On that very night of her return from the Happy Return, something chanced which Bella closely followed with her eyes and ears. There was an apartment at the side of the Boffin mansion3, known as Mr Boffin’s room. Far less grand than the rest of the house, it was far more comfortable, being pervaded4 by a certain air of homely5 snugness6, which upholstering despotism had banished7 to that spot when it inexorably set its face against Mr Boffin’s appeals for mercy in behalf of any other chamber8. Thus, although a room of modest situation — for its windows gave on Silas Wegg’s old corner — and of no pretensions9 to velvet10, satin, or gilding11, it had got itself established in a domestic position analogous12 to that of an easy dressing-gown or pair of slippers13; and whenever the family wanted to enjoy a particularly pleasant fireside evening, they enjoyed it, as an institution that must be, in Mr Boffin’s room.
Mr and Mrs Boffin were reported sitting in this room, when Bella got back. Entering it, she found the Secretary there too; in official attendance it would appear, for he was standing14 with some papers in his hand by a table with shaded candles on it, at which Mr Boffin was seated thrown back in his easy chair.
‘You are busy, sir,’ said Bella, hesitating at the door.
‘Not at all, my dear, not at all. You’re one of ourselves. We never make company of you. Come in, come in. Here’s the old lady in her usual place.’
Mrs Boffin adding her nod and smile of welcome to Mr Boffin’s words, Bella took her book to a chair in the fireside corner, by Mrs Boffin’s work-table. Mr Boffin’s station was on the opposite side.
‘Now, Rokesmith,’ said the Golden Dustman, so sharply rapping the table to bespeak15 his attention as Bella turned the leaves of her book, that she started; ‘where were we?’
‘You were saying, sir,’ returned the Secretary, with an air of some reluctance16 and a glance towards those others who were present, ‘that you considered the time had come for fixing my salary.’
‘Don’t be above calling it wages, man,’ said Mr Boffin, testily17. ‘What the deuce! I never talked of any salary when I was in service.’
‘My wages,’ said the Secretary, correcting himself.
‘Rokesmith, you are not proud, I hope?’ observed Mr Boffin, eyeing him askance.
‘I hope not, sir.’
‘Because I never was, when I was poor,’ said Mr Boffin. ‘Poverty and pride don’t go at all well together. Mind that. How can they go well together? Why it stands to reason. A man, being poor, has nothing to be proud of. It’s nonsense.’
With a slight inclination18 of his head, and a look of some surprise, the Secretary seemed to assent19 by forming the syllables20 of the word ‘nonsense’ on his lips.
‘Now, concerning these same wages,’ said Mr Boffin. ‘Sit down.’
The Secretary sat down.
‘Why didn’t you sit down before?’ asked Mr Boffin, distrustfully. ‘I hope that wasn’t pride? But about these wages. Now, I’ve gone into the matter, and I say two hundred a year. What do you think of it? Do you think it’s enough?’
‘Thank you. It is a fair proposal.’
‘I don’t say, you know,’ Mr Boffin stipulated21, ‘but what it may be more than enough. And I’ll tell you why, Rokesmith. A man of property, like me, is bound to consider the market-price. At first I didn’t enter into that as much as I might have done; but I’ve got acquainted with other men of property since, and I’ve got acquainted with the duties of property. I mustn’t go putting the market-price up, because money may happen not to be an object with me. A sheep is worth so much in the market, and I ought to give it and no more. A secretary is worth so much in the market, and I ought to give it and no more. However, I don’t mind stretching a point with you.’
‘Mr Boffin, you are very good,’ replied the Secretary, with an effort.
‘Then we put the figure,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘at two hundred a year. Then the figure’s disposed of. Now, there must be no misunderstanding regarding what I buy for two hundred a year. If I pay for a sheep, I buy it out and out. Similarly, if I pay for a secretary, I buy HIM out and out.’
‘In other words, you purchase my whole time?’
‘Certainly I do. Look here,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘it ain’t that I want to occupy your whole time; you can take up a book for a minute or two when you’ve nothing better to do, though I think you’ll a’most always find something useful to do. But I want to keep you in attendance. It’s convenient to have you at all times ready on the premises23. Therefore, betwixt your breakfast and your supper — on the premises I expect to find you.’
