“Could you make it two fifty, Mr. Rollin-son?”
“I’ll make it three hundred, because I like your manner.”
p. 58“Oh, you dear good generous soul!” she cried.
He paid in rather greasy-looking banknotes, and, later on, married her, and thus secured a return of the amount.
The Albert Edward estate was announced as specially1 suitable for newly married people, and these came, in pairs, attracted by the title and by the health statistics of the neighbourhood; a few carping critics pointed2 out that the agreeable figures were due to the sparsity3 of the population, but no one troubled to follow the argument. Meanwhile Mr. Rollinson ordered that building should go on with haste to meet the demands of would-be tenants4, who, by an ingenious scheme of payments, became in a term of years responsible owners of the property, and he only relinquished5 the task when children began to arrive and the dwellings6, in consequence, showed signs of wear and tear. He then went to Finsbury Park, and laid out the Princess Alice estate; later he proceeded to Hammersmith, and planned and carried out the Duke of Edinburgh estate. These houses might be exhibited at the present day, a tribute to Rollinson’s loyalty7 and industry, but for the interference of borough8 p. 59officials. By the time these steps were taken, Mr. Rollinson had disengaged himself from interest in the various properties, but one can understand the pain given by the action of the authorities to a man whose official letter paper bore the heading, “Not for an Age, but for all Time.”
Ernest Napoleon, the son, was born in ’43, and the event is registered at the church in Hart Street, Bloomsbury; his father, despite activities concerning new dwellings, preferred to reside in an older quarter of town. Mr. Rollinson found time to take a part in public life, and I have ascertained9 that he was one of 170,000 special constables11 sworn in at the time of the threatened Chartist riots; unfortunately, on the day of the meeting at Kennington Common, he was suffering from a slight headache, and he advised his neighbour, Dr. Fennell, to order him to stay in bed. Friendship between himself and his medical man increased as Mr. Rollinson spoke12 of his fortunate investments.
“Want you to do me a great favour, George,” asked Dr. Fennell, meeting him one day near the Museum. “My idea is that I ought very soon to be able to retire, and cultivate a p. 60garden in the country. But progress in my profession is slow.”
“You’re as safe as ’ouses,” remarked Mr. Rollinson,—“safe as some ’ouses, I mean—providing you’re not fool enough to go in for speculation13.”
“Speculation,” declared the doctor warmly, “is the last vice14 I should indulge in. All I want you to do, the next time you see a good thing in prospect15, is just to let me come in with you. I’ve five thousand pounds put by, and—call me ambitious, or what you will—I should like to make it ten. Promise me you’ll do your best.”
“Can’t guarantee success, mind you!”
“My dear George,” protested the other, “give me credit for a fair amount of common sense.”
The Great Exhibition was a year or two distant, but preparations were already being made, and Mr. Rollinson heard of several investments in regard to it that promised well; a scheme for obtaining all the printing work sounded so excellent that he brought it to the notice of his friend; the drawback was that only five thousand pounds appeared to be required. On Fennell’s earnest appeal he p. 61agreed to stand aside, and allow the doctor to take full advantage of the opportunity.
“But don’t you go forgetting that I warned you there was a risk.”
“Nothing venture, George,” said Fennell contentedly16, “nothing have!”
When the auction17 took place in Bloomsbury Square, Mr. Rollinson acting18, so it was rumoured19, from motives20 of generosity21 towards an old and valued friend overtaken by misfortune, made arrangements with dealers22, and purchased nearly all of Dr. Fennell’s furniture. He also bought the remainder of the lease. The goodwill23 he obtained at a fair price, and sold at another, and the ground floor was let to a new man who was told to keep the practice going for sixteen or eighteen years.
“What’s the idea of arranging that, Mr. R.?” asked his wife respectfully.
“Don’t you ask questions,” he retorted. “I’m looking well ahead!”
“If it’s something in store for our boy, I’m quite satisfied.”
“It is something for my boy, but I don’t care a hang whether you are satisfied or not.”
