The arrangement between Mr Boffin and his literary man, Mr Silas Wegg, so far altered with the altered habits of Mr Boffin’s life, as that the Roman Empire usually declined in the morning and in the eminently¹ aristocratic family mansion², rather than in the evening, as of yore, and in Boffin’s Bower³. There were occasions, however, when Mr Boffin, seeking a brief refuge from the blandishments of fashion, would present himself at the Bower after dark, to anticipate the next sallying forth⁴ of Wegg, and would there, on the old settle, pursue the downward fortunes of those enervated⁵ and corrupted⁶ masters of the world who were by this time on their last legs. If Wegg had been worse paid for his office, or better qualified⁷ to discharge it, he would have considered these visits complimentary⁸ and agreeable; but, holding the position of a handsomely-remunerated humbug⁹, he resented them. This was quite according to rule, for the incompetent¹⁰ servant, by whomsoever employed, is always against his employer. Even those born governors, noble and right honourable¹¹ creatures, who have been the most imbecile in high places, have uniformly shown themselves the most opposed (sometimes in belying¹² distrust, sometimes in

分享到：