The Secretary bowed.
‘In bygone days, when I was in service myself,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘I couldn’t go cutting about at my will and pleasure, and you won’t expect to go cutting about at your will and pleasure. You’ve rather got into a habit of that, lately; but perhaps it was for want of a right specification24 betwixt us. Now, let there be a right specification betwixt us, and let it be this. If you want leave, ask for it.’
Again the Secretary bowed. His manner was uneasy and astonished, and showed a sense of humiliation25.
‘I’ll have a bell,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘hung from this room to yours, and when I want you, I’ll touch it. I don’t call to mind that I have anything more to say at the present moment.’
The Secretary rose, gathered up his papers, and withdrew. Bella’s eyes followed him to the door, lighted on Mr Boffin complacently26 thrown back in his easy chair, and drooped27 over her book.
‘I have let that chap, that young man of mine,’ said Mr Boffin, taking a trot28 up and down the room, get above his work. It won’t do. I must have him down a peg29. A man of property owes a duty to other men of property, and must look sharp after his inferiors.’
Bella felt that Mrs Boffin was not comfortable, and that the eyes of that good creature sought to discover from her face what attention she had given to this discourse30, and what impression it had made upon her. For which reason Bella’s eyes drooped more engrossedly over her book, and she turned the page with an air of profound absorption in it.
‘Noddy,’ said Mrs Boffin, after thoughtfully pausing in her work.
‘My dear,’ returned the Golden Dustman, stopping short in his trot.
‘Excuse my putting it to you, Noddy, but now really! Haven’t you been a little strict with Mr Rokesmith to-night? Haven’t you been a little — just a little little — not quite like your old self?’
‘Why, old woman, I hope so,’ returned Mr Boffin, cheerfully, if not boastfully.
‘Hope so, deary?’
‘Our old selves wouldn’t do here, old lady. Haven’t you found that out yet? Our old selves would be fit for nothing here but to be robbed and imposed upon. Our old selves weren’t people of fortune; our new selves are; it’s a great difference.’
‘Ah!’ said Mrs Boffin, pausing in her work again, softly to draw a long breath and to look at the fire. ‘A great difference.’
‘And we must be up to the difference,’ pursued her husband; ‘we must be equal to the change; that’s what we must be. We’ve got to hold our own now, against everybody (for everybody’s hand is stretched out to be dipped into our pockets), and we have got to recollect31 that money makes money, as well as makes everything else.’
‘Mentioning recollecting,’ said Mrs Boffin, with her work abandoned, her eyes upon the fire, and her chin upon her hand, ‘do you recollect, Noddy, how you said to Mr Rokesmith when he first came to see us at the Bower32, and you engaged him — how you said to him that if it had pleased Heaven to send John Harmon to his fortune safe, we could have been content with the one Mound33 which was our legacy34, and should never have wanted the rest?’
‘Ay, I remember, old lady. But we hadn’t tried what it was to have the rest then. Our new shoes had come home, but we hadn’t put ‘em on. We’re wearing ‘em now, we’re wearing ‘em, and must step out accordingly.’
Mrs Boffin took up her work again, and plied22 her needle in silence.
‘As to Rokesmith, that young man of mine,’ said Mr Boffin, dropping his voice and glancing towards the door with an apprehension35 of being overheard by some eavesdropper36 there, ‘it’s the same with him as with the footmen. I have found out that you must either scrunch37 them, or let them scrunch you. If you ain’t imperious with ‘em, they won’t believe in your being any better than themselves, if as good, after the stories (lies mostly) that they have heard of your beginnings. There’s nothing betwixt stiffening38 yourself up, and throwing yourself away; take my word for that, old lady.’
Bella ventured for a moment to look stealthily towards him under her eyelashes, and she saw a dark cloud of suspicion, covetousness39, and conceit40, overshadowing the once open face.
‘Hows’ever,’ said he, ‘this isn’t entertaining to Miss Bella. Is it, Bella?’
A deceiving Bella she was, to look at him with that pensively41 abstracted air, as if her mind were full of her book, and she had not heard a single word!
‘Hah! Better employed than to attend to it,’ said Mr Boffin. ‘That’s right, that’s right. Especially as you have no call to be told how to value yourself, my dear.’