“Do you think we ought to get a governess in for him, Mr. R.?”
p. 62“I shall take charge of his education, and I don’t want no one interferin’. I’m a going to have him brought up proper, so as he’ll turn out to be a credit to me, later on. And, although it’s got nothing to do with you, I don’t mind mentioning that trouble will be no object. No object, whatsoever24. I’ve got along pretty well without much beyond readin’ and writin’ and figurin’, and it stands to reason he’ll have a better chance than what I did, if he’s fitted out more complete. But don’t you go putting your spoke in, or else me and you’ll have words. Quite enough for you that he’s going to be brought up to be a doctor and a gentleman. Especially a gentleman!”
Although the printing scheme had ended in disaster, owing to the action of a mysterious gentleman in the City, there were others of a more solid nature in connection with the Hyde Park show, and it was said at this time that it was only necessary for Mr. Rollinson to be mixed up in any transaction to ensure success, so far as he was concerned. Some might endure stabs at the hand of Fortune, but Rollinson always came through safely. Oftentimes his name did not appear, and knowing p. 63folk therefore multiplied his gains by twenty to make sure they were well within the mark.
We are now at ’51.
It was during this year that the boy Ernest first gained special attention, and caused his father’s pride to increase. Mrs. Rollinson, with the improvement in income, and aided by a dressmaker of Theobald’s Road, cultivated a definite note in apparel, and her favourite costume was one of a tartan pattern, full in the flounces and so tightly stayed at the waist that the poor lady’s complexion25 was sometimes scarlet26, sometimes purple. At the start, she had, for motives of economy, herself made the child’s clothes, but the boy reported to his father that these, by reason of their amplitude—
“You must allow for growing,” urged his mother.
—These caused him to become the object of ridicule27, and his father at once put a stop to home manufactures. Ernest, thereafter, during Exhibition year, wore suits of velvet28 with frilled knickerbockers, and a stiffly carded cap with a blue tassel29 dependent, and his appearance extorted30 nothing but admiration31 as he walked, hand-in-hand with p. 64his father, along the transept of Mr. Joseph Paxton’s great building of glass. The boy had been furnished with several facts and arguments in connection with the place, and these he recited in a clear, distinct voice.
“Looking around, dear papa, at this striking scene, it seems impossible to think that war will again occur in our time.”
And,
“I believe this immense building covers twenty acres of ground, and is no less than two thousand feet long. Please correct me, papa, if I am in error.”
Quite distinguished-looking ladies and gentlemen took notice of the boy’s intelligence, and some gave him fourpenny pieces, patting him on the cap, and telling him he was a fine little fellow; a well-known politician prophesied32 of him, on one occasion, that he would grow up to be an Englishman in the best sense of the word. You can imagine Mr. Rollinson’s delight at these compliments, and the satisfaction in finding his own views confirmed from responsible quarters. It was his method, in regard to domestic affairs, to ascertain10 Mrs. Rollinson’s wishes and then to give instructions that the exact opposite p. 65should be adopted, but, returning home after one of these gratifying afternoons in Hyde Park, he took the unusual course of inviting33 her to his study, where, in smoking-cap and dressing-gown (a change from the restraint of out-door clothes) he bade her take the easy-chair, whilst he himself stood near the empty fireplace and leaned an elbow on the mantelpiece, in an attitude imposed by more than one artist upon the Prince Consort34.
“You will no doubt say, Mrs. Rollinson,” he remarked, “that making money as I do now, and not doing much work for it, we ought to go on a steppin’ up the ladder. Allow me to remind you that sometimes I don’t retain all the cash I receive. Sounds peculiar35, but it’s a fact. I find the money that takes the most trouble to get is the money that stays with me longest. Putting that all aside, your view, womanlike, is that we’ve only got one life to live in this world, whatever ’appens to us in the next, and that we’re entitled to make the most of it. You’ll tell me that we both of us had a hard time in the early days, and we’re justified36 in claiming our reward. And mind you, there’s something in your argument.”
p. 66Mrs. Rollinson, much astonished at this commendation of her presumed opinions, could find no words either to protest or to agree. She smoothed her crimped hair and bowed.
