one respect I" . r ' - ‘
' ." I do not think," said Mary, “ it was known to him at
first. -IVhen this man had suiiiciently pre ared his mind
he Iovenled it to him by degrees. ' I thin : so, but I only
know it, from myvown impression: not from anything
>. they told me. > Then he spoke to me alone.”
“ My grandfather did?’-’ said‘Ma‘rtin. I
" Yes-,-spokeyto me alone, and told me-” ‘
“ IVhat the hound had said," cried ' Martin.
repeat it.’’, .; ‘ . L , " '
g V ‘f And said I knew well what ,qualities,he possessed ;
1 that he was moderately rich ; in good repute ; and high
fin his favour and confidence. - But seeing me very much
distressed, he said that he would not control or force my
' inclinations, but would content himself with telling me
‘the fact. He would not pain me by dwelling onvit, or
reverting to it: norhas he ever done so ‘since, but has
‘truly kept his word.” ' V T k . " .
' A5“ The man himself ‘i-- "asked Martin. I -
‘L i “ He has had few opportunities‘ of pursuing his suit.
‘I have never walked out alone, or remained alone an in-
stant in his resence.’ ' Dear Martin, I must tell you,”
‘she continue , “that the kindness of your grandfather
.to-me, remains unchanged. I am his companion still.
I An indescribable tenderness and compassion seem to have
. mingled themselves with his old regard ; and if I were
his only child, I could not have a gentler father. What
f‘ Don’t
iformer ‘fancy orvold habit survives in this, whenhis
heart has turned so cold‘ to you, is a mystery I cannot
penetrate; but it has been, and it is, a happiness to me,
, hat I remained true to.him ; that" if he should wake
y from‘ his delusion, even at tho oint of death, I am here,
’ love, to recall you to his thong ts." '
‘.3. Martin looked with admiration on her glowing face,
and ressed his lips to hers. ' ‘
“ have sometimes heard,’ and read,” she said, ‘f that
-'those whose powers had been’ enfeebled long ago, and
,whose lives had faded, as it‘ were, into a dream, have
been known to reuse themselves before death, and in-
quire for familiar faces once very dear to them ; but for-
, gotten, unrecognised, hated even, in the meantime.
Think, if with his old impressions of this man, he
sliould suddenly resume his former self, and find in him
I his only friend 1"
> “I would not urge you to abandon him, dearest,” said
Martin, “though I could count the years we are to wear
But the influence this fellow exercises
. over him, has ‘steadily, increased, I fear.” .
I She could not help admitting that. Steadily, imper-
ceptibly, and surely, until now it was paramount and su-
, prerne. -
Martin
thought the inconsistency a part of his weaknessand
deca '. '
- f-‘ Does the influence extend to fear?’’ said Martin. “ Is
he timid of asserting his own opinion in the presence of
this infatuation? I fancied so just now.” ’- . ‘
yr “ I have thought so, often.‘ Often when we are sitting
alone, almost as we used to do, and I have been reading
a favourite book to him, or he has been talking quite
cheerfully, I‘ have observed that the entrance of Mr.
.. Pecksniff I1i!.S,Cil!l.Ilg‘C(I>lllS vwholevdemeanour. He has
‘ broken" off immediately, and become what on have seen
to-day. SVlien we first came here he had iis impetuoiis
"outbreaks,,in‘which it was not easy for Mr.‘ Pecksmff
1 with his utmost plausibility to appease him. But ‘these
',have long since dwindled away. IIe defers to.him in
hverytliing, and has no opinion upon any question, but
‘that whic is forced upon him by this ‘treaclierousiman.
