第15章

`And I am very glad I have come,' said Mr. Pecksniff, `if I can be of service. I am very glad I have come. What is the matter, Mrs. Lupin?'

`A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess.

`A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, has he?' repeated Mr. Pecksniff. `Well, well!'

Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept there to fore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation: but Mr. Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs. Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said `a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or `eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom.

`And how,' asked Mr. Pecksniff, drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire, as benevolently as if they were somebody else's, not his: `and how is he now?'

`He is better, and quite tranquil,' answered Mrs. Lupin.

`He is better, and quite tranquil,' said Mr. Pecksniff. `Very well!

Ve-ry well!'

Here again, though the statement was Mrs. Lupin's and not Mr. Pecksniff's, Mr. Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it it was not much when Mrs. Lupin said it, but it was a whole book when Mr. Pecksniff said it. `I observe,' he seemed to say, `and through me, morality in general remarks, that he is better and quite tranquil.'

`There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, `for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard.

He is far from easy in his thoughts, and wants some proper advice from those whose goodness makes it worth his having.'

`Then,' said Mr. Pecksniff, `he is the sort of customer for me.' But though he said this in the plainest language, he didn't speak a word. He only shook his head: disparagingly of himself too.

`I am afraid, sir,' continued the landlady, first looking round to assure herself that there was nobody within hearing, and then looking down upon the floor. `I am very much afraid, sir, that his conscience is troubled by his not being related to--or--or even married to--a very young lady--'

`Mrs. Lupin!' said Mr. Pecksniff, holding up his hand with something in his manner as nearly approaching to severity as any expression of his, mild being that he was, could ever do. `Person! Young person?'

`A very young person,' said Mrs. Lupin, curtseying and blushing: `--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.'

`Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr. Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold: `oh dear me, dear me!'

`At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,' observed the hostess, earnestly, `that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.'

`Your suspicion, Mrs. Lupin,' said Mr. Pecksniff gravely, `is very natural.'

Touching which remark, let it be written down to their confusion, that the enemies of this worthy man unblushingly maintained that he always said of what was very bad, that it was very natural; and that he unconsciously betrayed his own nature in doing so.

`Your suspicion, Mrs. Lupin,' he repeated, `is very natural, and I have no doubt correct. I will wait upon these travellers.'

With that he took off his great-coat, and having run his fingers through his hair, thrust one hand gently in the bosom of his waist-coat and meekly signed to her to lead the way.

`Shall I knock?' asked Mrs. Lupin, when they reached the chamber door.

`No,' said Mr. Pecksniff, `enter if you please.'

They went in on tiptoe: or rather the hostess took that precaution for Mr. Pecksniff always walked softly. The old gentleman was still asleep, and his young companion still sat reading by the fire.

`I am afraid,' said Mr. Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, `I am afraid that this looks artful. I am afraid, Mrs. Lupin, do you know, that this looks very artful!'

As he finished this whisper, he advanced before the hostess; and at the same time the young lady, hearing footsteps, rose. Mr. Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs. Lupin again: if possible, with increased despondency.

`Yes, ma'am,' he said, `it is a good book. I was fearful of that beforehand.

I am apprehensive that this is a very deep thing indeed!'

`What gentleman is this?' inquired the object of his virtuous doubts.

`Hush! don't trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr. Pecksniff, as the landlady was about to answer. `This young'--in spite of himself he hesitated when "person" rose to his lips, and substituted another word: `this young stranger, Mrs. Lupin, will excuse me for replying briefly, that I reside in this village: it may be in an influential manner, however, undeserved; and that I have been summoned here by you. I am here, as I am everywhere, I hope, in sympathy for the sick and sorry.'

With these impressive words, Mr. Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Whatever objection the young lady urged to Mrs. Lupin went no further, for nothing more was said to Mr. Pecksniff, and Mr. Pecksniff said nothing more to anybody else.