Colouring a little under this compliment, Bella returned, ‘I hope sir, you don’t think me vain?’
‘Not a bit, my dear,’ said Mr Boffin. ‘But I think it’s very creditable in you, at your age, to be so well up with the pace of the world, and to know what to go in for. You are right. Go in for money, my love. Money’s the article. You’ll make money of your good looks, and of the money Mrs Boffin and me will have the pleasure of settling upon you, and you’ll live and die rich. That’s the state to live and die in!’ said Mr Boffin, in an unctuous42 manner. R— r — rich!’
There was an expression of distress43 in Mrs Boffin’s face, as, after watching her husband’s, she turned to their adopted girl, and said:
‘Don’t mind him, Bella, my dear.’
‘Eh?’ cried Mr Boffin. ‘What! Not mind him?’
‘I don’t mean that,’ said Mrs Boffin, with a worried look, ‘but I mean, don’t believe him to be anything but good and generous, Bella, because he is the best of men. No, I must say that much, Noddy. You are always the best of men.’
She made the declaration as if he were objecting to it: which assuredly he was not in any way.
‘And as to you, my dear Bella,’ said Mrs Boffin, still with that distressed44 expression, ‘he is so much attached to you, whatever he says, that your own father has not a truer interest in you and can hardly like you better than he does.’
‘Says too!’ cried Mr Boffin. ‘Whatever he says! Why, I say so, openly. Give me a kiss, my dear child, in saying Good Night, and let me confirm what my old lady tells you. I am very fond of you, my dear, and I am entirely45 of your mind, and you and I will take care that you shall be rich. These good looks of yours (which you have some right to be vain of; my dear, though you are not, you know) are worth money, and you shall make money of ‘em. The money you will have, will be worth money, and you shall make money of that too. There’s a golden ball at your feet. Good night, my dear.’
Somehow, Bella was not so well pleased with this assurance and this prospect46 as she might have been. Somehow, when she put her arms round Mrs Boffin’s neck and said Good Night, she derived47 a sense of unworthiness from the still anxious face of that good woman and her obvious wish to excuse her husband. ‘Why, what need to excuse him?’ thought Bella, sitting down in her own room. ‘What he said was very sensible, I am sure, and very true, I am sure. It is only what I often say to myself. Don’t I like it then? No, I don’t like it, and, though he is my liberal benefactor48, I disparage49 him for it. Then pray,’ said Bella, sternly putting the question to herself in the looking-glass as usual, ‘what do you mean by this, you inconsistent little Beast?’
The looking-glass preserving a discreet50 ministerial silence when thus called upon for explanation, Bella went to bed with a weariness upon her spirit which was more than the weariness of want of sleep. And again in the morning, she looked for the cloud, and for the deepening of the cloud, upon the Golden Dustman’s face.
She had begun by this time to be his frequent companion in his morning strolls about the streets, and it was at this time that he made her a party to his engaging in a curious pursuit. Having been hard at work in one dull enclosure all his life, he had a child’s delight in looking at shops. It had been one of the first novelties and pleasures of his freedom, and was equally the delight of his wife. For many years their only walks in London had been taken on Sundays when the shops were shut; and when every day in the week became their holiday, they derived an enjoyment51 from the variety and fancy and beauty of the display in the windows, which seemed incapable52 of exhaustion53. As if the principal streets were a great Theatre and the play were childishly new to them, Mr and Mrs Boffin, from the beginning of Bella’s intimacy54 in their house, had been constantly in the front row, charmed with all they saw and applauding vigorously. But now, Mr Boffin’s interest began to centre in book-shops; and more than that — for that of itself would not have been much — in one exceptional kind of book.
‘Look in here, my dear,’ Mr Boffin would say, checking Bella’s arm at a bookseller’s window; ‘you can read at sight, and your eyes are as sharp as they’re bright. Now, look well about you, my dear, and tell me if you see any book about a Miser55.’
If Bella saw such a book, Mr Boffin would instantly dart56 in and buy it. And still, as if they had not found it, they would seek out another book-shop, and Mr Boffin would say, ‘Now, look well all round, my dear, for a Life of a Miser, or any book of that sort; any Lives of odd characters who may have been Misers57.’