Such was the account ; rapidly furnished in whispers,
“and interrupted,‘ brief as it-wtlfj. by mfm)’ f"-1%" 91,9-“W-" "f
Mr. Pecksn'ifE's return; which Martin received of his
grandf'atl.i'er’s decline. and of that good gentleman s as-
cendancy. lleheard of Tom Pinch toe, and Jonas too,
VOL. I.-72
She herself had none; and yet he treated her it
'ii137
withnot a little about himself into the bargain: for
’though'love-rs areiremarkable for leaving a‘ great‘ deal
unsaid on all occasions, and very properly‘desiring’to
come back and sayit, they are remarkable also fora
wonderful power of condensation ; and.can, in one ‘way
or other, give utterance to more language--eloquent
language-in ‘anygiven short space of time, than all the
six iundred and fifty-eight members in the‘Comrnons
House of Parliament of the United. Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland; who are strong lovers, no doubt,
but of their country only, which makes all the differ-
ence ; for in a passion of that kind (which is not always
returned), it is the custom to use as many words as pos-
sible, and express nothing whatever.
A cautionvfrom5Mr..'I‘aplcy-; a hasty interchange of
farewells, and of something else which the proverb says
mustinot be told of afterwards ; a white hand held out
to Mr. Tapley himself, which hohissed with the devo-
tion of a knight-errant ; more farewells, more something
else’s : a parting word from Martin that he would write
from London and would do great things there yet (Ileav--
en knows what, but he quite believed it) ; and Mark and
he stood on the outside of the Pecksnifiian halls.
“ A short interview after such an absence 1'.’ said Mar-
tin, sorrowfully. “But we are well out of the house.
VVe might have placed ourselves in a false! position by "
remaining there, even so long, Mark.”
“ I don't know about ourselves, sir," he returned ; “ but
somebody else would have got into a false position, if he”
had happened to come back again," while we ‘was there.
I had t c door all ready, sir.
his head, or had only so much as listened behind it, I
would have caught him like a walnut.
soft, I know.” , ,
-A person who was evidently going to Mr. I’ecksnifI’s
house, passed them at this moment. He raised his eyes
at the mention of the architect’s name ; and whenhehad
gone on a. few yards, stop ed, and gazed at them. -.Mr.
Tapley, also, looked over is shoulder, and so did Mar.
tin ; for the stranger, as ‘he passed, had looked very
sharply at them. I’
“W'ho may that be, I wonder !” said Martin.
face seems familiar to me, but I don't know the man."
.“ He seems to have a arniabledesire that his face-
sliould be tolerable familiar tons,” said Mr. Tapley,.
Iie’d better‘ not avaste -
“ for he's a staring pretty hard.
his beauty, for he ain't got much to spare.”
Coming in sight of the Dragon, they saw 'a travelling
carriage at the door. - ‘ ‘
“ And a Salisbury carriage. eh I” said Mr. Tapley.
‘‘That’s what he came in, depend upon it.‘ iVVhat’s in
the wind now? A new pupil, I shouldn't wonder.
I”raps it's a order for another grammar-school, of the
same pattern as the last.”
Before they could enter at the door, Mrs. Lupin‘ came
running out ; and beckoning them to the carriage showed
them a portmanteau with the name of CnU7.zLEwr'r upon
“Miss Pecksniffs husband that was,” said the good
woman to Martin. “ I didn't know what terms you
might be on, and was quite in a worry till you came
back." ' ‘ ' . I
“ He and I have never interchanged a word yet," ob-
served Martin; “and as I have no wish to be better or
worse ac uainted with him, I will not put myselfpin his
way. I e passed him on the road, I have no doubt.’ I
am glad be timed his coming as he did. Upon my word E
Miss PecksnifI’s husband travels gaily l” ‘
' “A very'fiae.looking gentleman with him-in the best
room now,” whispered Mrs. Lupin, glancing up at the
window as they went into the house. “ He has ordered
everything that can be ot for dinner; and has the-
glossiest mustaches and w iiskers, ever you saw.” '
“ Has he? "cried Martin, ’‘ why then we'll endeavour
to avoid him too, in the hope that our self-denial may be-
strong enou h for the sacrifice. It is onlv for a few
hours,” said fartin, dropping wearily into a chair behind
the little screen in the bar. “ Our visit has met with no
success, my dear Mrs. Lupin, and I must go to London.”
“Dear, dear I” cried the hostess.
" Yes. One foul wind no more makes a winter, than one
If Pecksniif had showed '
IIe’s the sortof ‘
man," added Mr. Tapley, musing, “as would squeeze-
,“ The ;