“But perhaps,” he went on in the same amazing tones of deference37, “perhaps you won’t mind if I point out that we’re living now in a very fair state of comfort. We have roast meat every other day; if you feel inclined to go now and again to see Mr. Wigan at the St. James’s, why, you’ve only got to say so. And this brings me to the point of what I’m talking about. Why shouldn’t we go on as we’re going now, not wasting money specially, not ’oarding it to any special degree, but going a reg’lar buster in regard to the boy? Giving him chances that his father never had, seeing that he has every opportunity of growing up so that he can take his place amongst the ’ighest of the land? Now then, Mrs. R.! If you’ve got anything further to remark on the subject, here’s the time to say it, or ever after hold your peace.”
“Sometimes,” she ventured to remark, “you’ve pitched into me and told me I was spoiling him.”
p. 67“There’s a right way of doing it,” he retorted, “and a wrong way of doing it.”
“And you’ve said, more than once, that to make a man of him he ought to go through the mill, same as what you did.”
“There again, there’s two ways open.”
“If you can find the right way, Mr. R., I’m perfectly38 agreeable.”
“You’re a wise woman,” he declared, “although very often you manage to conceal39 the fact. And I promise you faithfully that if you leave it all to me, you won’t have no reason to be sorry!”
Ernest grew up tall, slim, good-looking, and with fair, curly hair; it was therefore reckoned impossible to make him a doctor. Apart from this, he showed no special intelligence, and at the new military college at Sandhurst the masters said caustically40 it was a pity the lad had not been born in America, for then the Civil War there would have been of very short duration. Discouraged by these comments, Ernest, of his own accord, left the College, thus depriving the British army of his services, and, coming back to town, took rooms in Jermyn Street, and mentioned to his father and mother that he proposed to look about p. 68him, a task which it is well known cannot be done in a hurry. Money was supplied from Bloomsbury Square, and it appeared to have some peculiar quality, for it all slipped through Ernest’s fingers with the greatest possible ease. Having, in spite of his defects, an amiable41 disposition42, he soon found acquaintances, mainly amongst other men who were also looking about, and when they discovered he had money at his command, and that his cheques were always—after sometimes a brief delay—honoured, their admiration of his qualities knew no bounds.
“You’ve got a simple manner,” they said, “but, by gad43, underneath44 that there’s any amount of cunning and cleverness.”
“Really think so?” inquired Ernest, pleased.
“Enough for ten ordinary people,” they declared. “Got a fi’pun note about you?”
Also, they gave him sound advice in regard to keeping well in with the governor: a dinner was arranged at a club to which one of them belonged, and, at the expense of Ernest, Mr. Rollinson was entertained, and made much of; Wilner (who had been twice through the Bankruptcy45 Court, using up several pails of p. 69whitewash and coming out not quite clean)—Wilner made a speech, proposing old Rollinson’s health, declaring that their guest was one of the bulwarks46 of the nation, and that his well-equipped son would, later on, when he had finished looking about, become one of the foremost men in the State. Privately47, Wilner told Mr. Rollinson that all our best politicians had sown their wild oats in early days, and gave an amusing and little-known anecdote48 concerning a member of the Cabinet.
“What he wants,” said old Rollinson, glancing at his son, “is concentration, if you know what it means, sir.”
“That will grow on him,” remarked the other lightly. “All he has to do just now is to make plenty of friends. And it isn’t for a mere49 amateur like myself to give advice to an experienced man of the world like George Rollinson—”
Oddly enough, the term had never before been applied50 to him. Old Rollinson fixed51 his cigar at a more rakish angle.
“But if I were you, I should see that, for a year or two at any rate, he was not stinted52 of money.” Wilner gazed reflectively at his glass of claret. “I’ve seen so many p. 70youngsters, fine, promising53, delightful54 lads, go to the deuce just for want of a few paltry55 hundreds. And you needn’t begrudge56 it, you know. By all accounts you make it easily enough.”