Bella, thus directed, would examine the window with the greatest attention, while Mr Boffin would examine her face. The moment she pointed58 out any book as being entitled Lives of eccentric personages, Anecdotes59 of strange characters, Records of remarkable60 individuals, or anything to that purpose, Mr Boffin’s countenance61 would light up, and he would instantly dart in and buy it. Size, price, quality, were of no account. Any book that seemed to promise a chance of miserly biography, Mr Boffin purchased without a moment’s delay and carried home. Happening to be informed by a bookseller that a portion of the Annual Register was devoted62 to ‘Characters’, Mr Boffin at once bought a whole set of that ingenious compilation63, and began to carry it home piecemeal64, confiding65 a volume to Bella, and bearing three himself. The completion of this labour occupied them about a fortnight. When the task was done, Mr Boffin, with his appetite for Misers whetted66 instead of satiated, began to look out again.
It very soon became unnecessary to tell Bella what to look for, and an understanding was established between her and Mr Boffin that she was always to look for Lives of Misers. Morning after morning they roamed about the town together, pursuing this singular research. Miserly literature not being abundant, the proportion of failures to successes may have been as a hundred to one; still Mr Boffin, never wearied, remained as avaricious67 for misers as he had been at the first onset68. It was curious that Bella never saw the books about the house, nor did she ever hear from Mr Boffin one word of reference to their contents. He seemed to save up his Misers as they had saved up their money. As they had been greedy for it, and secret about it, and had hidden it, so he was greedy for them, and secret about them, and hid them. But beyond all doubt it was to be noticed, and was by Bella very clearly noticed, that, as he pursued the acquisition of those dismal69 records with the ardour of Don Quixote for his books of chivalry70, he began to spend his money with a more sparing hand. And often when he came out of a shop with some new account of one of those wretched lunatics, she would almost shrink from the sly dry chuckle71 with which he would take her arm again and trot away. It did not appear that Mrs Boffin knew of this taste. He made no allusion72 to it, except in the morning walks when he and Bella were always alone; and Bella, partly under the impression that he took her into his confidence by implication, and partly in remembrance of Mrs Boffin’s anxious face that night, held the same reserve.
While these occurrences were in progress, Mrs Lammle made the discovery that Bella had a fascinating influence over her. The Lammles, originally presented by the dear Veneerings, visited the Boffins on all grand occasions, and Mrs Lammle had not previously73 found this out; but now the knowledge came upon her all at once. It was a most extraordinary thing (she said to Mrs Boffin); she was foolishly susceptible74 of the power of beauty, but it wasn’t altogether that; she never had been able to resist a natural grace of manner, but it wasn’t altogether that; it was more than that, and there was no name for the indescribable extent and degree to which she was captivated by this charming girl.
This charming girl having the words repeated to her by Mrs Boffin (who was proud of her being admired, and would have done anything to give her pleasure), naturally recognized in Mrs Lammle a woman of penetration75 and taste. Responding to the sentiments, by being very gracious to Mrs Lammle, she gave that lady the means of so improving her opportunity, as that the captivation became reciprocal, though always wearing an appearance of greater sobriety on Bella’s part than on the enthusiastic Sophronia’s. Howbeit, they were so much together that, for a time, the Boffin chariot held Mrs Lammle oftener than Mrs Boffin: a preference of which the latter worthy76 soul was not in the least jealous, placidly77 remarking, ‘Mrs Lammle is a younger companion for her than I am, and Lor! she’s more fashionable.’
But between Bella Wilfer and Georgiana Podsnap there was this one difference, among many others, that Bella was in no danger of being captivated by Alfred. She distrusted and disliked him. Indeed, her perception was so quick, and her observation so sharp, that after all she mistrusted his wife too, though with her giddy vanity and wilfulness78 she squeezed the mistrust away into a corner of her mind, and blocked it up there.
Mrs Lammle took the friendliest interest in Bella’s making a good match. Mrs Lammle said, in a sportive way, she really must show her beautiful Bella what kind of wealthy creatures she and Alfred had on hand, who would as one man fall at her feet enslaved. Fitting occasion made, Mrs Lammle accordingly produced the most passable of those feverish79, boastful, and indefinably loose gentlemen who were always lounging in and out of the City on questions of the Bourse and Greek and Spanish and India and Mexican and par2 and premium80 and discount and three-quarters and seven-eighths. Who in their agreeable manner did homage81 to Bella as if she were a compound of fine girl, thorough-bred horse, well-built drag, and remarkable pipe. But without the least effect, though even Mr Fledgeby’s attractions were cast into the scale.
