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She returned this fealty by causing it

to be understood that she was even ainst the felonious

shade of the deceased than anybody else was; thus, on the whole, she

caly well

Mr Sparkler's lordship was fortunately one of those shelves on which a

gentleman is considered to be put away for life, unless there should be

reasons for hoisting hiht That patriotic servant accordingly stuck to his colours (the

Standard of four Quarterings), and was a perfect Nelson in respect

of nailing them to the mast On the profits of his intrepidity, Mrs

Sparkler and Mrs Merdle, inhabiting different floors of the genteel

little temple of inconvenience to which the smell of the day before

yesterday's soup and coach-horses was as constant as Death to ht it out in the lists of Society, sworn

rivals And Little Dorrit, seeing all these things as they developed

themselves, could not but wonder, anxiously, into what back corner of

the genteel establishment Fanny's children would be poked by-and-by, and

ould take care of those unborn little victi far too ill to be spoken with on subjects of e on the repose into which

his weakness could be hushed, Little Dorrit's sole reliance during this

heavy period was on Mr Meagles He was still abroad; but she had written

to hi Arthur in

the Marshalsea and since, confiding her uneasiness to him on the points

on which she was most anxious, but especially on one To that one,

the continued absence of Mr Meagles abroad, instead of his co

presence in the Marshalsea, was referable

Without disclosing the precise nature of the docuaud's hands, Little Dorrit had confided the general outline of

that story to Mr Meagles, to whom she had also recounted his fate The

old cautious habits of the scales and scoop at once showed Mr Meagles

the iinal papers; wherefore he wrote

back to Little Dorrit, strongly confir her in the solicitude she

expressed on that head, and adding that he would not co some attempt to trace them out'

By this tireeable to hileses He was so considerate as to

lay no injunctions on his wife in that particular; but he les that personally they did not appear to hiood thing if--politely, and

without any scene, or anything of that sort--they agreed that they were

the best fellows in the world, but were best apart Poor Mr Meagles, who

was already sensible that he did not advance his daughter's happiness by

being constantly slighted in her presence, said 'Good, Henry! You are

my Pet's husband; you have displaced ood!' This arrangee,

which perhaps Henry Gowan had not foreseen, that both Mr and Mrs

Meagles were hter, when their

co child: and that his high

spirit found itself better provided withnecessity of knohence it cales, at such a period, naturally seized an occupation with great

ardour He knew froaud had

been haunting, and the various hotels at which he had been living for

some time back The occupation he set himself was to visit these with

all discretion and speed, and, in the event of finding anywhere that he

had left a bill unpaid, and a box or parcel behind, to pay such bill,

and bring away such box or parcel

With no other attendant than Mother, Mr Meagles went upon his

pilgrie, and encountered a number of adventures Not the least of his

difficulties was, that he never kneas said to hi people who never knehat he said to theue was soue of the whole world, only the people were too stupid

to know it, Mr Meagles harangued innkeepers in the most voluble manner,

entered into loud explanations of the most complicated sort, and utterly

renounced replies in the native language of the respondents, on the

ground that they were 'all bosh' Soles addressed in such idiouish and shut up--which made the matter worse On a

balance of the account, however, it h he found no property, he found so many debts and various

associations of discredit with the proper naible, that he was almost everywhere overwhelmed with

injurious accusations On no fewer than four occasions the police

were called in to receive denunciations of Mr Meagles as a Knight of

Industry, a good-for-nothing, and a thief, all of which opprobrious

language he bore with the best tenoes, to be got rid of, talking all the while, like a

cheerful and fluent Briton as he ith Mother under his arles was a clear,

shrewd, persevering man When he had 'worked round,' as he called it, to

Paris in his pilgrie, and had wholly failed in it so far, he was not

disheartened 'The nearer to England I follow hiles, 'the nearer I am likely to come to the papers,

whether they turn up or no Because it is only reasonable to conclude

that he would deposit theland, and where they would yet be accessible to

hiles found a letter fro for

him; in which she mentioned that she had been able to talk for a minute

or tith Mr Clennam about this man as no more; and that when she

told Mr Clennales, as on his way to see

hi about the les that he had been known

to Miss Wade, then living in such a street at Calais 'Oho!' said Mr

Meagles

As soon afterwards asthe cracked bell at the cracked gate, and it jarred open, and the

peasant-wo, 'Ice-say! Seer! Who?'

In acknowledgles murmured to himself that

there was some sense about these Calais people, who really did know

so of what you and themselves were up to; and returned, 'Miss

Wade, my dear' He was then shown into the presence of Miss Wade

'It's so his throat; 'I

hope you have been pretty well, Miss Wade?'

Without hoping that he or anybody else had been pretty well, Miss Wade

asked hiain?

Mr Meagles, in theanything in the shape of a box

'Why, the truth is, Miss Wade,' said Mr Meagles, in a co voice, 'it is possible that youthat is at present dark Any

unpleasant bygones between us are bygones, I hope Can't be helped now

You recollect es so! A les could not have struck a worse key-note He

paused for any expression of interest, but paused in vain

'That is not the subject you wished to enter on?' she said, after a cold

silence

'No, no,' returned Mr Meagles 'No I thought your good nature ht you knew,' she interrupted, with a sood

nature is not to be calculated upon?'

'Don't say so,' said Mr Meagles; 'you do yourself an injustice However,

to co

by approaching it in a roundabout way 'I have heard from my friend

Clennam, who, you will be sorry to hear, has been and still is very

ill--'

He paused again, and again she was silent

'--that you had soe of one Blandois, lately killed in London

by a violent accident Now, don't les, dexterously forestalling an angry

interruption which he saw about to break 'I ae, I know But the question is,' Mr Meagles's voice

here becaland last time,

leave a box of papers, or a bundle of papers, or some papers or other in

so you to allow him

to leave them here for a short time, until he wanted them?'

'The question is?' she repeated 'Whose question is?'

'Mine,' said Mr Meagles 'And not only mine but Clennam's question, and

other people's question Now, I a with Pet, 'that you can't have any unkind feeling

towards hter; it's i one in which a particular friend of hers is nearly interested

So here I am, frankly to say that is the question, and to ask, Now, did

he?'

'Upon my word,' she returned, 'I see of a man I once in my life hired, and paid, and dismissed,

to ailes, 'don't! Don't take offence,

because it's the plainest question in the world, and ht be asked

of any one The docufully

obtained, ht at some time or other be troublesoht by the people to who to London, and there were

reasons why he should not take them with him then, why he should wish

to be able to put his hand upon the them with people of his own sort Did he leave the you offence, I would take any

pains to do it I put the question personally, but there's nothing

personal in it I ht put it to any one; I have put it already tohere?'

'No'

'Then unfortunately, Miss Wade, you know nothing about the about them I have noered your unaccountable

question He did not leave the about the 'I am sorry for it; that's over; and I

hope there is not much harm done--Tattycoram well, Miss Wade?'

'Harriet well? O yes!'

'I have put les, thus corrected 'I

can't keep ht

twice about it, Inaood-natured and sportive with young people, one