The rest of the dinner-party, once they had, as Wilner neatly57 phrased it, put off the old man, went to the Argyll Rooms, and later to Bob Croft’s in the Haymarket (no use in going to Croft’s until midnight), where Ernest insisted upon playing the harp58, with the aid of his walking-stick; when the police came to make their usual nightly round, Ernest demanded the company of the Inspector59 in the Varsoviana. Wilner and the others were satisfied with the efforts of their pupil and allowed him, at his special request, to pay for everything. This was the occasion when Ernest lighted a cigar with one of the notes given to him by his father, and found some difficulty in making the paper burn.
There were times when Ernest, troubled with remorse60 and a severe headache, spoke of giving it all up, and returning to Bloomsbury Square; the bodyguard61 had to use their best powers of derision. An accusation62 of want of pluck generally proved effective; later, a slip of the pen on the part of Ernest gave them p. 71a better hold, and they had only to draw his attention to the punishment awarded by the law for forgery63. Old Rollinson fell ill, in consequence of a chill sustained on the steamboat returning from Greenwich after his new doctor had ordered him a sea voyage, and the remittances64 stopped. A new and promising-looking pigeon flew into the district of the Circus; Wilner and his colleagues dropped the acquaintance of Ernest, who could find no better companion than a wise young housemaid at Jermyn Street. The girl gave him good advice and went with him to Bloomsbury Square, waiting at the railings whilst he entered to see his father, to make frank avowals, and to impersonate the prodigal65 son. He came out in less than half an hour, and it seemed at once evident that the fatted calf66 was still alive.
“Says I’ve disappointed him,” reported Ernest tearfully, “and that he never wants to see me again. Declares he did his best for me, and all I’ve done has been to spend nearly every penny he gained, and there’s nothing to show for it, excepting a good-for-nothing, broken-down young man. And mother agreed with him.”
p. 72“Appears to me,” remarked Helen, “some one is going to have the responsibility of looking after you.”
“I wish you’d marry me.”
“That will be about the best plan,” she agreed.
Ernest Rollinson died in ’64, and soon after the old people went. Young Mrs. Rollinson, putting her baby boy away with some working people in Clerkenwell, entered service again.
A Home for Indigent67 Bookmakers found itself benefited by the terms of the Bloomsbury Square will; nothing was left to the son’s family, in spite of the device used in christening the baby. Helen worked hard in her good situation and saved money, paying the folk in Corporation Lane weekly, and now and again snatching an hour off to see her boy. She was there one afternoon in December watching with amusement his celebrated68 impersonation of a policeman on the track of a Fenian (he had some new piece of cleverness each time she paid her furtive69 visits) when a tremendous clatter70 came from the wall of the prison opposite, the house trembled, plaster of the ceiling fell in a thick white shower, and then the place collapsed71. Helen p. 73Rollinson found herself pulled out of the débris and screamed loudly for her George; they brought to her a maimed child, and she, almost demented, was nursing the poor thing in the confusion of the street, and begging it not to die, when Master George himself trotted72 up, safe and sound, demanding of his mother whether she had noticed the splendid fireworks. She placed the injured child in the hands of one of the doctors, heard that the woman of the house was not expected to recover, and rushed away with her boy from the disastrous73 scene.
“Well for you, Helen,” said her excellent mistress, “that you are able to show me your marriage lines, otherwise it would be my duty, as a strict Churchwoman, to turn you out of the house, neck and crop. As it is, you have practised deceit on me, and I am afraid we must look upon this dreadful affair at Clerkenwell as a judgment74 for your sin.”
“They seemed to suspect some Irish people, ma’am.”
“Heaven has its own way of punishing evil-doers,” declared the lady, “and it isn’t for us to question its methods. You cannot stay here any longer.”
p. 74“I must find another situation, I s’pose, ma’am. But I shan’t get such a good one as this.”
“Deceit,” insisted the other, “is one of the things that must, on no account, be encouraged. What is your boy like?”
The child, brought from the kitchen, repeated for the benefit of Helen’s mistress his account of the explosion, a performance that had been well received downstairs. The lady was impressed.
“A clever boy,” she said. “Would you like me to adopt him, Helen, and thus leave you free?”