‘I fear, Bella dear,’ said Mrs Lammle one day in the chariot, ‘that you will be very hard to please.’
‘I don’t expect to be pleased, dear,’ said Bella, with a languid turn of her eyes.
‘Truly, my love,’ returned Sophronia, shaking her head, and smiling her best smile, ‘it would not be very easy to find a man worthy of your attractions.’
‘The question is not a man, my dear,’ said Bella, coolly, ‘but an establishment.’
‘My love,’ returned Mrs Lammle, ‘your prudence82 amazes me — where DID you study life so well! — you are right. In such a case as yours, the object is a fitting establishment. You could not descend83 to an inadequate84 one from Mr Boffin’s house, and even if your beauty alone could not command it, it is to be assumed that Mr and Mrs Boffin will —’
‘Oh! they have already,’ Bella interposed.
‘No! Have they really?’
A little vexed85 by a suspicion that she had spoken precipitately87, and withal a little defiant88 of her own vexation, Bella determined89 not to retreat.
‘That is to say,’ she explained, ‘they have told me they mean to portion me as their adopted child, if you mean that. But don’t mention it.’
‘Mention it!’ replied Mrs Lammle, as if she were full of awakened90 feeling at the suggestion of such an impossibility. ‘Men-tion it!’
‘I don’t mind telling you, Mrs Lammle —’ Bella began again.
‘My love, say Sophronia, or I must not say Bella.’
With a little short, petulant91 ‘Oh!’ Bella complied. ‘Oh! — Sophronia then — I don’t mind telling you, Sophronia, that I am convinced I have no heart, as people call it; and that I think that sort of thing is nonsense.’
‘Brave girl!’ murmured Mrs Lammle.
‘And so,’ pursued Bella, ‘as to seeking to please myself, I don’t; except in the one respect I have mentioned. I am indifferent otherwise.’
‘But you can’t help pleasing, Bella,’ said Mrs Lammle, rallying her with an arch look and her best smile, ‘you can’t help making a proud and an admiring husband. You may not care to please yourself, and you may not care to please him, but you are not a free agent as to pleasing: you are forced to do that, in spite of yourself, my dear; so it may be a question whether you may not as well please yourself too, if you can.’
Now, the very grossness of this flattery put Bella upon proving that she actually did please in spite of herself. She had a misgiving92 that she was doing wrong — though she had an indistinct foreshadowing that some harm might come of it thereafter, she little thought what consequences it would really bring about — but she went on with her confidence.
‘Don’t talk of pleasing in spite of one’s self, dear,’ said Bella. ‘I have had enough of that.’
‘Ay?’ cried Mrs Lammle. ‘Am I already corroborated93, Bella?’
‘Never mind, Sophronia, we will not speak of it any more. Don’t ask me about it.’
This plainly meaning Do ask me about it, Mrs Lammle did as she was requested.
‘Tell me, Bella. Come, my dear. What provoking burr has been inconveniently94 attracted to the charming skirts, and with difficulty shaken off?’
‘Provoking indeed,’ said Bella, ‘and no burr to boast of! But don’t ask me.’
‘Shall I guess?’
‘You would never guess. What would you say to our Secretary?’
‘My dear! The hermit96 Secretary, who creeps up and down the back stairs, and is never seen!’
‘I don’t know about his creeping up and down the back stairs,’ said Bella, rather contemptuously, ‘further than knowing that he does no such thing; and as to his never being seen, I should be content never to have seen him, though he is quite as visible as you are. But I pleased HIM (for my sins) and he had the presumption97 to tell me so.’
‘The man never made a declaration to you, my dear Bella!’
‘Are you sure of that, Sophronia?’ said Bella. ‘I am not. In fact, I am sure of the contrary.’
‘The man must be mad,’ said Mrs Lammle, with a kind of resignation.
‘He appeared to be in his senses,’ returned Bella, tossing her head, ‘and he had plenty to say for himself. I told him my opinion of his declaration and his conduct, and dismissed him. Of course this has all been very inconvenient95 to me, and very disagreeable. It has remained a secret, however. That word reminds me to observe, Sophronia, that I have glided98 on into telling you the secret, and that I rely upon you never to mention it.’
‘Mention it!’ repeated Mrs Lammle with her former feeling. ‘ Mention it!’
This time Sophronia was so much in earnest that she found it necessary to bend forward in the carriage and give Bella a kiss. A Judas order of kiss; for she thought, while she yet pressed Bella’s hand after giving it, ‘Upon your own showing, you vain heartless girl, puffed99 up by the doting100 folly101 of a dustman, I need have no relenting towards YOU. If my husband, who sends me here, should form any schemes for making YOU a victim, I should certainly not cross him again.’ In those very same moments, Bella was thinking, ‘Why am I always at war with myself? Why have I told, as if upon compulsion, what I knew all along I ought to have withheld102? Why am I making a friend of this woman beside me, in spite of the whispers against her that I hear in my heart?’
As usual, there was no answer in the looking-glass when she got home and referred these questions to it. Perhaps if she had consulted some better oracle103, the result might have been more satisfactory; but she did not, and all things consequent marched the march before them.
On one point connected with the watch she kept on Mr Boffin, she felt very inquisitive104, and that was the question whether the Secretary watched him too, and followed the sure and steady change in him, as she did? Her very limited intercourse105 with Mr Rokesmith rendered this hard to find out. Their communication now, at no time extended beyond the preservation106 of commonplace appearances before Mr and Mrs Boffin; and if Bella and the Secretary were ever left alone together by any chance, he immediately withdrew. She consulted his face when she could do so covertly107, as she worked or read, and could make nothing of it. He looked subdued108; but he had acquired a strong command of feature, and, whenever Mr Boffin spoke86 to him in Bella’s presence, or whatever revelation of himself Mr Boffin made, the Secretary’s face changed no more than a wall. A slightly knitted brow, that expressed nothing but an almost mechanical attention, and a compression of the mouth, that might have been a guard against a scornful smile — these she saw from morning to night, from day to day, from week to week, monotonous109, unvarying, set, as in a piece of sculpture.
The worst of the matter was, that it thus fell out insensibly — and most provokingly, as Bella complained to herself, in her impetuous little manner — that her observation of Mr Boffin involved a continual observation of Mr Rokesmith. ‘Won’t THAT extract a look from him?’—‘Can it be possible THAT makes no impression on him?’ Such questions Bella would propose to herself, often as many times in a day as there were hours in it. Impossible to know. Always the same fixed110 face.
‘Can he be so base as to sell his very nature for two hundred a year?’ Bella would think. And then, ‘But why not? It’s a mere111 question of price with others besides him. I suppose I would sell mine, if I could get enough for it.’ And so she would come round again to the war with herself.
A kind of illegibility112, though a different kind, stole over Mr Boffin’s face. Its old simplicity113 of expression got masked by a certain craftiness114 that assimilated even his good-humour to itself. His very smile was cunning, as if he had been studying smiles among the portraits of his misers. Saving an occasional burst of impatience115, or coarse assertion of his mastery, his good-humour remained to him, but it had now a sordid116 alloy117 of distrust; and though his eyes should twinkle and all his face should laugh, he would sit holding himself in his own arms, as if he had an inclination to hoard118 himself up, and must always grudgingly119 stand on the defensive120.
What with taking heed121 of these two faces, and what with feeling conscious that the stealthy occupation must set some mark on her own, Bella soon began to think that there was not a candid122 or a natural face among them all but Mrs Boffin’s. None the less because it was far less radiant than of yore, faithfully reflecting in its anxiety and regret every line of change in the Golden Dustman’s.
‘Rokesmith,’ said Mr Boffin one evening when they were all in his room again, and he and the Secretary had been going over some accounts, ‘I am spending too much money. Or leastways, you are spending too much for me.’
‘You are rich, sir.’
‘I am not,’ said Mr Boffin.
The sharpness of the retort was next to telling the Secretary that he lied. But it brought no change of expression into the set face.
‘I tell you I am not rich,’ repeated Mr Boffin, ‘and I won’t have it.’