“I’d rather starve than let him go away from me again.”
“Supposing, then,” said the lady, getting over her surprise at this attitude, “supposing I set you up in a small business of some kind; will you promise me never to be deceitful again?” Helen gave the required guarantee, and her mistress put the small boy through a viva-voce examination; his replies concerning the award meted75 out to naughty people fortunately coincided exactly with the lady’s own views.
Helen Rollinson, widow of Ernest Rollinson, p. 75and mother of George Rollinson, saw her name painted over a shop in Southampton Row, with the words added, on either side of the main inscription76, “Newsagent” and “Tobacconist”; she let the rooms above, giving some personal attendance, used the apartment at the back of the shop as a living-room whence she could see when a customer entered, occupied spare moments by making clothes for George, preparing necessary meals, and telling him to be a good lad. She slept for about six hours every night, giving the remaining eighteen to hard work, and to the considerable task of minding her own business. Mr. Forster carried his Education Act just in time to enable George to take advantage of it, and the boy was one of the earliest to pay sixpence a week and become a pupil of the State at a superior school; in his spare time he delivered newspapers and ran errands, sometimes going so far as the City and making use of the new Viaduct at Holborn; he was at first terrified by these important missions, but overhearing his mother speak of him to a customer as a boy who knew his way about, he determined77 to keep his fears to himself, and to overcome them. Moreover, there was p. 76the knowledge that undertakings78 of the kind, perilous79 as they might be, saved expense. Mrs. Rollinson watched every penny, every halfpenny, and spoke with genuine regret when disbursements had to be made to the Parcels Delivery Company.
“Throwing away good money!” she declared.
She explained to George, in answer to his question, a theory she held in regard to the coinage of the United Kingdom, and he embodied80 these views in an essay at school the following morning. His teacher, greatly diverted, read the paper aloud to the class, and the boys followed the lead, glad of an excuse for boisterous81 amusement. George flushed, and kept his head down. It gives some notion of the difficulties experienced by the State in its early days of keeping school when I mention that George ranged himself on the side of his parent, and declined to accept the opinions of educational authorities; the teacher, noting his attitude, spoke to him later in the playground, and assured him again that his argument was based upon error. Money, said the teacher, was manufactured at a place called the Mint situated82 east of the p. 77City; the gold coins were actual value, whilst the rest were called tokens, representing a value only by agreement. Notes were made on special paper, and printed under the supervision83 of the Bank of England. To write, as George Rollinson had done, that there were two kinds of money, one dry and the other slippery, one easy to retain and the other impossible to keep, was to make an assertion that, in the light of facts, could not possibly be supported.
“So get that nonsensical idea out of your head, my lad,” advised his teacher earnestly, “as soon as you possibly can. You have a good deal to learn yet, remember.”
On most subjects George accepted the instructions of the representatives of the State, bringing home to Southampton Row items of geographical84 information and snips85 of historical news; his mother nodded approvingly and hinted that all the particulars had once been learnt by her, but, owing to pressure of other matters, forgotten. When the boy asked about his father she constructed for his encouragement, and her own content, an ideal man, dogged, wise, and industrious86, never wasting a moment of valuable time, p. 78always thrifty87. Upon George inquiring why, in these circumstances, they had not been left more comfortably off, she fell back on her old theory regarding cash, and told him in conclusion that little boys who did not ask too many questions would find their appropriate reward in not being told too many lies.