‘You are not rich, sir?’ repeated the Secretary, in measured words.
‘Well,’ returned Mr Boffin, ‘if I am, that’s my business. I am not going to spend at this rate, to please you, or anybody. You wouldn’t like it, if it was your money.’
‘Even in that impossible case, sir, I—’
‘Hold your tongue!’ said Mr Boffin. ‘You oughtn’t to like it in any case. There! I didn’t mean to he rude, but you put me out so, and after all I’m master. I didn’t intend to tell you to hold your tongue. I beg your pardon. Don’t hold your tongue. Only, don’t contradict. Did you ever come across the life of Mr Elwes?’ referring to his favourite subject at last.
‘The miser?’
‘Ah, people called him a miser. People are always calling other people something. Did you ever read about him?’
‘I think so.’
‘He never owned to being rich, and yet he might have bought me twice over. Did you ever hear of Daniel Dancer?’
‘Another miser? Yes.’
‘He was a good ‘un,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘and he had a sister worthy of him. They never called themselves rich neither. If they HAD called themselves rich, most likely they wouldn’t have been so.’
‘They lived and died very miserably123. Did they not, sir?’
‘No, I don’t know that they did,’ said Mr Boffin, curtly124.
‘Then they are not the Misers I mean. Those abject125 wretches126 —’
‘Don’t call names, Rokesmith,’ said Mr Boffin.
‘— That exemplary brother and sister — lived and died in the foulest127 and filthiest128 degradation129.’
‘They pleased themselves,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘and I suppose they could have done no more if they had spent their money. But however, I ain’t going to fling mine away. Keep the expenses down. The fact is, you ain’t enough here, Rokesmith. It wants constant attention in the littlest things. Some of us will be dying in a workhouse next.’
‘As the persons you have cited,’ quietly remarked the Secretary, ‘thought they would, if I remember, sir.’
‘And very creditable in ‘em too,’ said Mr Boffin. ‘Very independent in ‘em! But never mind them just now. Have you given notice to quit your lodgings130?’
‘Under your direction, I have, sir.’
‘Then I tell you what,’ said Mr Boffin; ‘pay the quarter’s rent — pay the quarter’s rent, it’ll be the cheapest thing in the end — and come here at once, so that you may be always on the spot, day and night, and keep the expenses down. You’ll charge the quarter’s rent to me, and we must try and save it somewhere. You’ve got some lovely furniture; haven’t you?’
‘The furniture in my rooms is my own.’
‘Then we shan’t have to buy any for you. In case you was to think it,’ said Mr Boffin, with a look of peculiar131 shrewdness, ‘so honourably132 independent in you as to make it a relief to your mind, to make that furniture over to me in the light of a set-off against the quarter’s rent, why ease your mind, ease your mind. I don’t ask it, but I won’t stand in your way if you should consider it due to yourself. As to your room, choose any empty room at the top of the house.’
‘Any empty room will do for me,’ said the Secretary.
‘You can take your pick,’ said Mr Boffin, ‘and it’ll be as good as eight or ten shillings a week added to your income. I won’t deduct133 for it; I look to you to make it up handsomely by keeping the expenses down. Now, if you’ll show a light, I’ll come to your office-room and dispose of a letter or two.’
On that clear, generous face of Mrs Boffin’s, Bella had seen such traces of a pang134 at the heart while this dialogue was being held, that she had not the courage to turn her eyes to it when they were left alone. Feigning135 to be intent on her embroidery136, she sat plying137 her needle until her busy hand was stopped by Mrs Boffin’s hand being lightly laid upon it. Yielding to the touch, she felt her hand carried to the good soul’s lips, and felt a tear fall on it.
‘Oh, my loved husband!’ said Mrs Boffin. ‘This is hard to see and hear. But my dear Bella, believe me that in spite of all the change in him, he is the best of men.’
He came back, at the moment when Bella had taken the hand comfortingly between her own.
‘Eh?’ said he, mistrustfully looking in at the door. ‘What’s she telling you?’
‘She is only praising you, sir,’ said Bella.
‘Praising me? You are sure? Not blaming me for standing on my own defence against a crew of plunderers, who could suck me dry by driblets? Not blaming me for getting a little hoard together?’