The profits of the business were small, but they were sure. The newspaper and magazine side increased slightly year by year with nothing in the nature of a set-back, excepting the occasional defalcation88 of some customer with a poor memory, and lightly furnished in the way of luggage. Mrs. Rollinson, when the lad was of a sufficient age, showed him the results of the business, and George said they ought to sell letter paper at the tobacco counter, seeing that the figures there were stationary89. Mrs. Rollinson gave this remark as “George’s latest” to a customer, a short, clean-shaven man, who patronised the shop for lucifer matches, and the customer pronounced it good; later, in calling, he mentioned he had worked it into a burlesque90 at the Strand91 Theatre where he was playing, and that it went fairly well. He added that he had never yet found the perfect tobacco, and p. 79now almost despaired of doing so; described the different flavours which he desired. George, listening from the shop parlour, asked permission of his mother to make a few experiments; she gave her consent, on the understanding that there should be no waste. The results, tried in the celebrated actor’s pipe, gained emphatic92 approval, and George suggested a letter should be written from the Theatre embodying93 these compliments and bearing a signature. The letter was framed, set in the window. Within a week Mrs. Rollinson found herself compelled to engage the services of an assistant on the tobacco side, a worthy94, well-favoured man who thenceforth for many years, in accepting his wages on Saturday nights, made a proposal of marriage to her. Mrs. Rollinson declined, in set form, on the grounds that she wished to look after George.
“Very well then,” he would say resignedly. “Then I s’pose I must wait.”
On a Saturday when George brought a young lady from High Street, Marylebone, to the shop, and introduced her to his mother with the remark, “I want you two to be friends!” Mrs. Rollinson, greatly p. 80upset, perturbed95 the assistant by giving in reply to the usual question an unusual answer. He went out of the shop in a dazed condition, and on the Monday morning a letter came from him, stating that, on reflection, he decided96 he was unworthy of the great honour, and he hoped Mrs. Rollinson would not mind if, instead, he sailed for Canada.
“It’s all for the best!” said Mrs. Rollinson. After going to chapel97 twice on the intervening Sunday, she was regarding the possibility of the engagement of her son with greater calm. “George will have to work harder, and I’m good for several years yet. We shall rub along all right. He needn’t get married until he’s thirty. It’s quite fashionable nowadays for gentlemen to wait until they’re getting on in life.”
She told him that her first criticism of the girl had been made on the impulse of the moment: she now begged to withdraw the word “minx” and to substitute a more flattering noun.
“Very glad to hear you say that, mother. She’s a girl with most wonderful ideas in her head.”
p. 81“That doesn’t matter,” replied Mrs. Rollinson tolerantly, “so long as she leaves them there.”
“What I mean is, extraordinarily98 ambitious.”
“I’m like that, too,” she remarked. “I’ve set my ’eart on having the front of the shop done up this spring. Me and her will get on capitally together. Make your mind quite easy. She can come here every Christmas day and now and again on Sundays—but not too often—and when eventually you get married, why, if all goes well, I’ll retire and I’ll leave you the business. Can’t say fairer than that, can I?”
“Mother,” the lad blurted99 out, “she wanted it to be a secret for a time, but I can’t keep it back from you. We’re married already!”
“No, George, my boy. That isn’t true, surely!”
“I take all the responsibility,” he went on, “but she said it was no use letting the grass grow under our feet.”
“I wish,” said Mrs. Rollinson aside, to the negro figure in the corner, “that grass was growing over her head!”
p. 82This was the final word of a vehement100 nature that George’s mother used in regard to her daughter-in-law. When she took some of the furniture, and rode away on the tail of the van to Chalk Farm, she told the middle-aged101 man with the green baize apron102 that there was nothing like retiring from business whilst one was still capable of enjoying life: to the lady who owned the house where the furniture was unloaded she mentioned, in taking possession of the two rooms on the ground floor, that her only visitors would be her son and her son’s wife; she hoped they would be in and out of the place frequently. Mrs. Rollinson gave a short, enthusiastic description of the bride and remarked that she already looked upon the girl as her own daughter.
“It’ll be a comfort to me, ma’am,” said the landlady103 mournfully, “to have a merry party about the house. The only thing is—I don’t mean anything personal—but I’ve generally found that when parties were cheerful, they turned out to be rather bad payers.”
Mrs. Rollinson produced her pass-book; exhibited figures showing the balance to her credit.
p. 83“That’s good enough,” said the other, with something like rapture104. She was leaving the room, but curiosity detained her at the edge of the carpet. “You must have had some rare strokes of luck, in your day, ma’am!”
Mrs. Rollinson shook her head resolutely105. “It’s all been saved out of hard work,” she declared.