He came up to them, and his wife folded her hands upon his shoulder, and shook her head as she laid it on her hands.
‘There, there, there!’ urged Mr Boffin, not unkindly. ‘Don’t take on, old lady.’
‘But I can’t bear to see you so, my dear.’
‘Nonsense! Recollect we are not our old selves. Recollect, we must scrunch or be scrunched138. Recollect, we must hold our own. Recollect, money makes money. Don’t you be uneasy, Bella, my child; don’t you be doubtful. The more I save, the more you shall have.’
Bella thought it was well for his wife that she was musing139 with her affectionate face on his shoulder; for there was a cunning light in his eyes as he said all this, which seemed to cast a disagreeable illumination on the change in him, and make it morally uglier.
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1
dross
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| n.渣滓；无用之物 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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3
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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snugness
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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gilding
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| n.贴金箔，镀金 | |
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analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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15
bespeak
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| v.预定；预先请求 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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17
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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18
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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19
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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20
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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21
stipulated
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| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
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plied
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的过去式和过去分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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specification
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| n.详述；[常pl.]规格，说明书，规范 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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26
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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drooped
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| 弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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28
trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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29
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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31
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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32
bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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33
mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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eavesdropper
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| 偷听者 | |
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37
scrunch
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| v.压，挤压；扭曲（面部） | |
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stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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39
covetousness
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40
conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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41
pensively
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| adv.沉思地，焦虑地 | |
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42
unctuous
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| adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的 | |
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43
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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44
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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45
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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46
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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47
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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48
benefactor
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| n. 恩人，行善的人，捐助人 | |
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49
disparage
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| v.贬抑，轻蔑 | |
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50
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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51
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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52
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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53
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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54
intimacy
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| n.熟悉，亲密，密切关系，亲昵的言行 | |
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55
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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56
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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57
misers
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| 守财奴，吝啬鬼( miser的名词复数 ) | |
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58
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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59
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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60
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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61
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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62
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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63
compilation
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| n.编译，编辑 | |
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64
piecemeal
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| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
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65
confiding
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| adj.相信人的，易于相信的v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的现在分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等） | |
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66
whetted
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| v.（在石头上）磨（刀、斧等）( whet的过去式和过去分词 )；引起，刺激（食欲、欲望、兴趣等） | |
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67
avaricious
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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68
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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69
dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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70
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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71
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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72
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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73
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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74
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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75
penetration
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| n.穿透，穿人，渗透 | |
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76
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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77
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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78
wilfulness
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| 任性；倔强 | |
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79
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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80
premium
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| n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的 | |
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81
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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82
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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83
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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84
inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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85
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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86
spoke
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| 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 | |
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87
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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88
defiant
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| adj.无礼的，挑战的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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91
petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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92
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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93
corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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94
inconveniently
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| ad.不方便地 | |
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95
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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96
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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97
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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98
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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99
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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100
doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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101
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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102
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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103
oracle
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| n.神谕，神谕处，预言 | |
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104
inquisitive
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| adj.求知欲强的，好奇的，好寻根究底的 | |
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105
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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106
preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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107
covertly
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| adv.偷偷摸摸地 | |
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108
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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109
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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110
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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111
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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112
illegibility
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| n.不清不楚，不可辨认，模糊 | |
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113
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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114
craftiness
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| 狡猾，狡诈 | |
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115
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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116
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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117
alloy
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| n.合金，(金属的)成色 | |
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118
hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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119
grudgingly
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120
defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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121
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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candid
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| adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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124
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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125
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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126
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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127
foulest
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| adj.恶劣的( foul的最高级 )；邪恶的；难闻的；下流的 | |
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128
filthiest
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| filthy（肮脏的，污秽的）的最高级形式 | |
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129
degradation
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| n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变 | |
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130
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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131
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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132
honourably
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| adv.可尊敬地，光荣地，体面地 | |
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133
deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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134
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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135
feigning
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| 假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等） | |
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136
embroidery
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| n.绣花，刺绣；绣制品 | |
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137
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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138
scrunched
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| v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压 | |
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139
musing
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| n. 沉思，冥想 adj. 沉思的, 冥想的 动词muse的现在分词形式 | |
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