“I was half hoping,” remarked the landlady, relapsing into gloom, “it was a case of easy come, easy go!”
The expected callers did not arrive on the first Sunday afternoon, although tea was prepared, crumpets ready, and Mrs. Rollinson had rehearsed several amiable speeches to be addressed to her daughter-in-law. So soon as it became dusk she walked down to Southampton Row, and from the opposite side of the roadway took a view. The shop was shuttered, and, alarmed by this—Sunday evening was one of the best times for receipts—she crossed, and read the notice. Retail106 Department Closed, said the bills. Central Office of the English Tobacco Syndicate. Branches all over the Country. Capital—and here so many figures (mainly noughts) that Mrs. Rollinson could not reckon them.
p. 84“Slippery money,” she said, on the way home. She paid the cabman in threepenny pieces, and he remarked that she might as well also hand over the offertory bag.
Young Mrs. George Rollinson delayed her call for nearly two years, and then she had no occasion to pay a fare; her manner when, on leaving Chalk Farm, she said to the coachman—
“Home, Watson!”
—Was, in itself, proof of the ease with which cultured habits can be acquired by those who set their minds to the task. Before going she, prefacing by the remark that she had called for a quiet chat, spoke at length and with great rapidity. They were living, George and herself, up West; Mrs. Rollinson observed that the exact address was not tendered, and a return call was evidently unnecessary. The present scheme was going on remarkably107 well, astonishingly well, amazingly well, and young Mrs. Rollinson had special cause for gratification in that it originated with her. For various reasons that her mother-in-law would not understand, if explained, the present scheme had taken the place of the old one, and a still newer one was in contemplation. George p. 85and his City friends knew how to manage these affairs to the best advantage. Unfortunately, it seemed likely the public might exhibit a certain reticence108 when the new idea was submitted to them, and investors109 would only become eager when they discovered that the shares, or most of them, had been privately subscribed110. Just as many people only wanted to go to theatres where the notice “House Full” was exhibited, so some did not apply for shares unless they anticipated difficulty in procuring111 them.
“And George,” said young Mrs. Rollinson, refastening her fur coat, “is anxious to show he had not forgotten you, and he asked me to say that, for the sake of old times, he is quite willing to let you take up—”
“You tell George,” interrupted his mother, “that whenever the time arrives that he wants to be kept out of the workhouse, he can come along to me!”
I think I said something in approval of young Mrs. Rollinson’s manner of giving instructions to her coachman. To be exact, it ought to be mentioned that there was a distinct trace of asperity112 in her tones.
Young Mrs. Rollinson said “Home, p. 86Watson!” on a good many occasions, and at various places, before the one evening when she gave to the coachman a different destination; the two well-matched horses broke down the austere113 behaviour of a life-time by winking114 at each other. George arrived at Chalk Farm by yellow omnibus, that night, after his mother had gone to rest in the back room; she came out with no indication of surprise, and started at once to make up a bed for him on the sofa. He seemed inclined to retain possession of his silk hat, partly that he might gaze into it as he gave halting explanations, but his mother wrested115 this from him, and ordered him to make himself at home.
“I never heard for certain,” she said, when he had come to an end of the list of disasters, “but are there any children?”
George shook his head negatively.
“That’s just as well,” she remarked, with cheerfulness. “Now promise me, George, before we settle anything else: don’t divorce her.”
“I’m willing to give you my word, mother.”
“Good!” she said. “That means the trouble is over. No more Rollinsons will have to undergo the test. Other people will, but p. 87not a Rollinson. Something seems to tell me that I shall out-live you, and I shall make it my business to see that you earn honestly every penny you require.”
The single worry that came later was when Merry Hampton won the Derby. Mrs. Rollinson allowed George one speculation a year in the form of a half-crown ticket for a sweep-stake; prospects116 of success appeared sufficiently117 remote. George, on the canal bridge in High Street, was exhibiting to a friend his winnings when the sovereigns slipped through his fingers, and disappeared in the water below. The friend, taking the situation with great good-humour, remarked that it looked like a case of felo s. d.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
specially
|
|
| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sparsity
|
|
| n.稀少 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
tenants
|
|
| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
relinquished
|
|
| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
dwellings
|
|
| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
loyalty
|
|
| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
borough
|
|
| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
ascertained
|
|
| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
ascertain
|
|
| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
constables
|
|
| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
speculation
|
|
| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
vice
|
|
| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
contentedly
|
|
| adv.心满意足地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
auction
|
|
| n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
acting
|
|
| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
rumoured
|
|
| adj.谣传的；传说的；风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
motives
|
|
| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
dealers
|
|
| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
goodwill
|
|
| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
whatsoever
|
|
| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
velvet
|
|
| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
tassel
|
|
| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
extorted
|
|
| v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
prophesied
|
|
| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
inviting
|
|
| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
consort
|
|
| v.相伴；结交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
peculiar
|
|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
justified
|
|
| a.正当的，有理的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
deference
|
|
| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
caustically
|
|
| adv.刻薄地；挖苦地；尖刻地；讥刺地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
disposition
|
|
| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
gad
|
|
| n.闲逛；v.闲逛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
underneath
|
|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
bankruptcy
|
|
| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
bulwarks
|
|
| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
privately
|
|
| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
anecdote
|
|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
applied
|
|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
stinted
|
|
| v.限制，节省（stint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
promising
|
|
| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
delightful
|
|
| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
paltry
|
|
| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
begrudge
|
|
| vt.吝啬，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
neatly
|
|
| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
harp
|
|
| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
inspector
|
|
| n.检查员，监察员，视察员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
remorse
|
|
| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
bodyguard
|
|
| n.护卫，保镖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
forgery
|
|
| n.伪造的文件等，赝品，伪造（行为） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
remittances
|
|
| n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
prodigal
|
|
| adj.浪费的，挥霍的，放荡的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
calf
|
|
| n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
indigent
|
|
| adj.贫穷的，贫困的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
furtive
|
|
| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
clatter
|
|
| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
collapsed
|
|
| adj.倒塌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
trotted
|
|
| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
meted
|
|
| v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
inscription
|
|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
undertakings
|
|
| 企业( undertaking的名词复数 )； 保证； 殡仪业； 任务 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
perilous
|
|
| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
embodied
|
|
| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
boisterous
|
|
| adj.喧闹的，欢闹的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
situated
|
|
| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
supervision
|
|
| n.监督，管理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
geographical
|
|
| adj.地理的；地区(性)的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
snips
|
|
| n.（剪金属板的）铁剪，铁铗；剪下之物( snip的名词复数 )；一点点；零星v.剪( snip的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
industrious
|
|
| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
thrifty
|
|
| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
defalcation
|
|
| n.盗用公款，挪用公款，贪污 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
stationary
|
|
| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
burlesque
|
|
| v.嘲弄，戏仿；n.嘲弄，取笑，滑稽模仿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
strand
|
|
| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
emphatic
|
|
| adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
embodying
|
|
| v.表现( embody的现在分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
perturbed
|
|
| adj.烦燥不安的v.使（某人）烦恼，不安( perturb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
extraordinarily
|
|
| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
blurted
|
|
| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
vehement
|
|
| adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
middle-aged
|
|
| adj.中年的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
apron
|
|
| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
landlady
|
|
| n.女房东，女地主 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
rapture
|
|
| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
resolutely
|
|
| adj.坚决地，果断地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
retail
|
|
| v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
remarkably
|
|
| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
reticence
|
|
| n.沉默，含蓄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
investors
|
|
| n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
subscribed
|
|
| v.捐助( subscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；签署，题词；订阅；同意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
procuring
|
|
| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
asperity
|
|
| n.粗鲁，艰苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
austere
|
|
| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
winking
|
|
| n.瞬眼，目语v.使眼色( wink的现在分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
wrested
|
|
| （用力）拧( wrest的过去式和过去分词 )； 费力取得； （从…）攫取； （ 从… ） 强行取去… | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
prospects
|
|
| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
sufficiently
|
|
| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |