diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2171-0.txt | 1976 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2171-0.zip | bin | 0 -> 45188 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2171-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 47059 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 2171-h/2171-h.htm | 2320 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2171.txt | 1954 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2171.zip | bin | 0 -> 45121 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/brjcb10.txt | 1949 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/brjcb10.zip | bin | 0 -> 43366 bytes |
11 files changed, 8215 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2171-0.txt b/2171-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77fd1fc --- /dev/null +++ b/2171-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1976 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: Brother Jacob + +Author: George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans] + +Release Date: May, 2000 [eBook #2171] +[Most recently updated: June 23, 2021] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: David Price + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB *** + + + + +Brother Jacob + +by George Eliot + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I + CHAPTER II + CHAPTER III + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Among the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, that of +blindly taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, been +sufficiently considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, who has +been fed principally on salt pork and yeast dumplings, to know that +there is satiety for the human stomach even in a paradise of glass jars +full of sugared almonds and pink lozenges, and that the tedium of life +can reach a pitch where plum-buns at discretion cease to offer the +slightest excitement? Or how, at the tender age when a confectioner +seems to him a very prince whom all the world must envy—who breakfasts +on macaroons, dines on meringues, sups on twelfth-cake, and fills up +the intermediate hours with sugar-candy or peppermint—how is he to +foresee the day of sad wisdom, when he will discern that the +confectioner’s calling is not socially influential, or favourable to a +soaring ambition? I have known a man who turned out to have a +metaphysical genius, incautiously, in the period of youthful buoyancy, +commence his career as a dancing-master; and you may imagine the use +that was made of this initial mistake by opponents who felt themselves +bound to warn the public against his doctrine of the Inconceivable. He +could not give up his dancing-lessons, because he made his bread by +them, and metaphysics would not have found him in so much as salt to +his bread. It was really the same with Mr. David Faux and the +confectionery business. His uncle, the butler at the great house close +by Brigford, had made a pet of him in his early boyhood, and it was on +a visit to this uncle that the confectioners’ shops in that brilliant +town had, on a single day, fired his tender imagination. He carried +home the pleasing illusion that a confectioner must be at once the +happiest and the foremost of men, since the things he made were not +only the most beautiful to behold, but the very best eating, and such +as the Lord Mayor must always order largely for his private recreation; +so that when his father declared he must be put to a trade, David chose +his line without a moment’s hesitation; and, with a rashness inspired +by a sweet tooth, wedded himself irrevocably to confectionery. Soon, +however, the tooth lost its relish and fell into blank indifference; +and all the while, his mind expanded, his ambition took new shapes, +which could hardly be satisfied within the sphere his youthful ardour +had chosen. But what was he to do? He was a young man of much mental +activity, and, above all, gifted with a spirit of contrivance; but +then, his faculties would not tell with great effect in any other +medium than that of candied sugars, conserves, and pastry. Say what you +will about the identity of the reasoning process in all branches of +thought, or about the advantage of coming to subjects with a fresh +mind, the adjustment of butter to flour, and of heat to pastry, is +_not_ the best preparation for the office of prime minister; besides, +in the present imperfectly-organized state of society, there are social +barriers. David could invent delightful things in the way of +drop-cakes, and he had the widest views of the sugar department; but in +other directions he certainly felt hampered by the want of knowledge +and practical skill; and the world is so inconveniently constituted, +that the vague consciousness of being a fine fellow is no guarantee of +success in any line of business. + +This difficulty pressed with some severity on Mr. David Faux, even +before his apprenticeship was ended. His soul swelled with an impatient +sense that he ought to become something very remarkable—that it was +quite out of the question for him to put up with a narrow lot as other +men did: he scorned the idea that he could accept an average. He was +sure there was nothing average about him: even such a person as Mrs. +Tibbits, the washer-woman, perceived it, and probably had a preference +for his linen. At that particular period he was weighing out +gingerbread nuts; but such an anomaly could not continue. No position +could be suited to Mr. David Faux that was not in the highest degree +easy to the flesh and flattering to the spirit. If he had fallen on the +present times, and enjoyed the advantages of a Mechanic’s Institute, he +would certainly have taken to literature and have written reviews; but +his education had not been liberal. He had read some novels from the +adjoining circulating library, and had even bought the story of _Inkle +and Yarico_, which had made him feel very sorry for poor Mr. Inkle; so +that his ideas might not have been below a certain mark of the literary +calling; but his spelling and diction were too unconventional. + +When a man is not adequately appreciated or comfortably placed in his +own country, his thoughts naturally turn towards foreign climes; and +David’s imagination circled round and round the utmost limits of his +geographical knowledge, in search of a country where a young gentleman +of pasty visage, lipless mouth, and stumpy hair, would be likely to be +received with the hospitable enthusiasm which he had a right to expect. +Having a general idea of America as a country where the population was +chiefly black, it appeared to him the most propitious destination for +an emigrant who, to begin with, had the broad and easily recognizable +merit of whiteness; and this idea gradually took such strong possession +of him that Satan seized the opportunity of suggesting to him that he +might emigrate under easier circumstances, if he supplied himself with +a little money from his master’s till. But that evil spirit, whose +understanding, I am convinced, has been much overrated, quite wasted +his time on this occasion. David would certainly have liked well to +have some of his master’s money in his pocket, if he had been sure his +master would have been the only man to suffer for it; but he was a +cautious youth, and quite determined to run no risks on his own +account. So he stayed out his apprenticeship, and committed no act of +dishonesty that was at all likely to be discovered, reserving his plan +of emigration for a future opportunity. And the circumstances under +which he carried it out were in this wise. Having been at home a week +or two partaking of the family beans, he had used his leisure in +ascertaining a fact which was of considerable importance to him, +namely, that his mother had a small sum in guineas painfully saved from +her maiden perquisites, and kept in the corner of a drawer where her +baby-linen had reposed for the last twenty years—ever since her son +David had taken to his feet, with a slight promise of bow-legs which +had not been altogether unfulfilled. Mr. Faux, senior, had told his son +very frankly, that he must not look to being set up in business by +_him_: with seven sons, and one of them a very healthy and +well-developed idiot, who consumed a dumpling about eight inches in +diameter every day, it was pretty well if they got a hundred apiece at +his death. Under these circumstances, what was David to do? It was +certainly hard that he should take his mother’s money; but he saw no +other ready means of getting any, and it was not to be expected that a +young man of his merit should put up with inconveniences that could be +avoided. Besides, it is not robbery to take property belonging to your +mother: she doesn’t prosecute you. And David was very well behaved to +his mother; he comforted her by speaking highly of himself to her, and +assuring her that he never fell into the vices he saw practised by +other youths of his own age, and that he was particularly fond of +honesty. If his mother would have given him her twenty guineas as a +reward of this noble disposition, he really would not have stolen them +from her, and it would have been more agreeable to his feelings. +Nevertheless, to an active mind like David’s, ingenuity is not without +its pleasures: it was rather an interesting occupation to become +stealthily acquainted with the wards of his mother’s simple key (not in +the least like Chubb’s patent), and to get one that would do its work +equally well; and also to arrange a little drama by which he would +escape suspicion, and run no risk of forfeiting the prospective hundred +at his father’s death, which would be convenient in the improbable case +of his _not_ making a large fortune in the “Indies.” + +First, he spoke freely of his intention to start shortly for Liverpool +and take ship for America; a resolution which cost his good mother some +pain, for, after Jacob the idiot, there was not one of her sons to whom +her heart clung more than to her youngest-born, David. Next, it +appeared to him that Sunday afternoon, when everybody was gone to +church except Jacob and the cowboy, was so singularly favourable an +opportunity for sons who wanted to appropriate their mothers’ guineas, +that he half thought it must have been kindly intended by Providence +for such purposes. Especially the third Sunday in Lent; because Jacob +had been out on one of his occasional wanderings for the last two days; +and David, being a timid young man, had a considerable dread and hatred +of Jacob, as of a large personage who went about habitually with a +pitchfork in his hand. + +Nothing could be easier, then, than for David on this Sunday afternoon +to decline going to church, on the ground that he was going to tea at +Mr. Lunn’s, whose pretty daughter Sally had been an early flame of his, +and, when the church-goers were at a safe distance, to abstract the +guineas from their wooden box and slip them into a small canvas +bag—nothing easier than to call to the cowboy that he was going, and +tell him to keep an eye on the house for fear of Sunday tramps. David +thought it would be easy, too, to get to a small thicket and bury his +bag in a hole he had already made and covered up under the roots of an +old hollow ash, and he had, in fact, found the hole without a moment’s +difficulty, had uncovered it, and was about gently to drop the bag into +it, when the sound of a large body rustling towards him with something +like a bellow was such a surprise to David, who, as a gentleman gifted +with much contrivance, was naturally only prepared for what he +expected, that instead of dropping the bag gently he let it fall so as +to make it untwist and vomit forth the shining guineas. In the same +moment he looked up and saw his dear brother Jacob close upon him, +holding the pitchfork so that the bright smooth prongs were a yard in +advance of his own body, and about a foot off David’s. (A learned +friend, to whom I once narrated this history, observed that it was +David’s guilt which made these prongs formidable, and that the “mens +nil conscia sibi” strips a pitchfork of all terrors. I thought this +idea so valuable, that I obtained his leave to use it on condition of +suppressing his name.) Nevertheless, David did not entirely lose his +presence of mind; for in that case he would have sunk on the earth or +started backward; whereas he kept his ground and smiled at Jacob, who +nodded his head up and down, and said, “Hoich, Zavy!” in a painfully +equivocal manner. David’s heart was beating audibly, and if he had had +any lips they would have been pale; but his mental activity, instead of +being paralysed, was stimulated. While he was inwardly praying (he +always prayed when he was much frightened)—“Oh, save me this once, and +I’ll never get into danger again!”—he was thrusting his hand into his +pocket in search of a box of yellow lozenges, which he had brought with +him from Brigford among other delicacies of the same portable kind, as +a means of conciliating proud beauty, and more particularly the beauty +of Miss Sarah Lunn. Not one of these delicacies had he ever offered to +poor Jacob, for David was not a young man to waste his jujubes and +barley-sugar in giving pleasure to people from whom he expected +nothing. But an idiot with equivocal intentions and a pitchfork is as +well worth flattering and cajoling as if he were Louis Napoleon. So +David, with a promptitude equal to the occasion, drew out his box of +yellow lozenges, lifted the lid, and performed a pantomime with his +mouth and fingers, which was meant to imply that he was delighted to +see his dear brother Jacob, and seized the opportunity of making him a +small present, which he would find particularly agreeable to the taste. +Jacob, you understand, was not an intense idiot, but within a certain +limited range knew how to choose the good and reject the evil: he took +one lozenge, by way of test, and sucked it as if he had been a +philosopher; then, in as great an ecstacy at its new and complex savour +as Caliban at the taste of Trinculo’s wine, chuckled and stroked this +suddenly beneficent brother, and held out his hand for more; for, +except in fits of anger, Jacob was not ferocious or needlessly +predatory. David’s courage half returned, and he left off praying; +pouring a dozen lozenges into Jacob’s palm, and trying to look very +fond of him. He congratulated himself that he had formed the plan of +going to see Miss Sally Lunn this afternoon, and that, as a +consequence, he had brought with him these propitiatory delicacies: he +was certainly a lucky fellow; indeed, it was always likely Providence +should be fonder of him than of other apprentices, and since he _was_ +to be interrupted, why, an idiot was preferable to any other sort of +witness. For the first time in his life, David thought he saw the +advantage of idiots. + +As for Jacob, he had thrust his pitchfork into the ground, and had +thrown himself down beside it, in thorough abandonment to the +unprecedented pleasure of having five lozenges in his mouth at once, +blinking meanwhile, and making inarticulate sounds of gustative +content. He had not yet given any sign of noticing the guineas, but in +seating himself he had laid his broad right hand on them, and +unconsciously kept it in that position, absorbed in the sensations of +his palate. If he could only be kept so occupied with the lozenges as +not to see the guineas before David could manage to cover them! That +was David’s best hope of safety; for Jacob knew his mother’s guineas; +it had been part of their common experience as boys to be allowed to +look at these handsome coins, and rattle them in their box on high days +and holidays, and among all Jacob’s narrow experiences as to money, +this was likely to be the most memorable. + +“Here, Jacob,” said David, in an insinuating tone, handing the box to +him, “I’ll give ’em all to you. Run!—make haste!—else somebody’ll come +and take ’em.” + +David, not having studied the psychology of idiots, was not aware that +they are not to be wrought upon by imaginative fears. Jacob took the +box with his left hand, but saw no necessity for running away. Was ever +a promising young man wishing to lay the foundation of his fortune by +appropriating his mother’s guineas obstructed by such a day-mare as +this? But the moment must come when Jacob would move his right hand to +draw off the lid of the tin box, and then David would sweep the guineas +into the hole with the utmost address and swiftness, and immediately +seat himself upon them. Ah, no! It’s of no use to have foresight when +you are dealing with an idiot: he is not to be calculated upon. Jacob’s +right hand was given to vague clutching and throwing; it suddenly +clutched the guineas as if they had been so many pebbles, and was +raised in an attitude which promised to scatter them like seed over a +distant bramble, when, from some prompting or other—probably of an +unwonted sensation—it paused, descended to Jacob’s knee, and opened +slowly under the inspection of Jacob’s dull eyes. David began to pray +again, but immediately desisted—another resource having occurred to +him. + +“Mother! zinnies!” exclaimed the innocent Jacob. Then, looking at +David, he said, interrogatively, “Box?” + +“Hush! hush!” said David, summoning all his ingenuity in this severe +strait. “See, Jacob!” He took the tin box from his brother’s hand, and +emptied it of the lozenges, returning half of them to Jacob, but +secretly keeping the rest in his own hand. Then he held out the empty +box, and said, “Here’s the box, Jacob! The box for the guineas!” gently +sweeping them from Jacob’s palm into the box. + +This procedure was not objectionable to Jacob; on the contrary, the +guineas clinked so pleasantly as they fell, that he wished for a +repetition of the sound, and seizing the box, began to rattle it very +gleefully. David, seizing the opportunity, deposited his reserve of +lozenges in the ground and hastily swept some earth over them. “Look, +Jacob!” he said, at last. Jacob paused from his clinking, and looked +into the hole, while David began to scratch away the earth, as if in +doubtful expectation. When the lozenges were laid bare, he took them +out one by one, and gave them to Jacob. “Hush!” he said, in a loud +whisper, “Tell nobody—all for Jacob—hush—sh—sh! Put guineas in the +hole—they’ll come out like this!” To make the lesson more complete, he +took a guinea, and lowering it into the hole, said, “Put in _so_.” +Then, as he took the last lozenge out, he said, “Come out _so_,” and +put the lozenge into Jacob’s hospitable mouth. + +Jacob turned his head on one side, looked first at his brother and then +at the hole, like a reflective monkey, and, finally, laid the box of +guineas in the hole with much decision. David made haste to add every +one of the stray coins, put on the lid, and covered it well with earth, +saying in his meet coaxing tone— + +“Take ’m out to-morrow, Jacob; all for Jacob! Hush—sh—sh!” + +Jacob, to whom this once indifferent brother had all at once become a +sort of sweet-tasted fetish, stroked David’s best coat with his +adhesive fingers, and then hugged him with an accompaniment of that +mingled chuckling and gurgling by which he was accustomed to express +the milder passions. But if he had chosen to bite a small morsel out of +his beneficent brother’s cheek, David would have been obliged to bear +it. + +And here I must pause, to point out to you the short-sightedness of +human contrivance. This ingenious young man, Mr. David Faux, thought he +had achieved a triumph of cunning when he had associated himself in his +brother’s rudimentary mind with the flavour of yellow lozenges. But he +had yet to learn that it is a dreadful thing to make an idiot fond of +you, when you yourself are not of an affectionate disposition: +especially an idiot with a pitchfork—obviously a difficult friend to +shake off by rough usage. + +It may seem to you rather a blundering contrivance for a clever young +man to bury the guineas. But, if everything had turned out as David had +calculated, you would have seen that his plan was worthy of his +talents. The guineas would have lain safely in the earth while the +theft was discovered, and David, with the calm of conscious innocence, +would have lingered at home, reluctant to say good-bye to his dear +mother while she was in grief about her guineas; till at length, on the +eve of his departure, he would have disinterred them in the strictest +privacy, and carried them on his own person without inconvenience. But +David, you perceive, had reckoned without his host, or, to speak more +precisely, without his idiot brother—an item of so uncertain and +fluctuating a character, that I doubt whether he would not have puzzled +the astute heroes of M. de Balzac, whose foresight is so remarkably at +home in the future. + +It was clear to David now that he had only one alternative before him: +he must either renounce the guineas, by quietly putting them back in +his mother’s drawer (a course not unattended with difficulty); or he +must leave more than a suspicion behind him, by departing early the +next morning without giving notice, and with the guineas in his pocket. +For if he gave notice that he was going, his mother, he knew, would +insist on fetching from her box of guineas the three she had always +promised him as his share; indeed, in his original plan, he had counted +on this as a means by which the theft would be discovered under +circumstances that would themselves speak for his innocence; but now, +as I need hardly explain, that well-combined plan was completely +frustrated. Even if David could have bribed Jacob with perpetual +lozenges, an idiot’s secrecy is itself betrayal. He dared not even go +to tea at Mr. Lunn’s, for in that case he would have lost sight of +Jacob, who, in his impatience for the crop of lozenges, might scratch +up the box again while he was absent, and carry it home—depriving him +at once of reputation and guineas. No! he must think of nothing all the +rest of this day, but of coaxing Jacob and keeping him out of mischief. +It was a fatiguing and anxious evening to David; nevertheless, he dared +not go to sleep without tying a piece of string to his thumb and great +toe, to secure his frequent waking; for he meant to be up with the +first peep of dawn, and be far out of reach before breakfast-time. His +father, he thought, would certainly cut him off with a shilling; but +what then? Such a striking young man as he would be sure to be well +received in the West Indies: in foreign countries there are always +openings—even for cats. It was probable that some Princess Yarico would +want him to marry her, and make him presents of very large jewels +beforehand; after which, he needn’t marry her unless he liked. David +had made up his mind not to steal any more, even from people who were +fond of him: it was an unpleasant way of making your fortune in a world +where you were likely to surprised in the act by brothers. Such alarms +did not agree with David’s constitution, and he had felt so much nausea +this evening that no doubt his liver was affected. Besides, he would +have been greatly hurt not to be thought well of in the world: he +always meant to make a figure, and be thought worthy of the best seats +and the best morsels. + +Ruminating to this effect on the brilliant future in reserve for him, +David by the help of his check-string kept himself on the alert to +seize the time of earliest dawn for his rising and departure. His +brothers, of course, were early risers, but he should anticipate them +by at least an hour and a half, and the little room which he had to +himself as only an occasional visitor, had its window over the +horse-block, so that he could slip out through the window without the +least difficulty. Jacob, the horrible Jacob, had an awkward trick of +getting up before everybody else, to stem his hunger by emptying the +milk-bowl that was “duly set” for him; but of late he had taken to +sleeping in the hay-loft, and if he came into the house, it would be on +the opposite side to that from which David was making his exit. There +was no need to think of Jacob; yet David was liberal enough to bestow a +curse on him—it was the only thing he ever did bestow gratuitously. His +small bundle of clothes was ready packed, and he was soon treading +lightly on the steps of the horse-block, soon walking at a smart pace +across the fields towards the thicket. It would take him no more than +two minutes to get out the box; he could make out the tree it was under +by the pale strip where the bark was off, although the dawning light +was rather dimmer in the thicket. But what, in the name of—burnt +pastry—was that large body with a staff planted beside it, close at the +foot of the ash-tree? David paused, not to make up his mind as to the +nature of the apparition—he had not the happiness of doubting for a +moment that the staff was Jacob’s pitchfork—but to gather the +self-command necessary for addressing his brother with a sufficiently +honeyed accent. Jacob was absorbed in scratching up the earth, and had +not heard David’s approach. + +“I say, Jacob,” said David in a loud whisper, just as the tin box was +lifted out of the hole. + +Jacob looked up, and discerning his sweet-flavoured brother, nodded and +grinned in the dim light in a way that made him seem to David like a +triumphant demon. If he had been of an impetuous disposition, he would +have snatched the pitchfork from the ground and impaled this fraternal +demon. But David was by no means impetuous; he was a young man greatly +given to calculate consequences, a habit which has been held to be the +foundation of virtue. But somehow it had not precisely that effect in +David: he calculated whether an action would harm himself, or whether +it would only harm other people. In the former case he was very timid +about satisfying his immediate desires, but in the latter he would risk +the result with much courage. + +“Give it me, Jacob,” he said, stooping down and patting his brother. +“Let us see.” + +Jacob, finding the lid rather tight, gave the box to his brother in +perfect faith. David raised the lids and shook his head, while Jacob +put his finger in and took out a guinea to taste whether the +metamorphosis into lozenges was complete and satisfactory. + +“No, Jacob; too soon, too soon,” said David, when the guinea had been +tasted. “Give it me; we’ll go and bury it somewhere else; we’ll put it +in yonder,” he added, pointing vaguely toward the distance. + +David screwed on the lid, while Jacob, looking grave, rose and grasped +his pitchfork. Then, seeing David’s bundle, he snatched it, like a too +officious Newfoundland, stuck his pitchfork into it and carried it over +his shoulder in triumph as he accompanied David and the box out of the +thicket. + +What on earth was David to do? It would have been easy to frown at +Jacob, and kick him, and order him to get away; but David dared as soon +have kicked the bull. Jacob was quiet as long as he was treated +indulgently; but on the slightest show of anger, he became +unmanageable, and was liable to fits of fury which would have made him +formidable even without his pitchfork. There was no mastery to be +obtained over him except by kindness or guile. David tried guile. + +“Go, Jacob,” he said, when they were out of the thicket—pointing +towards the house as he spoke; “go and fetch me a spade—a spade. But +give _me_ the bundle,” he added, trying to reach it from the fork, +where it hung high above Jacob’s tall shoulder. + +But Jacob showed as much alacrity in obeying as a wasp shows in leaving +a sugar-basin. Near David, he felt himself in the vicinity of lozenges: +he chuckled and rubbed his brother’s back, brandishing the bundle +higher out of reach. David, with an inward groan, changed his tactics, +and walked on as fast as he could. It was not safe to linger. Jacob +would get tired of following him, or, at all events, could be eluded. +If they could once get to the distant highroad, a coach would overtake +them, David would mount it, having previously by some ingenious means +secured his bundle, and then Jacob might howl and flourish his +pitchfork as much as he liked. Meanwhile he was under the fatal +necessity of being very kind to this ogre, and of providing a large +breakfast for him when they stopped at a roadside inn. It was already +three hours since they had started, and David was tired. Would no coach +be coming up soon? he inquired. No coach for the next two hours. But +there was a carrier’s cart to come immediately, on its way to the next +town. If he could slip out, even leaving his bundle behind, and get +into the cart without Jacob! But there was a new obstacle. Jacob had +recently discovered a remnant of sugar-candy in one of his brother’s +tail-pockets; and, since then, had cautiously kept his hold on that +limb of the garment, perhaps with an expectation that there would be a +further development of sugar-candy after a longer or shorter interval. +Now every one who has worn a coat will understand the sensibilities +that must keep a man from starting away in a hurry when there is a +grasp on his coat-tail. David looked forward to being well received +among strangers, but it might make a difference if he had only one tail +to his coat. + +He felt himself in a cold perspiration. He could walk no more: he must +get into the cart and let Jacob get in with him. Presently a cheering +idea occurred to him: after so large a breakfast, Jacob would be sure +to go to sleep in the cart; you see at once that David meant to seize +his bundle, jump out, and be free. His expectation was partly +fulfilled: Jacob did go to sleep in the cart, but it was in a peculiar +attitude—it was with his arms tightly fastened round his dear brother’s +body; and if ever David attempted to move, the grasp tightened with the +force of an affectionate boa-constrictor. + +“Th’ innicent’s fond on you,” observed the carrier, thinking that David +was probably an amiable brother, and wishing to pay him a compliment. + +David groaned. The ways of thieving were not ways of pleasantness. Oh, +why had he an idiot brother? Oh, why, in general, was the world so +constituted that a man could not take his mother’s guineas comfortably? +David became grimly speculative. + +Copious dinner at noon for Jacob; but little dinner, because little +appetite, for David. Instead of eating, he plied Jacob with beer; for +through this liberality he descried a hope. Jacob fell into a dead +sleep, at last, without having his arms round David, who paid the +reckoning, took his bundle, and walked off. In another half-hour he was +on the coach on his way to Liverpool, smiling the smile of the +triumphant wicked. He was rid of Jacob—he was bound for the Indies, +where a gullible princess awaited him. He would never steal any more, +but there would be no need; he would show himself so deserving, that +people would make him presents freely. He must give up the notion of +his father’s legacy; but it was not likely he would ever want that +trifle; and even if he did—why, it was a compensation to think that in +being for ever divided from his family he was divided from Jacob, more +terrible than Gorgon or Demogorgon to David’s timid green eyes. Thank +heaven, he should never see Jacob any more! + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +It was nearly six years after the departure of Mr. David Faux for the +West Indies, that the vacant shop in the market-place at Grimworth was +understood to have been let to the stranger with a sallow complexion +and a buff cravat, whose first appearance had caused some excitement in +the bar of the Woolpack, where he had called to wait for the coach. + +Grimworth, to a discerning eye, was a good place to set up shopkeeping +in. There was no competition in it at present; the Church-people had +their own grocer and draper; the Dissenters had theirs; and the two or +three butchers found a ready market for their joints without strict +reference to religious persuasion—except that the rector’s wife had +given a general order for the veal sweet-breads and the mutton kidneys, +while Mr. Rodd, the Baptist minister, had requested that, so far as was +compatible with the fair accommodation of other customers, the sheep’s +trotters might be reserved for him. And it was likely to be a growing +place, for the trustees of Mr. Zephaniah Crypt’s Charity, under the +stimulus of a late visitation by commissioners, were beginning to apply +long-accumulating funds to the rebuilding of the Yellow Coat School, +which was henceforth to be carried forward on a greatly-extended scale, +the testator having left no restrictions concerning the curriculum, but +only concerning the coat. + +The shopkeepers at Grimworth were by no means unanimous as to the +advantages promised by this prospect of increased population and +trading, being substantial men, who liked doing a quiet business in +which they were sure of their customers, and could calculate their +returns to a nicety. Hitherto, it had been held a point of honour by +the families in Grimworth parish, to buy their sugar and their flannel +at the shop where their fathers and mothers had bought before them; +but, if newcomers were to bring in the system of neck-and-neck trading, +and solicit feminine eyes by gown-pieces laid in fan-like folds, and +surmounted by artificial flowers, giving them a factitious charm (for +on what human figure would a gown sit like a fan, or what female head +was like a bunch of China-asters?), or, if new grocers were to fill +their windows with mountains of currants and sugar, made seductive by +contrast and tickets,—what security was there for Grimworth, that a +vagrant spirit in shopping, once introduced, would not in the end carry +the most important families to the larger market town of Cattleton, +where, business being done on a system of small profits and quick +returns, the fashions were of the freshest, and goods of all kinds +might be bought at an advantage? + +With this view of the times predominant among the tradespeople at +Grimworth, their uncertainty concerning the nature of the business +which the sallow-complexioned stranger was about to set up in the +vacant shop, naturally gave some additional strength to the fears of +the less sanguine. If he was going to sell drapery, it was probable +that a pale-faced fellow like that would deal in showy and inferior +articles—printed cottons and muslins which would leave their dye in the +wash-tub, jobbed linen full of knots, and flannel that would soon look +like gauze. If grocery, then it was to be hoped that no mother of a +family would trust the teas of an untried grocer. Such things had been +known in some parishes as tradesmen going about canvassing for custom +with cards in their pockets: when people came from nobody knew where, +there was no knowing what they might do. It was a thousand pities that +Mr. Moffat, the auctioneer and broker, had died without leaving anybody +to follow him in the business, and Mrs. Cleve’s trustee ought to have +known better than to let a shop to a stranger. Even the discovery that +ovens were being put up on the premises, and that the shop was, in +fact, being fitted up for a confectioner and pastry-cook’s business, +hitherto unknown in Grimworth, did not quite suffice to turn the scale +in the newcomer’s favour, though the landlady at the Woolpack defended +him warmly, said he seemed to be a very clever young man, and from what +she could make out, came of a very good family; indeed, was most likely +a good many people’s betters. + +It certainly made a blaze of light and colour, almost as if a rainbow +had suddenly descended into the market-place, when, one fine morning, +the shutters were taken down from the new shop, and the two windows +displayed their decorations. On one side, there were the variegated +tints of collared and marbled meats, set off by bright green leaves, +the pale brown of glazed pies, the rich tones of sauces and bottled +fruits enclosed in their veil of glass—altogether a sight to bring +tears into the eyes of a Dutch painter; and on the other, there was a +predominance of the more delicate hues of pink, and white, and yellow, +and buff, in the abundant lozenges, candies, sweet biscuits and icings, +which to the eyes of a bilious person might easily have been blended +into a faëry landscape in Turner’s latest style. What a sight to dawn +upon the eyes of Grimworth children! They almost forgot to go to their +dinner that day, their appetites being preoccupied with imaginary +sugar-plums; and I think even Punch, setting up his tabernacle in the +market-place, would not have succeeded in drawing them away from those +shop-windows, where they stood according to gradations of size and +strength, the biggest and strongest being nearest the window, and the +little ones in the outermost rows lifting wide-open eyes and mouths +towards the upper tier of jars, like small birds at meal-time. + +The elder inhabitants pished and pshawed a little at the folly of the +new shopkeeper in venturing on such an outlay in goods that would not +keep; to be sure, Christmas was coming, but what housewife in Grimworth +would not think shame to furnish forth her table with articles that +were not home-cooked? No, no. Mr. Edward Freely, as he called himself, +was deceived, if he thought Grimworth money was to flow into his +pockets on such terms. + +Edward Freely was the name that shone in gilt letters on a mazarine +ground over the doorplace of the new shop—a generous-sounding name, +that might have belonged to the open-hearted, improvident hero of an +old comedy, who would have delighted in raining sugared almonds, like a +new manna-gift, among that small generation outside the windows. But +Mr. Edward Freely was a man whose impulses were kept in due +subordination: he held that the desire for sweets and pastry must only +be satisfied in a direct ratio with the power of paying for them. If +the smallest child in Grimworth would go to him with a halfpenny in its +tiny fist, he would, after ringing the halfpenny, deliver a just +equivalent in “rock.” He was not a man to cheat even the smallest +child—he often said so, observing at the same time that he loved +honesty, and also that he was very tender-hearted, though he didn’t +show his feelings as some people did. + +Either in reward of such virtue, or according to some more hidden law +of sequence, Mr. Freely’s business, in spite of prejudice, started +under favourable auspices. For Mrs. Chaloner, the rector’s wife, was +among the earliest customers at the shop, thinking it only right to +encourage a new parishioner who had made a decorous appearance at +church; and she found Mr. Freely a most civil, obliging young man, and +intelligent to a surprising degree for a confectioner; well-principled, +too, for in giving her useful hints about choosing sugars he had thrown +much light on the dishonesty of other tradesmen. Moreover, he had been +in the West Indies, and had seen the very estate which had been her +poor grandfather’s property; and he said the missionaries were the only +cause of the negro’s discontent—an observing young man, evidently. Mrs. +Chaloner ordered wine-biscuits and olives, and gave Mr. Freely to +understand that she should find his shop a great convenience. So did +the doctor’s wife, and so did Mrs. Gate, at the large carding-mill, +who, having high connexions frequently visiting her, might be expected +to have a large consumption of ratafias and macaroons. + +The less aristocratic matrons of Grimworth seemed likely at first to +justify their husbands’ confidence that they would never pay a +percentage of profits on drop-cakes, instead of making their own, or +get up a hollow show of liberal housekeeping by purchasing slices of +collared meat when a neighbour came in for supper. But it is my task to +narrate the gradual corruption of Grimworth manners from their +primitive simplicity—a melancholy task, if it were not cheered by the +prospect of the fine peripateia or downfall by which the progress of +the corruption was ultimately checked. + +It was young Mrs. Steene, the veterinary surgeons wife, who first gave +way to temptation. I fear she had been rather over-educated for her +station in life, for she knew by heart many passages in _Lalla Rookh_, +the _Corsair_, and the _Siege of Corinth_, which had given her a +distaste for domestic occupations, and caused her a withering +disappointment at the discovery that Mr. Steene, since his marriage, +had lost all interest in the “bulbul,” openly preferred discussing the +nature of spavin with a coarse neighbour, and was angry if the pudding +turned out watery—indeed, was simply a top-booted “vet.”, who came in +hungry at dinner-time; and not in the least like a nobleman turned +Corsair out of pure scorn for his race, or like a renegade with a +turban and crescent, unless it were in the irritability of his temper. +And scorn is such a very different thing in top-boots! + +This brutal man had invited a supper-party for Christmas eve, when he +would expect to see mince-pies on the table. Mrs. Steene had prepared +her mince-meat, and had devoted much butter, fine flour, and labour, to +the making of a batch of pies in the morning; but they proved to be so +very heavy when they came out of the oven, that she could only think +with trembling of the moment when her husband should catch sight of +them on the supper-table. He would storm at her, she was certain; and +before all the company; and then she should never help crying: it was +so dreadful to think she had come to that, after the bulbul and +everything! Suddenly the thought darted through her mind that _this +once_ she might send for a dish of mince-pies from Freely’s: she knew +he had some. But what was to become of the eighteen heavy mince-pies? +Oh, it was of no use thinking about that; it was very expensive—indeed, +making mince-pies at all was a great expense, when they were not sure +to turn out well: it would be much better to buy them ready-made. You +paid a little more for them, but there was no risk of waste. + +Such was the sophistry with which this misguided young woman—enough. +Mrs. Steene sent for the mince-pies, and, I am grieved to add, garbled +her household accounts in order to conceal the fact from her husband. +This was the second step in a downward course, all owing to a young +woman’s being out of harmony with her circumstances, yearning after +renegades and bulbuls, and being subject to claims from a veterinary +surgeon fond of mince-pies. The third step was to harden herself by +telling the fact of the bought mince-pies to her intimate friend Mrs. +Mole, who had already guessed it, and who subsequently encouraged +herself in buying a mould of jelly, instead of exerting her own skill, +by the reflection that “other people” did the same sort of thing. The +infection spread; soon there was a party or clique in Grimworth on the +side of “buying at Freely’s”; and many husbands, kept for some time in +the dark on this point, innocently swallowed at two mouthfuls a tart on +which they were paying a profit of a hundred per cent., and as +innocently encouraged a fatal disingenuousness in the partners of their +bosoms by praising the pastry. Others, more keen-sighted, winked at the +too frequent presentation on washing-days, and at impromptu suppers, of +superior spiced-beef, which flattered their palates more than the cold +remnants they had formerly been contented with. Every housewife who had +once “bought at Freely’s” felt a secret joy when she detected a similar +perversion in her neighbour’s practice, and soon only two or three +old-fashioned mistresses of families held out in the protest against +the growing demoralization, saying to their neighbours who came to sup +with them, “I can’t offer you Freely’s beef, or Freely’s cheesecakes; +everything in our house is home-made; I’m afraid you’ll hardly have any +appetite for our plain pastry.” The doctor, whose cook was not +satisfactory, the curate, who kept no cook, and the mining agent, who +was a great _bon vivant_, even began to rely on Freely for the greater +part of their dinner, when they wished to give an entertainment of some +brilliancy. In short, the business of manufacturing the more fanciful +viands was fast passing out of the hinds of maids and matrons in +private families, and was becoming the work of a special commercial +organ. + +I am not ignorant that this sort of thing is called the inevitable +course of civilization, division of labour, and so forth, and that the +maids and matrons may be said to have had their hands set free from +cookery to add to the wealth of society in some other way. Only it +happened at Grimworth, which, to be sure, was a low place, that the +maids and matrons could do nothing with their hands at all better than +cooking: not even those who had always made heavy cakes and leathery +pastry. And so it came to pass, that the progress of civilization at +Grimworth was not otherwise apparent than in the impoverishment of men, +the gossiping idleness of women, and the heightening prosperity of Mr. +Edward Freely. + +The Yellow Coat School was a double source of profit to the calculating +confectioner; for he opened an eating-room for the superior workmen +employed on the new school, and he accommodated the pupils at the old +school by giving great attention to the fancy-sugar department. When I +think of the sweet-tasted swans and other ingenious white shapes +crunched by the small teeth of that rising generation, I am glad to +remember that a certain amount of calcareous food has been held good +for young creatures whose bones are not quite formed; for I have +observed these delicacies to have an inorganic flavour which would have +recommended them greatly to that young lady of the _Spectator’s_ +acquaintance who habitually made her dessert on the stems of +tobacco-pipes. + +As for the confectioner himself, he made his way gradually into +Grimworth homes, as his commodities did, in spite of some initial +repugnance. Somehow or other, his reception as a guest seemed a thing +that required justifying, like the purchasing of his pastry. In the +first place, he was a stranger, and therefore open to suspicion; +secondly, the confectionery business was so entirely new at Grimworth, +that its place in the scale of rank had not been distinctly +ascertained. There was no doubt about drapers and grocers, when they +came of good old Grimworth families, like Mr. Luff and Mr. Prettyman: +they visited with the Palfreys, who farmed their own land, played many +a game at whist with the doctor, and condescended a little towards the +timber-merchant, who had lately taken to the coal-trade also, and had +got new furniture; but whether a confectioner should be admitted to +this higher level of respectability, or should be understood to find +his associates among butchers and bakers, was a new question on which +tradition threw no light. His being a bachelor was in his favour, and +would perhaps have been enough to turn the scale, even if Mr. Edward +Freely’s other personal pretensions had been of an entirely +insignificant cast. But so far from this, it very soon appeared that he +was a remarkable young man, who had been in the West Indies, and had +seen many wonders by sea and land, so that he could charm the ears of +Grimworth Desdemonas with stories of strange fishes, especially sharks, +which he had stabbed in the nick of time by bravely plunging overboard +just as the monster was turning on his side to devour the cook’s mate; +of terrible fevers which he had undergone in a land where the wind +blows from all quarters at once; of rounds of toast cut straight from +the breadfruit trees; of toes bitten off by land-crabs; of large +honours that had been offered to him as a man who knew what was what, +and was therefore particularly needed in a tropical climate; and of a +Creole heiress who had wept bitterly at his departure. Such +conversational talents as these, we know, will overcome disadvantages +of complexion; and young Towers, whose cheeks were of the finest pink, +set off by a fringe of dark whisker, was quite eclipsed by the presence +of the sallow Mr. Freely. So exceptional a confectioner elevated the +business, and might well begin to make disengaged hearts flutter a +little. + +Fathers and mothers were naturally more slow and cautious in their +recognition of the newcomer’s merits. + +“He’s an amusing fellow,” said Mr. Prettyman, the highly respectable +grocer. (Mrs. Prettyman was a Miss Fothergill, and her sister had +married a London mercer.) “He’s an amusing fellow; and I’ve no +objection to his making one at the Oyster Club; but he’s a bit too fond +of riding the high horse. He’s uncommonly knowing, I’ll allow; but how +came he to go to the Indies? I should like that answered. It’s +unnatural in a confectioner. I’m not fond of people that have been +beyond seas, if they can’t give a good account how they happened to go. +When folks go so far off, it’s because they’ve got little credit nearer +home—that’s my opinion. However, he’s got some good rum; but I don’t +want to be hand and glove with him, for all that.” + +It was this kind of dim suspicion which beclouded the view of Mr. +Freely’s qualities in the maturer minds of Grimworth through the early +months of his residence there. But when the confectioner ceased to be a +novelty, the suspicions also ceased to be novel, and people got tired +of hinting at them, especially as they seemed to be refuted by his +advancing prosperity and importance. Mr. Freely was becoming a person +of influence in the parish; he was found useful as an overseer of the +poor, having great firmness in enduring other people’s pain, which +firmness, he said, was due to his great benevolence; he always did what +was good for people in the end. Mr. Chaloner had even selected him as +clergyman’s churchwarden, for he was a very handy man, and much more of +Mr. Chaloner’s opinion in everything about church business than the +older parishioners. Mr. Freely was a very regular churchman, but at the +Oyster Club he was sometimes a little free in his conversation, more +than hinting at a life of Sultanic self-indulgence which he had passed +in the West Indies, shaking his head now and then and smiling rather +bitterly, as men are wont to do when they intimate that they have +become a little too wise to be instructed about a world which has long +been flat and stale to them. + +For some time he was quite general in his attentions to the fair sex, +combining the gallantries of a lady’s man with a severity of criticism +on the person and manners of absent belles, which tended rather to +stimulate in the feminine breast the desire to conquer the approval of +so fastidious a judge. Nothing short of the very best in the department +of female charms and virtues could suffice to kindle the ardour of Mr. +Edward Freely, who had become familiar with the most luxuriant and +dazzling beauty in the West Indies. It may seem incredible that a +confectioner should have ideas and conversation so much resembling +those to be met with in a higher walk of life, but it must be +remembered that he had not merely travelled, he had also bow-legs and a +sallow, small-featured visage, so that nature herself had stamped him +for a fastidious connoisseur of the fair sex. + +At last, however, it seemed clear that Cupid had found a sharper arrow +than usual, and that Mr. Freely’s heart was pierced. It was the general +talk among the young people at Grimworth. But was it really love, and +not rather ambition? Miss Fullilove, the timber-merchant’s daughter, +was quite sure that if _she_ were Miss Penny Palfrey, she would be +cautious; it was not a good sign when men looked so much above +themselves for a wife. For it was no less a person than Miss Penelope +Palfrey, second daughter of the Mr. Palfrey who farmed his own land, +that had attracted Mr. Freely’s peculiar regard, and conquered his +fastidiousness; and no wonder, for the Ideal, as exhibited in the +finest waxwork, was perhaps never so closely approached by the Real as +in the person of the pretty Penelope. Her yellowish flaxen hair did not +curl naturally, I admit, but its bright crisp ringlets were such +smooth, perfect miniature tubes, that you would have longed to pass +your little finger through them, and feel their soft elasticity. She +wore them in a crop, for in those days, when society was in a healthier +state, young ladies wore crops long after they were twenty, and +Penelope was not yet nineteen. Like the waxen ideal, she had round blue +eyes, and round nostrils in her little nose, and teeth such as the +ideal would be seen to have, if it ever showed them. Altogether, she +was a small, round thing, as neat as a pink and white double daisy, and +as guileless; for I hope it does not argue guile in a pretty damsel of +nineteen, to think that she should like to have a beau and be +“engaged,” when her elder sister had already been in that position a +year and a half. To be sure, there was young Towers always coming to +the house; but Penny felt convinced he only came to see her brother, +for he never had anything to say to her, and never offered her his arm, +and was as awkward and silent as possible. + +It is not unlikely that Mr. Freely had early been smitten by Penny’s +charms, as brought under his observation at church, but he had to make +his way in society a little before he could come into nearer contact +with them; and even after he was well received in Grimworth families, +it was a long while before he could converse with Penny otherwise than +in an incidental meeting at Mr. Luff’s. It was not so easy to get +invited to Long Meadows, the residence of the Palfreys; for though Mr. +Palfrey had been losing money of late years, not being able quite to +recover his feet after the terrible murrain which forced him to borrow, +his family were far from considering themselves on the same level even +as the old-established tradespeople with whom they visited. The +greatest people, even kings and queens, must visit with somebody, and +the equals of the great are scarce. They were especially scarce at +Grimworth, which, as I have before observed, was a low parish, +mentioned with the most scornful brevity in gazetteers. Even the great +people there were far behind those of their own standing in other parts +of this realm. Mr. Palfrey’s farmyard doors had the paint all worn off +them, and the front garden walks had long been merged in a general +weediness. Still, his father had been called Squire Palfrey, and had +been respected by the last Grimworth generation as a man who could +afford to drink too much in his own house. + +Pretty Penny was not blind to the fact that Mr. Freely admired her, and +she felt sure that it was he who had sent her a beautiful valentine; +but her sister seemed to think so lightly of him (all young ladies +think lightly of the gentlemen to whom they are not engaged), that +Penny never dared mention him, and trembled and blushed whenever they +met him, thinking of the valentine, which was very strong in its +expressions, and which she felt guilty of knowing by heart. A man who +had been to the Indies, and knew the sea so well, seemed to her a sort +of public character, almost like Robinson Crusoe or Captain Cook; and +Penny had always wished her husband to be a remarkable personage, +likely to be put in Mangnall’s Questions, with which register of the +immortals she had become acquainted during her one year at a +boarding-school. Only it seemed strange that a remarkable man should be +a confectioner and pastry-cook, and this anomaly quite disturbed +Penny’s dreams. Her brothers, she knew, laughed at men who couldn’t sit +on horseback well, and called them tailors; but her brothers were very +rough, and were quite without that power of anecdote which made Mr. +Freely such a delightful companion. He was a very good man, she +thought, for she had heard him say at Mr. Luff’s, one day, that he +always wished to do his duty in whatever state of life he might be +placed; and he knew a great deal of poetry, for one day he had repeated +a verse of a song. She wondered if he had made the words of the +valentine!—it ended in this way:— + +“Without thee, it is pain to live, +But with thee, it were sweet to die.” + + +Poor Mr. Freely! her father would very likely object—she felt sure he +would, for he always called Mr. Freely “that sugar-plum fellow.” Oh, it +was very cruel, when true love was crossed in that way, and all because +Mr. Freely was a confectioner: well, Penny would be true to him, for +all that, and since his being a confectioner gave her an opportunity of +showing her faithfulness, she was glad of it. Edward Freely was a +pretty name, much better than John Towers. Young Towers had offered her +a rose out of his button-hole the other day, blushing very much; but +she refused it, and thought with delight how much Mr. Freely would be +comforted if he knew her firmness of mind. + +Poor little Penny! the days were so very long among the daisies on a +grazing farm, and thought is so active—how was it possible that the +inward drama should not get the start of the outward? I have known +young ladies, much better educated, and with an outward world +diversified by instructive lectures, to say nothing of literature and +highly-developed fancy-work, who have spun a cocoon of visionary joys +and sorrows for themselves, just as Penny did. Her elder sister +Letitia, who had a prouder style of beauty, and a more worldly +ambition, was engaged to a wool-factor, who came all the way from +Cattelton to see her; and everybody knows that a wool-factor takes a +very high rank, sometimes driving a double-bodied gig. Letty’s notions +got higher every day, and Penny never dared to speak of her cherished +griefs to her lofty sister—never dared to propose that they should call +at Mr. Freely’s to buy liquorice, though she had prepared for such an +incident by mentioning a slight sore throat. So she had to pass the +shop on the other side of the market-place, and reflect, with a +suppressed sigh, that behind those pink and white jars somebody was +thinking of her tenderly, unconscious of the small space that divided +her from him. + +And it was quite true that, when business permitted, Mr. Freely thought +a great deal of Penny. He thought her prettiness comparable to the +loveliest things in confectionery; he judged her to be of submissive +temper—likely to wait upon him as well as if she had been a negress, +and to be silently terrified when his liver made him irritable; and he +considered the Palfrey family quite the best in the parish, possessing +marriageable daughters. On the whole, he thought her worthy to become +Mrs. Edward Freely, and all the more so, because it would probably +require some ingenuity to win her. Mr. Palfrey was capable of +horse-whipping a too rash pretender to his daughter’s hand; and, +moreover, he had three tall sons: it was clear that a suitor would be +at a disadvantage with such a family, unless travel and natural acumen +had given him a countervailing power of contrivance. And the first idea +that occurred to him in the matter was, that Mr. Palfrey would object +less if he knew that the Freelys were a much higher family than his +own. It had been foolish modesty in him hitherto to conceal the fact +that a branch of the Freelys held a manor in Yorkshire, and to shut up +the portrait of his great uncle the admiral, instead of hanging it up +where a family portrait should be hung—over the mantelpiece in the +parlour. Admiral Freely, K.C.B., once placed in this conspicuous +position, was seen to have had one arm only, and one eye—in these +points resembling the heroic Nelson—while a certain pallid +insignificance of feature confirmed the relationship between himself +and his grand-nephew. + +Next, Mr. Freely was seized with an irrepressible ambition to posses +Mrs. Palfrey’s receipt for brawn, hers being pronounced on all hands to +be superior to his own—as he informed her in a very flattering letter +carried by his errand-boy. Now Mrs. Palfrey, like other geniuses, +wrought by instinct rather than by rule, and possessed no +receipts—indeed, despised all people who used them, observing that +people who pickled by book, must pickle by weights and measures, and +such nonsense; as for herself, her weights and measures were the tip of +her finger and the tip of her tongue, and if you went nearer, why, of +course, for dry goods like flour and spice, you went by handfuls and +pinches, and for wet, there was a middle-sized jug—quite the best thing +whether for much or little, because you might know how much a teacupful +was if you’d got any use of your senses, and you might be sure it would +take five middle-sized jugs to make a gallon. Knowledge of this kind is +like Titian’s colouring, difficult to communicate; and as Mrs. Palfrey, +once remarkably handsome, had now become rather stout and asthmatical, +and scarcely ever left home, her oral teaching could hardly be given +anywhere except at Long Meadows. Even a matron is not insusceptible to +flattery, and the prospect of a visitor whose great object would be to +listen to her conversation, was not without its charms to Mrs. Palfrey. +Since there was no receipt to be sent in reply to Mr. Freely’s humble +request, she called on her more docile daughter, Penny, to write a +note, telling him that her mother would be glad to see him and talk +with him on brawn, any day that he could call at Long Meadows. Penny +obeyed with a trembling hand, thinking how wonderfully things came +about in this world. + +In this way, Mr. Freely got himself introduced into the home of the +Palfreys, and notwithstanding a tendency in the male part of the family +to jeer at him a little as “peaky” and bow-legged, he presently +established his position as an accepted and frequent guest. Young +Towers looked at him with increasing disgust when they met at the house +on a Sunday, and secretly longed to try his ferret upon him, as a piece +of vermin which that valuable animal would be likely to tackle with +unhesitating vigour. But—so blind sometimes are parents—neither Mr. nor +Mrs. Palfrey suspected that Penny would have anything to say to a +tradesman of questionable rank whose youthful bloom was much withered. +Young Towers, they thought, had an eye to her, and _that_ was likely +enough to be a match some day; but Penny was a child at present. And +all the while Penny was imagining the circumstances under which Mr. +Freely would make her an offer: perhaps down by the row of +damson-trees, when they were in the garden before tea; perhaps by +letter—in which case, how would the letter begin? “Dearest Penelope?” +or “My dear Miss Penelope?” or straight off, without dear anything, as +seemed the most natural when people were embarrassed? But, however he +might make the offer, she would not accept it without her father’s +consent: she would always be true to Mr. Freely, but she would not +disobey her father. For Penny was a good girl, though some of her +female friends were afterwards of opinion that it spoke ill for her not +to have felt an instinctive repugnance to Mr. Freely. + +But he was cautious, and wished to be quite sure of the ground he trod +on. His views on marriage were not entirely sentimental, but were as +duly mingled with considerations of what would be advantageous to a man +in his position, as if he had had a very large amount of money spent on +his education. He was not a man to fall in love in the wrong place; and +so, he applied himself quite as much to conciliate the favour of the +parents, as to secure the attachment of Penny. Mrs. Palfrey had not +been inaccessible to flattery, and her husband, being also of mortal +mould, would not, it might be hoped, be proof against rum—that very +fine Jamaica rum—of which Mr. Freely expected always to have a supply +sent him from Jamaica. It was not easy to get Mr. Palfrey into the +parlour behind the shop, where a mild back-street light fell on the +features of the heroic admiral; but by getting hold of him rather late +one evening as he was about to return home from Grimworth, the aspiring +lover succeeded in persuading him to sup on some collared beef which, +after Mrs. Palfrey’s brawn, he would find the very best of cold eating. + +From that hour Mr. Freely felt sure of success: being in privacy with +an estimable man old enough to be his father, and being rather lonely +in the world, it was natural he should unbosom himself a little on +subjects which he could not speak of in a mixed circle—especially +concerning his expectations from his uncle in Jamaica, who had no +children, and loved his nephew Edward better than any one else in the +world, though he had been so hurt at his leaving Jamaica, that he had +threatened to cut him off with a shilling. However, he had since +written to state his full forgiveness, and though he was an eccentric +old gentleman and could not bear to give away money during his life, +Mr. Edward Freely could show Mr. Palfrey the letter which declared, +plainly enough, who would be the affectionate uncle’s heir. Mr. Palfrey +actually saw the letter, and could not help admiring the spirit of the +nephew who declared that such brilliant hopes as these made no +difference to his conduct; he should work at his humble business and +make his modest fortune at it all the same. If the Jamaica estate was +to come to him—well and good. It was nothing very surprising for one of +the Freely family to have an estate left him, considering the lands +that family had possessed in time gone by—nay, still possessed in the +Northumberland branch. Would not Mr. Palfrey take another glass of rum? +and also look at the last year’s balance of the accounts? Mr. Freely +was a man who cared to possess personal virtues, and did not pique +himself on his family, though some men would. + +We know how easily the great Leviathan may be led, when once there is a +hook in his nose or a bridle in his jaws. Mr. Palfrey was a large man, +but, like Leviathan’s, his bulk went against him when once he had taken +a turning. He was not a mercurial man, who easily changed his point of +view. Enough. Before two months were over, he had given his consent to +Mr. Freely’s marriage with his daughter Penny, and having hit on a +formula by which he could justify it, fenced off all doubts and +objections, his own included. The formula was this: “I’m not a man to +put my head up an entry before I know where it leads.” + +Little Penny was very proud and fluttering, but hardly so happy as she +expected to be in an engagement. She wondered if young Towers cared +much about it, for he had not been to the house lately, and her sister +and brothers were rather inclined to sneer than to sympathize. +Grimworth rang with the news. All men extolled Mr. Freely’s good +fortune; while the women, with the tender solicitude characteristic of +the sex, wished the marriage might turn out well. + +While affairs were at this triumphant juncture, Mr. Freely one morning +observed that a stone-carver who had been breakfasting in the +eating-room had left a newspaper behind. It was the _X-shire Gazette_, +and X-shire being a county not unknown to Mr. Freely, he felt some +curiosity to glance over it, and especially over the advertisements. A +slight flush came over his face as he read. It was produced by the +following announcement:—“If David Faux, son of Jonathan Faux, late of +Gilsbrook, will apply at the office of Mr. Strutt, attorney, of Rodham, +he will hear of something to his advantage.” + +“Father’s dead!” exclaimed Mr. Freely, involuntarily. “Can he have left +me a legacy?” + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Perhaps it was a result quite different from your expectations, that +Mr. David Faux should have returned from the West Indies only a few +years after his arrival there, and have set up in his old business, +like any plain man who has never travelled. But these cases do occur in +life. Since, as we know, men change their skies and see new +constellations without changing their souls, it will follow sometimes +that they don’t change their business under those novel circumstances. + +Certainly, this result was contrary to David’s own expectations. He had +looked forward, you are aware, to a brilliant career among “the +blacks”; but, either because they had already seen too many white men, +or for some other reason, they did not at once recognize him as a +superior order of human being; besides, there were no princesses among +them. Nobody in Jamaica was anxious to maintain David for the mere +pleasure of his society; and those hidden merits of a man which are so +well known to himself were as little recognized there as they +notoriously are in the effete society of the Old World. So that in the +dark hints that David threw out at the Oyster Club about that life of +Sultanic self-indulgence spent by him in the luxurious Indies, I really +think he was doing himself a wrong; I believe he worked for his bread, +and, in fact, took to cooking as, after all, the only department in +which he could offer skilled labour. He had formed several ingenious +plans by which he meant to circumvent people of large fortune and small +faculty; but then he never met with exactly the right circumstances. +David’s devices for getting rich without work had apparently no direct +relation with the world outside him, as his confectionery receipts had. +It is possible to pass a great many bad half pennies and bad +half-crowns, but I believe there has no instance been known of passing +a halfpenny or a half-crown as a sovereign. A sharper can drive a brisk +trade in this world: it is undeniable that there may be a fine career +for him, if he will dare consequences; but David was too timid to be a +sharper, or venture in any way among the mantraps of the law. He dared +rob nobody but his mother. And so he had to fall back on the genuine +value there was in him—to be content to pass as a good halfpenny, or, +to speak more accurately, as a good confectioner. For in spite of some +additional reading and observation, there was nothing else he could +make so much money by; nay, he found in himself even a capability of +extending his skill in this direction, and embracing all forms of +cookery; while, in other branches of human labour, he began to see that +it was not possible for him to shine. Fate was too strong for him; he +had thought to master her inclination and had fled over the seas to +that end; but she caught him, tied an apron round him, and snatching +him from all other devices, made him devise cakes and patties in a +kitchen at Kingstown. He was getting submissive to her, since she paid +him with tolerable gains; but fevers and prickly heat, and other evils +incidental to cooks in ardent climates, made him long for his native +land; so he took ship once more, carrying his six years’ savings, and +seeing distinctly, this time, what were Fate’s intentions as to his +career. If you question me closely as to whether all the money with +which he set up at Grimworth consisted of pure and simple earnings, I +am obliged to confess that he got a sum or two for charitably +abstaining from mentioning some other people’s misdemeanours. +Altogether, since no prospects were attached to his family name, and +since a new christening seemed a suitable commencement of a new life, +Mr. David Faux thought it as well to call himself Mr. Edward Freely. + +But lo! now, in opposition to all calculable probability, some benefit +appeared to be attached to the name of David Faux. Should he neglect +it, as beneath the attention of a prosperous tradesman? It might bring +him into contact with his family again, and he felt no yearnings in +that direction: moreover, he had small belief that the “something to +his advantage” could be anything considerable. On the other hand, even +a small gain is pleasant, and the promise of it in this instance was so +surprising, that David felt his curiosity awakened. The scale dipped at +last on the side of writing to the lawyer, and, to be brief, the +correspondence ended in an appointment for a meeting between David and +his eldest brother at Mr. Strutt’s, the vague “something” having been +defined as a legacy from his father of eighty-two pounds, three +shillings. + +David, you know, had expected to be disinherited; and so he would have +been, if he had not, like some other indifferent sons, come of +excellent parents, whose conscience made them scrupulous where much +more highly-instructed people often feel themselves warranted in +following the bent of their indignation. Good Mrs. Faux could never +forget that she had brought this ill-conditioned son into the world +when he was in that entirely helpless state which excluded the smallest +choice on his part; and, somehow or other, she felt that his going +wrong would be his father’s and mother’s fault, if they failed in one +tittle of their parental duty. Her notion of parental duty was not of a +high and subtle kind, but it included giving him his due share of the +family property; for when a man had got a little honest money of his +own, was he so likely to steal? To cut the delinquent son off with a +shilling, was like delivering him over to his evil propensities. No; +let the sum of twenty guineas which he had stolen be deducted from his +share, and then let the sum of three guineas be put back from it, +seeing that his mother had always considered three of the twenty +guineas as his; and, though he had run away, and was, perhaps, gone +across the sea, let the money be left to him all the same, and be kept +in reserve for his possible return. Mr. Faux agreed to his wife’s +views, and made a codicil to his will accordingly, in time to die with +a clear conscience. But for some time his family thought it likely that +David would never reappear; and the eldest son, who had the charge of +Jacob on his hands, often thought it a little hard that David might +perhaps be dead, and yet, for want of certitude on that point, his +legacy could not fall to his legal heir. But in this state of things +the opposite certitude—namely, that David was still alive and in +England—seemed to be brought by the testimony of a neighbour, who, +having been on a journey to Cattelton, was pretty sure he had seen +David in a gig, with a stout man driving by his side. He could “swear +it was David,” though he could “give no account why, for he had no +marks on him; but no more had a white dog, and that didn’t hinder folks +from knowing a white dog.” It was this incident which had led to the +advertisement. + +The legacy was paid, of course, after a few preliminary disclosures as +to Mr. David’s actual position. He begged to send his love to his +mother, and to say that he hoped to pay her a dutiful visit by and by; +but, at present, his business and near prospect of marriage made it +difficult for him to leave home. His brother replied with much +frankness. + +“My mother may do as she likes about having you to see her, but, for my +part, I don’t want to catch sight of you on the premises again. When +folks have taken a new name, they’d better keep to their new +’quinetance.” + +David pocketed the insult along with the eighty-two pounds three, and +travelled home again in some triumph at the ease of a transaction which +had enriched him to this extent. He had no intention of offending his +brother by further claims on his fraternal recognition, and relapsed +with full contentment into the character of Mr. Edward Freely, the +orphan, scion of a great but reduced family, with an eccentric uncle in +the West Indies. (I have already hinted that he had some acquaintance +with imaginative literature; and being of a practical turn, he had, you +perceive, applied even this form of knowledge to practical purposes.) + +It was little more than a week after the return from his fruitful +journey, that the day of his marriage with Penny having been fixed, it +was agreed that Mrs. Palfrey should overcome her reluctance to move +from home, and that she and her husband should bring their two +daughters to inspect little Penny’s future abode and decide on the new +arrangements to be made for the reception of the bride. Mr. Freely +meant her to have a house so pretty and comfortable that she need not +envy even a wool-factor’s wife. Of course, the upper room over the shop +was to be the best sitting-room; but also the parlour behind the shop +was to be made a suitable bower for the lovely Penny, who would +naturally wish to be near her husband, though Mr. Freely declared his +resolution never to allow _his_ wife to wait in the shop. The decisions +about the parlour furniture were left till last, because the party was +to take tea there; and, about five o’clock, they were all seated there +with the best muffins and buttered buns before them, little Penny +blushing and smiling, with her “crop” in the best order, and a blue +frock showing her little white shoulders, while her opinion was being +always asked and never given. She secretly wished to have a particular +sort of chimney ornaments, but she could not have brought herself to +mention it. Seated by the side of her yellow and rather withered lover, +who, though he had not reached his thirtieth year, had already +crow’s-feet about his eyes, she was quite tremulous at the greatness of +her lot in being married to a man who had travelled so much—and before +her sister Letty! The handsome Letitia looked rather proud and +contemptuous, thought her future brother-in-law an odious person, and +was vexed with her father and mother for letting Penny marry him. Dear +little Penny! She certainly did look like a fresh white-heart cherry +going to be bitten off the stem by that lipless mouth. Would no +deliverer come to make a slip between that cherry and that mouth +without a lip? + +“Quite a family likeness between the admiral and you, Mr. Freely,” +observed Mrs. Palfrey, who was looking at the family portrait for the +first time. “It’s wonderful! and only a grand-uncle. Do you feature the +rest of your family, as you know of?” + +“I can’t say,” said Mr. Freely, with a sigh. “My family have mostly +thought themselves too high to take any notice of me.” + +At this moment an extraordinary disturbance was heard in the shop, as +of a heavy animal stamping about and making angry noises, and then of a +glass vessel falling in shivers, while the voice of the apprentice was +heard calling “Master” in great alarm. + +Mr. Freely rose in anxious astonishment, and hastened into the shop, +followed by the four Palfreys, who made a group at the parlour-door, +transfixed with wonder at seeing a large man in a smock-frock, with a +pitchfork in his hand, rush up to Mr. Freely and hug him, crying +out,—“Zavy, Zavy, b’other Zavy!” + +It was Jacob, and for some moments David lost all presence of mind. He +felt arrested for having stolen his mother’s guineas. He turned cold, +and trembled in his brother’s grasp. + +“Why, how’s this?” said Mr. Palfrey, advancing from the door. “Who is +he?” + +Jacob supplied the answer by saying over and over again— + +“I’se Zacob, b’other Zacob. Come ’o zee Zavy”—till hunger prompted him +to relax his grasp, and to seize a large raised pie, which he lifted to +his mouth. + +By this time David’s power of device had begun to return, but it was a +very hard task for his prudence to master his rage and hatred towards +poor Jacob. + +“I don’t know who he is; he must be drunk,” he said, in a low tone to +Mr. Palfrey. “But he’s dangerous with that pitchfork. He’ll never let +it go.” Then checking himself on the point of betraying too great an +intimacy with Jacob’s habits, he added “You watch him, while I run for +the constable.” And he hurried out of the shop. + +“Why, where do you come from, my man?” said Mr. Palfrey, speaking to +Jacob in a conciliatory tone. Jacob was eating his pie by large +mouthfuls, and looking round at the other good things in the shop, +while he embraced his pitchfork with his left arm, and laid his left +hand on some Bath buns. He was in the rare position of a person who +recovers a long absent friend and finds him richer than ever in the +characteristics that won his heart. + +“I’s Zacob—b’other Zacob—’t home. I love Zavy—b’other Zavy,” he said, +as soon as Mr. Palfrey had drawn his attention. “Zavy come back from z’ +Indies—got mother’s zinnies. Where’s Zavy?” he added, looking round and +then turning to the others with a questioning air, puzzled by David’s +disappearance. + +“It’s very odd,” observed Mr. Palfrey to his wife and daughters. “He +seems to say Freely’s his brother come back from th’ Indies.” + +“What a pleasant relation for us!” said Letitia, sarcastically. “I +think he’s a good deal like Mr. Freely. He’s got just the same sort of +nose, and his eyes are the same colour.” + +Poor Penny was ready to cry. + +But now Mr. Freely re-entered the shop without the constable. During +his walk of a few yards he had had time and calmness enough to widen +his view of consequences, and he saw that to get Jacob taken to the +workhouse or to the lock-up house as an offensive stranger might have +awkward effects if his family took the trouble of inquiring after him. +He must resign himself to more patient measures. + +“On second thoughts,” he said, beckoning to Mr. Palfrey and whispering +to him while Jacob’s back was turned, “he’s a poor half-witted fellow. +Perhaps his friends will come after him. I don’t mind giving him +something to eat, and letting him lie down for the night. He’s got it +into his head that he knows me—they do get these fancies, idiots do. +He’ll perhaps go away again in an hour or two, and make no more ado. +I’m a kind-hearted man _myself_—I shouldn’t like to have the poor +fellow ill-used.” + +“Why, he’ll eat a sovereign’s worth in no time,” said Mr. Palfrey, +thinking Mr. Freely a little too magnificent in his generosity. + +“Eh, Zavy, come back?” exclaimed Jacob, giving his dear brother another +hug, which crushed Mr. Freely’s features inconveniently against the +handle of the pitchfork. + +“Aye, aye,” said Mr. Freely, smiling, with every capability of murder +in his mind, except the courage to commit it. He wished the Bath buns +might by chance have arsenic in them. + +“Mother’s zinnies?” said Jacob, pointing to a glass jar of yellow +lozenges that stood in the window. “Zive ’em me.” + +David dared not do otherwise than reach down the glass jar and give +Jacob a handful. He received them in his smock-frock, which he held out +for more. + +“They’ll keep him quiet a bit, at any rate,” thought David, and emptied +the jar. Jacob grinned and mowed with delight. + +“You’re very good to this stranger, Mr. Freely,” said Letitia; and then +spitefully, as David joined the party at the parlour-door, “I think you +could hardly treat him better, if he was really your brother.” + +“I’ve always thought it a duty to be good to idiots,” said Mr. Freely, +striving after the most moral view of the subject. “We might have been +idiots ourselves—everybody might have been born idiots, instead of +having their right senses.” + +“I don’t know where there’d ha’ been victual for us all then,” observed +Mrs. Palfrey, regarding the matter in a housewifely light. + +“But let us sit down again and finish our tea,” said Mr. Freely. “Let +us leave the poor creature to himself.” + +They walked into the parlour again; but Jacob, not apparently +appreciating the kindness of leaving him to himself, immediately +followed his brother, and seated himself, pitchfork grounded, at the +table. + +“Well,” said Miss Letitia, rising, “I don’t know whether _you_ mean to +stay, mother; but I shall go home.” + +“Oh, me too,” said Penny, frightened to death at Jacob, who had begun +to nod and grin at her. + +“Well, I think we _had_ better be going, Mr. Palfrey,” said the mother, +rising more slowly. + +Mr. Freely, whose complexion had become decidedly yellower during the +last half-hour, did not resist this proposition. He hoped they should +meet again “under happier circumstances.” + +“It’s my belief the man is his brother,” said Letitia, when they were +all on their way home. + +“Nonsense!” said Mr. Palfrey. “Freely’s got no brother—he’s said so +many and many a time; he’s an orphan; he’s got nothing but +uncles—leastwise, one. What’s it matter what an idiot says? What call +had Freely to tell lies?” + +Letitia tossed her head and was silent. + +Mr. Freely, left alone with his affectionate brother Jacob, brooded +over the possibility of luring him out of the town early the next +morning, and getting him conveyed to Gilsbrook without further +betrayals. But the thing was difficult. He saw clearly that if he took +Jacob himself, his absence, conjoined with the disappearance of the +stranger, would either cause the conviction that he was really a +relative, or would oblige him to the dangerous course of inventing a +story to account for his disappearance, and his own absence at the same +time. David groaned. There come occasions when falsehood is felt to be +inconvenient. It would, perhaps, have been a longer-headed device, if +he had never told any of those clever fibs about his uncles, grand and +otherwise; for the Palfreys were simple people, and shared the popular +prejudice against lying. Even if he could get Jacob away this time, +what security was there that he would not come again, having once found +the way? O guineas! O lozenges! what enviable people those were who had +never robbed their mothers, and had never told fibs! David spent a +sleepless night, while Jacob was snoring close by. Was this the upshot +of travelling to the Indies, and acquiring experience combined with +anecdote? + +He rose at break of day, as he had once before done when he was in fear +of Jacob, and took all gentle means to rouse this fatal brother from +his deep sleep; he dared not be loud, because his apprentice was in the +house, and would report everything. But Jacob was not to be roused. He +fought out with his fist at the unknown cause of disturbance, turned +over, and snored again. He must be left to wake as he would. David, +with a cold perspiration on his brow, confessed to himself that Jacob +could not be got away that day. + +Mr. Palfrey came over to Grimworth before noon, with a natural +curiosity to see how his future son-in-law got on with the stranger to +whom he was so benevolently inclined. He found a crowd round the shop. +All Grimworth by this time had heard how Freely had been fastened on by +an idiot, who called him “Brother Zavy”; and the younger population +seemed to find the singular stranger an unwearying source of +fascination, while the householders dropped in one by one to inquire +into the incident. + +“Why don’t you send him to the workhouse?” said Mr. Prettyman. “You’ll +have a row with him and the children presently, and he’ll eat you up. +The workhouse is the proper place for him; let his kin claim him, if +he’s got any.” + +“Those may be _your_ feelings, Mr. Prettyman,” said David, his mind +quite enfeebled by the torture of his position. + +“What! _is_ he your brother, then?” said Mr. Prettyman, looking at his +neighbour Freely rather sharply. + +“All men are our brothers, and idiots particular so,” said Mr. Freely, +who, like many other travelled men, was not master of the English +language. + +“Come, come, if he’s your brother, tell the truth, man,” said Mr. +Prettyman, with growing suspicion. “Don’t be ashamed of your own flesh +and blood.” + +Mr. Palfrey was present, and also had his eye on Freely. It is +difficult for a man to believe in the advantage of a truth which will +disclose him to have been a liar. In this critical moment, David shrank +from this immediate disgrace in the eyes of his future father-in-law. + +“Mr. Prettyman,” he said, “I take your observations as an insult. I’ve +no reason to be otherwise than proud of my own flesh and blood. If this +poor man was my brother more than all men are, I should say so.” + +A tall figure darkened the door, and David, lifting his eyes in that +direction, saw his eldest brother, Jonathan, on the door-sill. + +“I’ll stay wi’ Zavy,” shouted Jacob, as he, too, caught sight of his +eldest brother; and, running behind the counter, he clutched David +hard. + +“What, he _is_ here?” said Jonathan Faux, coming forward. “My mother +would have no nay, as he’d been away so long, but I must see after him. +And it struck me he was very like come after you, because we’d been +talking of you o’ late, and where you lived.” + +David saw there was no escape; he smiled a ghastly smile. + +“What! is this a relation of yours, sir?” said Mr. Palfrey to Jonathan. + +“Aye, it’s my innicent of a brother, sure enough,” said honest +Jonathan. “A fine trouble and cost he is to us, in th’ eating and other +things, but we must bear what’s laid on us.” + +“And your name’s Freely, is it?” said Mr. Prettyman. + +“Nay, nay, my name’s Faux, I know nothing o’ Freelys,” said Jonathan, +curtly. “Come,” he added, turning to David, “I must take some news to +mother about Jacob. Shall I take him with me, or will you undertake to +send him back?” + +“Take him, if you can make him loose his hold of me,” said David, +feebly. + +“Is this gentleman here in the confectionery line your brother, then, +sir?” said Mr. Prettyman, feeling that it was an occasion on which +formal language must be used. + +“_I_ don’t want to own him,” said Jonathan, unable to resist a movement +of indignation that had never been allowed to satisfy itself. “He ran +away from home with good reasons in his pocket years ago: he didn’t +want to be owned again, I reckon.” + +Mr. Palfrey left the shop; he felt his own pride too severely wounded +by the sense that he had let himself be fooled, to feel curiosity for +further details. The most pressing business was to go home and tell his +daughter that Freely was a poor sneak, probably a rascal, and that her +engagement was broken off. + +Mr. Prettyman stayed, with some internal self-gratulation that _he_ had +never given in to Freely, and that Mr. Chaloner would see now what sort +of fellow it was that he had put over the heads of older parishioners. +He considered it due from him (Mr. Prettyman) that, for the interests +of the parish, he should know all that was to be known about this +“interloper.” Grimworth would have people coming from Botany Bay to +settle in it, if things went on in this way. + +It soon appeared that Jacob could not be made to quit his dear brother +David except by force. He understood, with a clearness equal to that of +the most intelligent mind, that Jonathan would take him back to skimmed +milk, apple-dumpling, broad beans, and pork. And he had found a +paradise in his brother’s shop. It was a difficult matter to use force +with Jacob, for he wore heavy nailed boots; and if his pitchfork had +been mastered, he would have resorted without hesitation to kicks. +Nothing short of using guile to bind him hand and foot would have made +all parties safe. + +“Let him stay,” said David, with desperate resignation, frightened +above all things at the idea of further disturbances in his shop, which +would make his exposure all the more conspicuous. “_You_ go away again, +and to-morrow I can, perhaps, get him to go to Gilsbrook with me. He’ll +follow me fast enough, I daresay,” he added, with a half-groan. + +“Very well,” said Jonathan, gruffly. “I don’t see why _you_ shouldn’t +have some trouble and expense with him as well as the rest of us. But +mind you bring him back safe and soon, else mother’ll never rest.” + +On this arrangement being concluded, Mr. Prettyman begged Mr. Jonathan +Faux to go and take a snack with him, an invitation which was quite +acceptable; and as honest Jonathan had nothing to be ashamed of, it is +probable that he was very frank in his communications to the civil +draper, who, pursuing the benefit of the parish, hastened to make all +the information he could gather about Freely common parochial property. +You may imagine that the meeting of the Club at the Woolpack that +evening was unusually lively. Every member was anxious to prove that he +had never liked Freely, as he called himself. Faux was his name, was +it? Fox would have been more suitable. The majority expressed a desire +to see him hooted out of the town. + +Mr. Freely did not venture over his door-sill that day, for he knew +Jacob would keep at his side, and there was every probability that they +would have a train of juvenile followers. He sent to engage the +Woolpack gig for an early hour the next morning; but this order was not +kept religiously a secret by the landlord. Mr. Freely was informed that +he could not have the gig till seven; and the Grimworth people were +early risers. Perhaps they were more alert than usual on this +particular morning; for when Jacob, with a bag of sweets in his hand, +was induced to mount the gig with his brother David, the inhabitants of +the market-place were looking out of their doors and windows, and at +the turning of the street there was even a muster of apprentices and +schoolboys, who shouted as they passed in what Jacob took to be a very +merry and friendly way, nodding and grinning in return. “Huzzay, David +Faux! how’s your uncle?” was their morning’s greeting. Like other +pointed things, it was not altogether impromptu. + +Even this public derision was not so crushing to David as the horrible +thought that though he might succeed now in getting Jacob home again +there would never be any security against his coming back, like a wasp +to the honey-pot. As long as David lived at Grimworth, Jacob’s return +would be hanging over him. But could he go on living at Grimworth—an +object of ridicule, discarded by the Palfreys, after having revelled in +the consciousness that he was an envied and prosperous confectioner? +David liked to be envied; he minded less about being loved. + +His doubts on this point were soon settled. The mind of Grimworth +became obstinately set against him and his viands, and the new school +being finished, the eating-room was closed. If there had been no other +reason, sympathy with the Palfreys, that respectable family who had +lived in the parish time out of mind, would have determined all +well-to-do people to decline Freely’s goods. Besides, he had absconded +with his mother’s guineas: who knew what else he had done, in Jamaica +or elsewhere, before he came to Grimworth, worming himself into +families under false pretences? Females shuddered. Dreadful suspicions +gathered round him: his green eyes, his bow-legs had a criminal aspect. +The rector disliked the sight of a man who had imposed upon him; and +all boys who could not afford to purchase, hooted “David Faux” as they +passed his shop. Certainly no man now would pay anything for the +“goodwill” of Mr. Freely’s business, and he would be obliged to quit it +without a peculium so desirable towards defraying the expense of +moving. + +In a few months the shop in the market-place was again to let, and Mr. +David Faux, _alias_ Mr. Edward Freely, had gone—nobody at Grimworth +knew whither. In this way the demoralization of Grimworth women was +checked. Young Mrs. Steene renewed her efforts to make light +mince-pies, and having at last made a batch so excellent that Mr. +Steene looked at her with complacency as he ate them, and said they +were the best he had ever eaten in his life, she thought less of +bulbuls and renegades ever after. The secrets of the finer cookery were +revived in the breasts of matronly house-wives, and daughters were +again anxious to be initiated in them. + +You will further, I hope, be glad to hear, that some purchases of +drapery made by pretty Penny, in preparation for her marriage with Mr. +Freely, came in quite as well for her wedding with young Towers as if +they had been made expressly for the latter occasion. For Penny’s +complexion had not altered, and blue always became it best. + +Here ends the story of Mr. David Faux, confectioner, and his brother +Jacob. And we see in it, I think, an admirable instance of the +unexpected forms in which the great Nemesis hides herself. + +(1860) + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and + most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no + restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it + under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this + eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the + United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where + you are located before using this eBook. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that: + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation's website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without +widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + diff --git a/2171-0.zip b/2171-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..64adbd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/2171-0.zip diff --git a/2171-h.zip b/2171-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f9acbf --- /dev/null +++ b/2171-h.zip diff --git a/2171-h/2171-h.htm b/2171-h/2171-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd89cbe --- /dev/null +++ b/2171-h/2171-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2320 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Brother Jacob</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May, 2000 [eBook #2171]<br /> +[Most recently updated: June 23, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Price</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB ***</div> + +<h1>Brother Jacob</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by George Eliot</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">CHAPTER I</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">CHAPTER II</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">CHAPTER III</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p> +Among the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, that of blindly +taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, been sufficiently +considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, who has been fed principally on +salt pork and yeast dumplings, to know that there is satiety for the human +stomach even in a paradise of glass jars full of sugared almonds and pink +lozenges, and that the tedium of life can reach a pitch where plum-buns at +discretion cease to offer the slightest excitement? Or how, at the tender age +when a confectioner seems to him a very prince whom all the world must +envy—who breakfasts on macaroons, dines on meringues, sups on +twelfth-cake, and fills up the intermediate hours with sugar-candy or +peppermint—how is he to foresee the day of sad wisdom, when he will +discern that the confectioner’s calling is not socially influential, or +favourable to a soaring ambition? I have known a man who turned out to have a +metaphysical genius, incautiously, in the period of youthful buoyancy, commence +his career as a dancing-master; and you may imagine the use that was made of +this initial mistake by opponents who felt themselves bound to warn the public +against his doctrine of the Inconceivable. He could not give up his +dancing-lessons, because he made his bread by them, and metaphysics would not +have found him in so much as salt to his bread. It was really the same with Mr. +David Faux and the confectionery business. His uncle, the butler at the great +house close by Brigford, had made a pet of him in his early boyhood, and it was +on a visit to this uncle that the confectioners’ shops in that brilliant +town had, on a single day, fired his tender imagination. He carried home the +pleasing illusion that a confectioner must be at once the happiest and the +foremost of men, since the things he made were not only the most beautiful to +behold, but the very best eating, and such as the Lord Mayor must always order +largely for his private recreation; so that when his father declared he must be +put to a trade, David chose his line without a moment’s hesitation; and, +with a rashness inspired by a sweet tooth, wedded himself irrevocably to +confectionery. Soon, however, the tooth lost its relish and fell into blank +indifference; and all the while, his mind expanded, his ambition took new +shapes, which could hardly be satisfied within the sphere his youthful ardour +had chosen. But what was he to do? He was a young man of much mental activity, +and, above all, gifted with a spirit of contrivance; but then, his faculties +would not tell with great effect in any other medium than that of candied +sugars, conserves, and pastry. Say what you will about the identity of the +reasoning process in all branches of thought, or about the advantage of coming +to subjects with a fresh mind, the adjustment of butter to flour, and of heat +to pastry, is <i>not</i> the best preparation for the office of prime minister; +besides, in the present imperfectly-organized state of society, there are +social barriers. David could invent delightful things in the way of drop-cakes, +and he had the widest views of the sugar department; but in other directions he +certainly felt hampered by the want of knowledge and practical skill; and the +world is so inconveniently constituted, that the vague consciousness of being a +fine fellow is no guarantee of success in any line of business. +</p> + +<p> +This difficulty pressed with some severity on Mr. David Faux, even before his +apprenticeship was ended. His soul swelled with an impatient sense that he +ought to become something very remarkable—that it was quite out of the +question for him to put up with a narrow lot as other men did: he scorned the +idea that he could accept an average. He was sure there was nothing average +about him: even such a person as Mrs. Tibbits, the washer-woman, perceived it, +and probably had a preference for his linen. At that particular period he was +weighing out gingerbread nuts; but such an anomaly could not continue. No +position could be suited to Mr. David Faux that was not in the highest degree +easy to the flesh and flattering to the spirit. If he had fallen on the present +times, and enjoyed the advantages of a Mechanic’s Institute, he would +certainly have taken to literature and have written reviews; but his education +had not been liberal. He had read some novels from the adjoining circulating +library, and had even bought the story of <i>Inkle and Yarico</i>, which had +made him feel very sorry for poor Mr. Inkle; so that his ideas might not have +been below a certain mark of the literary calling; but his spelling and diction +were too unconventional. +</p> + +<p> +When a man is not adequately appreciated or comfortably placed in his own +country, his thoughts naturally turn towards foreign climes; and David’s +imagination circled round and round the utmost limits of his geographical +knowledge, in search of a country where a young gentleman of pasty visage, +lipless mouth, and stumpy hair, would be likely to be received with the +hospitable enthusiasm which he had a right to expect. Having a general idea of +America as a country where the population was chiefly black, it appeared to him +the most propitious destination for an emigrant who, to begin with, had the +broad and easily recognizable merit of whiteness; and this idea gradually took +such strong possession of him that Satan seized the opportunity of suggesting +to him that he might emigrate under easier circumstances, if he supplied +himself with a little money from his master’s till. But that evil spirit, +whose understanding, I am convinced, has been much overrated, quite wasted his +time on this occasion. David would certainly have liked well to have some of +his master’s money in his pocket, if he had been sure his master would +have been the only man to suffer for it; but he was a cautious youth, and quite +determined to run no risks on his own account. So he stayed out his +apprenticeship, and committed no act of dishonesty that was at all likely to be +discovered, reserving his plan of emigration for a future opportunity. And the +circumstances under which he carried it out were in this wise. Having been at +home a week or two partaking of the family beans, he had used his leisure in +ascertaining a fact which was of considerable importance to him, namely, that +his mother had a small sum in guineas painfully saved from her maiden +perquisites, and kept in the corner of a drawer where her baby-linen had +reposed for the last twenty years—ever since her son David had taken to +his feet, with a slight promise of bow-legs which had not been altogether +unfulfilled. Mr. Faux, senior, had told his son very frankly, that he must not +look to being set up in business by <i>him</i>: with seven sons, and one of +them a very healthy and well-developed idiot, who consumed a dumpling about +eight inches in diameter every day, it was pretty well if they got a hundred +apiece at his death. Under these circumstances, what was David to do? It was +certainly hard that he should take his mother’s money; but he saw no +other ready means of getting any, and it was not to be expected that a young +man of his merit should put up with inconveniences that could be avoided. +Besides, it is not robbery to take property belonging to your mother: she +doesn’t prosecute you. And David was very well behaved to his mother; he +comforted her by speaking highly of himself to her, and assuring her that he +never fell into the vices he saw practised by other youths of his own age, and +that he was particularly fond of honesty. If his mother would have given him +her twenty guineas as a reward of this noble disposition, he really would not +have stolen them from her, and it would have been more agreeable to his +feelings. Nevertheless, to an active mind like David’s, ingenuity is not +without its pleasures: it was rather an interesting occupation to become +stealthily acquainted with the wards of his mother’s simple key (not in +the least like Chubb’s patent), and to get one that would do its work +equally well; and also to arrange a little drama by which he would escape +suspicion, and run no risk of forfeiting the prospective hundred at his +father’s death, which would be convenient in the improbable case of his +<i>not</i> making a large fortune in the “Indies.” +</p> + +<p> +First, he spoke freely of his intention to start shortly for Liverpool and take +ship for America; a resolution which cost his good mother some pain, for, after +Jacob the idiot, there was not one of her sons to whom her heart clung more +than to her youngest-born, David. Next, it appeared to him that Sunday +afternoon, when everybody was gone to church except Jacob and the cowboy, was +so singularly favourable an opportunity for sons who wanted to appropriate +their mothers’ guineas, that he half thought it must have been kindly +intended by Providence for such purposes. Especially the third Sunday in Lent; +because Jacob had been out on one of his occasional wanderings for the last two +days; and David, being a timid young man, had a considerable dread and hatred +of Jacob, as of a large personage who went about habitually with a pitchfork in +his hand. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing could be easier, then, than for David on this Sunday afternoon to +decline going to church, on the ground that he was going to tea at Mr. +Lunn’s, whose pretty daughter Sally had been an early flame of his, and, +when the church-goers were at a safe distance, to abstract the guineas from +their wooden box and slip them into a small canvas bag—nothing easier +than to call to the cowboy that he was going, and tell him to keep an eye on +the house for fear of Sunday tramps. David thought it would be easy, too, to +get to a small thicket and bury his bag in a hole he had already made and +covered up under the roots of an old hollow ash, and he had, in fact, found the +hole without a moment’s difficulty, had uncovered it, and was about +gently to drop the bag into it, when the sound of a large body rustling towards +him with something like a bellow was such a surprise to David, who, as a +gentleman gifted with much contrivance, was naturally only prepared for what he +expected, that instead of dropping the bag gently he let it fall so as to make +it untwist and vomit forth the shining guineas. In the same moment he looked up +and saw his dear brother Jacob close upon him, holding the pitchfork so that +the bright smooth prongs were a yard in advance of his own body, and about a +foot off David’s. (A learned friend, to whom I once narrated this +history, observed that it was David’s guilt which made these prongs +formidable, and that the “mens nil conscia sibi” strips a pitchfork +of all terrors. I thought this idea so valuable, that I obtained his leave to +use it on condition of suppressing his name.) Nevertheless, David did not +entirely lose his presence of mind; for in that case he would have sunk on the +earth or started backward; whereas he kept his ground and smiled at Jacob, who +nodded his head up and down, and said, “Hoich, Zavy!” in a +painfully equivocal manner. David’s heart was beating audibly, and if he +had had any lips they would have been pale; but his mental activity, instead of +being paralysed, was stimulated. While he was inwardly praying (he always +prayed when he was much frightened)—“Oh, save me this once, and +I’ll never get into danger again!”—he was thrusting his hand +into his pocket in search of a box of yellow lozenges, which he had brought +with him from Brigford among other delicacies of the same portable kind, as a +means of conciliating proud beauty, and more particularly the beauty of Miss +Sarah Lunn. Not one of these delicacies had he ever offered to poor Jacob, for +David was not a young man to waste his jujubes and barley-sugar in giving +pleasure to people from whom he expected nothing. But an idiot with equivocal +intentions and a pitchfork is as well worth flattering and cajoling as if he +were Louis Napoleon. So David, with a promptitude equal to the occasion, drew +out his box of yellow lozenges, lifted the lid, and performed a pantomime with +his mouth and fingers, which was meant to imply that he was delighted to see +his dear brother Jacob, and seized the opportunity of making him a small +present, which he would find particularly agreeable to the taste. Jacob, you +understand, was not an intense idiot, but within a certain limited range knew +how to choose the good and reject the evil: he took one lozenge, by way of +test, and sucked it as if he had been a philosopher; then, in as great an +ecstacy at its new and complex savour as Caliban at the taste of +Trinculo’s wine, chuckled and stroked this suddenly beneficent brother, +and held out his hand for more; for, except in fits of anger, Jacob was not +ferocious or needlessly predatory. David’s courage half returned, and he +left off praying; pouring a dozen lozenges into Jacob’s palm, and trying +to look very fond of him. He congratulated himself that he had formed the plan +of going to see Miss Sally Lunn this afternoon, and that, as a consequence, he +had brought with him these propitiatory delicacies: he was certainly a lucky +fellow; indeed, it was always likely Providence should be fonder of him than of +other apprentices, and since he <i>was</i> to be interrupted, why, an idiot was +preferable to any other sort of witness. For the first time in his life, David +thought he saw the advantage of idiots. +</p> + +<p> +As for Jacob, he had thrust his pitchfork into the ground, and had thrown +himself down beside it, in thorough abandonment to the unprecedented pleasure +of having five lozenges in his mouth at once, blinking meanwhile, and making +inarticulate sounds of gustative content. He had not yet given any sign of +noticing the guineas, but in seating himself he had laid his broad right hand +on them, and unconsciously kept it in that position, absorbed in the sensations +of his palate. If he could only be kept so occupied with the lozenges as not to +see the guineas before David could manage to cover them! That was David’s +best hope of safety; for Jacob knew his mother’s guineas; it had been +part of their common experience as boys to be allowed to look at these handsome +coins, and rattle them in their box on high days and holidays, and among all +Jacob’s narrow experiences as to money, this was likely to be the most +memorable. +</p> + +<p> +“Here, Jacob,” said David, in an insinuating tone, handing the box +to him, “I’ll give ’em all to you. Run!—make +haste!—else somebody’ll come and take ’em.” +</p> + +<p> +David, not having studied the psychology of idiots, was not aware that they are +not to be wrought upon by imaginative fears. Jacob took the box with his left +hand, but saw no necessity for running away. Was ever a promising young man +wishing to lay the foundation of his fortune by appropriating his +mother’s guineas obstructed by such a day-mare as this? But the moment +must come when Jacob would move his right hand to draw off the lid of the tin +box, and then David would sweep the guineas into the hole with the utmost +address and swiftness, and immediately seat himself upon them. Ah, no! +It’s of no use to have foresight when you are dealing with an idiot: he +is not to be calculated upon. Jacob’s right hand was given to vague +clutching and throwing; it suddenly clutched the guineas as if they had been so +many pebbles, and was raised in an attitude which promised to scatter them like +seed over a distant bramble, when, from some prompting or other—probably +of an unwonted sensation—it paused, descended to Jacob’s knee, and +opened slowly under the inspection of Jacob’s dull eyes. David began to +pray again, but immediately desisted—another resource having occurred to +him. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother! zinnies!” exclaimed the innocent Jacob. Then, looking at +David, he said, interrogatively, “Box?” +</p> + +<p> +“Hush! hush!” said David, summoning all his ingenuity in this +severe strait. “See, Jacob!” He took the tin box from his +brother’s hand, and emptied it of the lozenges, returning half of them to +Jacob, but secretly keeping the rest in his own hand. Then he held out the +empty box, and said, “Here’s the box, Jacob! The box for the +guineas!” gently sweeping them from Jacob’s palm into the box. +</p> + +<p> +This procedure was not objectionable to Jacob; on the contrary, the guineas +clinked so pleasantly as they fell, that he wished for a repetition of the +sound, and seizing the box, began to rattle it very gleefully. David, seizing +the opportunity, deposited his reserve of lozenges in the ground and hastily +swept some earth over them. “Look, Jacob!” he said, at last. Jacob +paused from his clinking, and looked into the hole, while David began to +scratch away the earth, as if in doubtful expectation. When the lozenges were +laid bare, he took them out one by one, and gave them to Jacob. +“Hush!” he said, in a loud whisper, “Tell nobody—all +for Jacob—hush—sh—sh! Put guineas in the +hole—they’ll come out like this!” To make the lesson more +complete, he took a guinea, and lowering it into the hole, said, “Put in +<i>so</i>.” Then, as he took the last lozenge out, he said, “Come +out <i>so</i>,” and put the lozenge into Jacob’s hospitable mouth. +</p> + +<p> +Jacob turned his head on one side, looked first at his brother and then at the +hole, like a reflective monkey, and, finally, laid the box of guineas in the +hole with much decision. David made haste to add every one of the stray coins, +put on the lid, and covered it well with earth, saying in his meet coaxing +tone— +</p> + +<p> +“Take ’m out to-morrow, Jacob; all for Jacob! +Hush—sh—sh!” +</p> + +<p> +Jacob, to whom this once indifferent brother had all at once become a sort of +sweet-tasted fetish, stroked David’s best coat with his adhesive fingers, +and then hugged him with an accompaniment of that mingled chuckling and +gurgling by which he was accustomed to express the milder passions. But if he +had chosen to bite a small morsel out of his beneficent brother’s cheek, +David would have been obliged to bear it. +</p> + +<p> +And here I must pause, to point out to you the short-sightedness of human +contrivance. This ingenious young man, Mr. David Faux, thought he had achieved +a triumph of cunning when he had associated himself in his brother’s +rudimentary mind with the flavour of yellow lozenges. But he had yet to learn +that it is a dreadful thing to make an idiot fond of you, when you yourself are +not of an affectionate disposition: especially an idiot with a +pitchfork—obviously a difficult friend to shake off by rough usage. +</p> + +<p> +It may seem to you rather a blundering contrivance for a clever young man to +bury the guineas. But, if everything had turned out as David had calculated, +you would have seen that his plan was worthy of his talents. The guineas would +have lain safely in the earth while the theft was discovered, and David, with +the calm of conscious innocence, would have lingered at home, reluctant to say +good-bye to his dear mother while she was in grief about her guineas; till at +length, on the eve of his departure, he would have disinterred them in the +strictest privacy, and carried them on his own person without inconvenience. +But David, you perceive, had reckoned without his host, or, to speak more +precisely, without his idiot brother—an item of so uncertain and +fluctuating a character, that I doubt whether he would not have puzzled the +astute heroes of M. de Balzac, whose foresight is so remarkably at home in the +future. +</p> + +<p> +It was clear to David now that he had only one alternative before him: he must +either renounce the guineas, by quietly putting them back in his mother’s +drawer (a course not unattended with difficulty); or he must leave more than a +suspicion behind him, by departing early the next morning without giving +notice, and with the guineas in his pocket. For if he gave notice that he was +going, his mother, he knew, would insist on fetching from her box of guineas +the three she had always promised him as his share; indeed, in his original +plan, he had counted on this as a means by which the theft would be discovered +under circumstances that would themselves speak for his innocence; but now, as +I need hardly explain, that well-combined plan was completely frustrated. Even +if David could have bribed Jacob with perpetual lozenges, an idiot’s +secrecy is itself betrayal. He dared not even go to tea at Mr. Lunn’s, +for in that case he would have lost sight of Jacob, who, in his impatience for +the crop of lozenges, might scratch up the box again while he was absent, and +carry it home—depriving him at once of reputation and guineas. No! he +must think of nothing all the rest of this day, but of coaxing Jacob and +keeping him out of mischief. It was a fatiguing and anxious evening to David; +nevertheless, he dared not go to sleep without tying a piece of string to his +thumb and great toe, to secure his frequent waking; for he meant to be up with +the first peep of dawn, and be far out of reach before breakfast-time. His +father, he thought, would certainly cut him off with a shilling; but what then? +Such a striking young man as he would be sure to be well received in the West +Indies: in foreign countries there are always openings—even for cats. It +was probable that some Princess Yarico would want him to marry her, and make +him presents of very large jewels beforehand; after which, he needn’t +marry her unless he liked. David had made up his mind not to steal any more, +even from people who were fond of him: it was an unpleasant way of making your +fortune in a world where you were likely to surprised in the act by brothers. +Such alarms did not agree with David’s constitution, and he had felt so +much nausea this evening that no doubt his liver was affected. Besides, he +would have been greatly hurt not to be thought well of in the world: he always +meant to make a figure, and be thought worthy of the best seats and the best +morsels. +</p> + +<p> +Ruminating to this effect on the brilliant future in reserve for him, David by +the help of his check-string kept himself on the alert to seize the time of +earliest dawn for his rising and departure. His brothers, of course, were early +risers, but he should anticipate them by at least an hour and a half, and the +little room which he had to himself as only an occasional visitor, had its +window over the horse-block, so that he could slip out through the window +without the least difficulty. Jacob, the horrible Jacob, had an awkward trick +of getting up before everybody else, to stem his hunger by emptying the +milk-bowl that was “duly set” for him; but of late he had taken to +sleeping in the hay-loft, and if he came into the house, it would be on the +opposite side to that from which David was making his exit. There was no need +to think of Jacob; yet David was liberal enough to bestow a curse on +him—it was the only thing he ever did bestow gratuitously. His small +bundle of clothes was ready packed, and he was soon treading lightly on the +steps of the horse-block, soon walking at a smart pace across the fields +towards the thicket. It would take him no more than two minutes to get out the +box; he could make out the tree it was under by the pale strip where the bark +was off, although the dawning light was rather dimmer in the thicket. But what, +in the name of—burnt pastry—was that large body with a staff +planted beside it, close at the foot of the ash-tree? David paused, not to make +up his mind as to the nature of the apparition—he had not the happiness +of doubting for a moment that the staff was Jacob’s pitchfork—but +to gather the self-command necessary for addressing his brother with a +sufficiently honeyed accent. Jacob was absorbed in scratching up the earth, and +had not heard David’s approach. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, Jacob,” said David in a loud whisper, just as the tin box +was lifted out of the hole. +</p> + +<p> +Jacob looked up, and discerning his sweet-flavoured brother, nodded and grinned +in the dim light in a way that made him seem to David like a triumphant demon. +If he had been of an impetuous disposition, he would have snatched the +pitchfork from the ground and impaled this fraternal demon. But David was by no +means impetuous; he was a young man greatly given to calculate consequences, a +habit which has been held to be the foundation of virtue. But somehow it had +not precisely that effect in David: he calculated whether an action would harm +himself, or whether it would only harm other people. In the former case he was +very timid about satisfying his immediate desires, but in the latter he would +risk the result with much courage. +</p> + +<p> +“Give it me, Jacob,” he said, stooping down and patting his +brother. “Let us see.” +</p> + +<p> +Jacob, finding the lid rather tight, gave the box to his brother in perfect +faith. David raised the lids and shook his head, while Jacob put his finger in +and took out a guinea to taste whether the metamorphosis into lozenges was +complete and satisfactory. +</p> + +<p> +“No, Jacob; too soon, too soon,” said David, when the guinea had +been tasted. “Give it me; we’ll go and bury it somewhere else; +we’ll put it in yonder,” he added, pointing vaguely toward the +distance. +</p> + +<p> +David screwed on the lid, while Jacob, looking grave, rose and grasped his +pitchfork. Then, seeing David’s bundle, he snatched it, like a too +officious Newfoundland, stuck his pitchfork into it and carried it over his +shoulder in triumph as he accompanied David and the box out of the thicket. +</p> + +<p> +What on earth was David to do? It would have been easy to frown at Jacob, and +kick him, and order him to get away; but David dared as soon have kicked the +bull. Jacob was quiet as long as he was treated indulgently; but on the +slightest show of anger, he became unmanageable, and was liable to fits of fury +which would have made him formidable even without his pitchfork. There was no +mastery to be obtained over him except by kindness or guile. David tried guile. +</p> + +<p> +“Go, Jacob,” he said, when they were out of the +thicket—pointing towards the house as he spoke; “go and fetch me a +spade—a spade. But give <i>me</i> the bundle,” he added, trying to +reach it from the fork, where it hung high above Jacob’s tall shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +But Jacob showed as much alacrity in obeying as a wasp shows in leaving a +sugar-basin. Near David, he felt himself in the vicinity of lozenges: he +chuckled and rubbed his brother’s back, brandishing the bundle higher out +of reach. David, with an inward groan, changed his tactics, and walked on as +fast as he could. It was not safe to linger. Jacob would get tired of following +him, or, at all events, could be eluded. If they could once get to the distant +highroad, a coach would overtake them, David would mount it, having previously +by some ingenious means secured his bundle, and then Jacob might howl and +flourish his pitchfork as much as he liked. Meanwhile he was under the fatal +necessity of being very kind to this ogre, and of providing a large breakfast +for him when they stopped at a roadside inn. It was already three hours since +they had started, and David was tired. Would no coach be coming up soon? he +inquired. No coach for the next two hours. But there was a carrier’s cart +to come immediately, on its way to the next town. If he could slip out, even +leaving his bundle behind, and get into the cart without Jacob! But there was a +new obstacle. Jacob had recently discovered a remnant of sugar-candy in one of +his brother’s tail-pockets; and, since then, had cautiously kept his hold +on that limb of the garment, perhaps with an expectation that there would be a +further development of sugar-candy after a longer or shorter interval. Now +every one who has worn a coat will understand the sensibilities that must keep +a man from starting away in a hurry when there is a grasp on his coat-tail. +David looked forward to being well received among strangers, but it might make +a difference if he had only one tail to his coat. +</p> + +<p> +He felt himself in a cold perspiration. He could walk no more: he must get into +the cart and let Jacob get in with him. Presently a cheering idea occurred to +him: after so large a breakfast, Jacob would be sure to go to sleep in the +cart; you see at once that David meant to seize his bundle, jump out, and be +free. His expectation was partly fulfilled: Jacob did go to sleep in the cart, +but it was in a peculiar attitude—it was with his arms tightly fastened +round his dear brother’s body; and if ever David attempted to move, the +grasp tightened with the force of an affectionate boa-constrictor. +</p> + +<p> +“Th’ innicent’s fond on you,” observed the carrier, +thinking that David was probably an amiable brother, and wishing to pay him a +compliment. +</p> + +<p> +David groaned. The ways of thieving were not ways of pleasantness. Oh, why had +he an idiot brother? Oh, why, in general, was the world so constituted that a +man could not take his mother’s guineas comfortably? David became grimly +speculative. +</p> + +<p> +Copious dinner at noon for Jacob; but little dinner, because little appetite, +for David. Instead of eating, he plied Jacob with beer; for through this +liberality he descried a hope. Jacob fell into a dead sleep, at last, without +having his arms round David, who paid the reckoning, took his bundle, and +walked off. In another half-hour he was on the coach on his way to Liverpool, +smiling the smile of the triumphant wicked. He was rid of Jacob—he was +bound for the Indies, where a gullible princess awaited him. He would never +steal any more, but there would be no need; he would show himself so deserving, +that people would make him presents freely. He must give up the notion of his +father’s legacy; but it was not likely he would ever want that trifle; +and even if he did—why, it was a compensation to think that in being for +ever divided from his family he was divided from Jacob, more terrible than +Gorgon or Demogorgon to David’s timid green eyes. Thank heaven, he should +never see Jacob any more! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p> +It was nearly six years after the departure of Mr. David Faux for the West +Indies, that the vacant shop in the market-place at Grimworth was understood to +have been let to the stranger with a sallow complexion and a buff cravat, whose +first appearance had caused some excitement in the bar of the Woolpack, where +he had called to wait for the coach. +</p> + +<p> +Grimworth, to a discerning eye, was a good place to set up shopkeeping in. +There was no competition in it at present; the Church-people had their own +grocer and draper; the Dissenters had theirs; and the two or three butchers +found a ready market for their joints without strict reference to religious +persuasion—except that the rector’s wife had given a general order +for the veal sweet-breads and the mutton kidneys, while Mr. Rodd, the Baptist +minister, had requested that, so far as was compatible with the fair +accommodation of other customers, the sheep’s trotters might be reserved +for him. And it was likely to be a growing place, for the trustees of Mr. +Zephaniah Crypt’s Charity, under the stimulus of a late visitation by +commissioners, were beginning to apply long-accumulating funds to the +rebuilding of the Yellow Coat School, which was henceforth to be carried +forward on a greatly-extended scale, the testator having left no restrictions +concerning the curriculum, but only concerning the coat. +</p> + +<p> +The shopkeepers at Grimworth were by no means unanimous as to the advantages +promised by this prospect of increased population and trading, being +substantial men, who liked doing a quiet business in which they were sure of +their customers, and could calculate their returns to a nicety. Hitherto, it +had been held a point of honour by the families in Grimworth parish, to buy +their sugar and their flannel at the shop where their fathers and mothers had +bought before them; but, if newcomers were to bring in the system of +neck-and-neck trading, and solicit feminine eyes by gown-pieces laid in +fan-like folds, and surmounted by artificial flowers, giving them a factitious +charm (for on what human figure would a gown sit like a fan, or what female +head was like a bunch of China-asters?), or, if new grocers were to fill their +windows with mountains of currants and sugar, made seductive by contrast and +tickets,—what security was there for Grimworth, that a vagrant spirit in +shopping, once introduced, would not in the end carry the most important +families to the larger market town of Cattleton, where, business being done on +a system of small profits and quick returns, the fashions were of the freshest, +and goods of all kinds might be bought at an advantage? +</p> + +<p> +With this view of the times predominant among the tradespeople at Grimworth, +their uncertainty concerning the nature of the business which the +sallow-complexioned stranger was about to set up in the vacant shop, naturally +gave some additional strength to the fears of the less sanguine. If he was +going to sell drapery, it was probable that a pale-faced fellow like that would +deal in showy and inferior articles—printed cottons and muslins which +would leave their dye in the wash-tub, jobbed linen full of knots, and flannel +that would soon look like gauze. If grocery, then it was to be hoped that no +mother of a family would trust the teas of an untried grocer. Such things had +been known in some parishes as tradesmen going about canvassing for custom with +cards in their pockets: when people came from nobody knew where, there was no +knowing what they might do. It was a thousand pities that Mr. Moffat, the +auctioneer and broker, had died without leaving anybody to follow him in the +business, and Mrs. Cleve’s trustee ought to have known better than to let +a shop to a stranger. Even the discovery that ovens were being put up on the +premises, and that the shop was, in fact, being fitted up for a confectioner +and pastry-cook’s business, hitherto unknown in Grimworth, did not quite +suffice to turn the scale in the newcomer’s favour, though the landlady +at the Woolpack defended him warmly, said he seemed to be a very clever young +man, and from what she could make out, came of a very good family; indeed, was +most likely a good many people’s betters. +</p> + +<p> +It certainly made a blaze of light and colour, almost as if a rainbow had +suddenly descended into the market-place, when, one fine morning, the shutters +were taken down from the new shop, and the two windows displayed their +decorations. On one side, there were the variegated tints of collared and +marbled meats, set off by bright green leaves, the pale brown of glazed pies, +the rich tones of sauces and bottled fruits enclosed in their veil of +glass—altogether a sight to bring tears into the eyes of a Dutch painter; +and on the other, there was a predominance of the more delicate hues of pink, +and white, and yellow, and buff, in the abundant lozenges, candies, sweet +biscuits and icings, which to the eyes of a bilious person might easily have +been blended into a faëry landscape in Turner’s latest style. What a +sight to dawn upon the eyes of Grimworth children! They almost forgot to go to +their dinner that day, their appetites being preoccupied with imaginary +sugar-plums; and I think even Punch, setting up his tabernacle in the +market-place, would not have succeeded in drawing them away from those +shop-windows, where they stood according to gradations of size and strength, +the biggest and strongest being nearest the window, and the little ones in the +outermost rows lifting wide-open eyes and mouths towards the upper tier of +jars, like small birds at meal-time. +</p> + +<p> +The elder inhabitants pished and pshawed a little at the folly of the new +shopkeeper in venturing on such an outlay in goods that would not keep; to be +sure, Christmas was coming, but what housewife in Grimworth would not think +shame to furnish forth her table with articles that were not home-cooked? No, +no. Mr. Edward Freely, as he called himself, was deceived, if he thought +Grimworth money was to flow into his pockets on such terms. +</p> + +<p> +Edward Freely was the name that shone in gilt letters on a mazarine ground over +the doorplace of the new shop—a generous-sounding name, that might have +belonged to the open-hearted, improvident hero of an old comedy, who would have +delighted in raining sugared almonds, like a new manna-gift, among that small +generation outside the windows. But Mr. Edward Freely was a man whose impulses +were kept in due subordination: he held that the desire for sweets and pastry +must only be satisfied in a direct ratio with the power of paying for them. If +the smallest child in Grimworth would go to him with a halfpenny in its tiny +fist, he would, after ringing the halfpenny, deliver a just equivalent in +“rock.” He was not a man to cheat even the smallest child—he +often said so, observing at the same time that he loved honesty, and also that +he was very tender-hearted, though he didn’t show his feelings as some +people did. +</p> + +<p> +Either in reward of such virtue, or according to some more hidden law of +sequence, Mr. Freely’s business, in spite of prejudice, started under +favourable auspices. For Mrs. Chaloner, the rector’s wife, was among the +earliest customers at the shop, thinking it only right to encourage a new +parishioner who had made a decorous appearance at church; and she found Mr. +Freely a most civil, obliging young man, and intelligent to a surprising degree +for a confectioner; well-principled, too, for in giving her useful hints about +choosing sugars he had thrown much light on the dishonesty of other tradesmen. +Moreover, he had been in the West Indies, and had seen the very estate which +had been her poor grandfather’s property; and he said the missionaries +were the only cause of the negro’s discontent—an observing young +man, evidently. Mrs. Chaloner ordered wine-biscuits and olives, and gave Mr. +Freely to understand that she should find his shop a great convenience. So did +the doctor’s wife, and so did Mrs. Gate, at the large carding-mill, who, +having high connexions frequently visiting her, might be expected to have a +large consumption of ratafias and macaroons. +</p> + +<p> +The less aristocratic matrons of Grimworth seemed likely at first to justify +their husbands’ confidence that they would never pay a percentage of +profits on drop-cakes, instead of making their own, or get up a hollow show of +liberal housekeeping by purchasing slices of collared meat when a neighbour +came in for supper. But it is my task to narrate the gradual corruption of +Grimworth manners from their primitive simplicity—a melancholy task, if +it were not cheered by the prospect of the fine peripateia or downfall by which +the progress of the corruption was ultimately checked. +</p> + +<p> +It was young Mrs. Steene, the veterinary surgeons wife, who first gave way to +temptation. I fear she had been rather over-educated for her station in life, +for she knew by heart many passages in <i>Lalla Rookh</i>, the <i>Corsair</i>, +and the <i>Siege of Corinth</i>, which had given her a distaste for domestic +occupations, and caused her a withering disappointment at the discovery that +Mr. Steene, since his marriage, had lost all interest in the +“bulbul,” openly preferred discussing the nature of spavin with a +coarse neighbour, and was angry if the pudding turned out watery—indeed, +was simply a top-booted “vet.”, who came in hungry at dinner-time; +and not in the least like a nobleman turned Corsair out of pure scorn for his +race, or like a renegade with a turban and crescent, unless it were in the +irritability of his temper. And scorn is such a very different thing in +top-boots! +</p> + +<p> +This brutal man had invited a supper-party for Christmas eve, when he would +expect to see mince-pies on the table. Mrs. Steene had prepared her mince-meat, +and had devoted much butter, fine flour, and labour, to the making of a batch +of pies in the morning; but they proved to be so very heavy when they came out +of the oven, that she could only think with trembling of the moment when her +husband should catch sight of them on the supper-table. He would storm at her, +she was certain; and before all the company; and then she should never help +crying: it was so dreadful to think she had come to that, after the bulbul and +everything! Suddenly the thought darted through her mind that <i>this once</i> +she might send for a dish of mince-pies from Freely’s: she knew he had +some. But what was to become of the eighteen heavy mince-pies? Oh, it was of no +use thinking about that; it was very expensive—indeed, making mince-pies +at all was a great expense, when they were not sure to turn out well: it would +be much better to buy them ready-made. You paid a little more for them, but +there was no risk of waste. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the sophistry with which this misguided young woman—enough. Mrs. +Steene sent for the mince-pies, and, I am grieved to add, garbled her household +accounts in order to conceal the fact from her husband. This was the second +step in a downward course, all owing to a young woman’s being out of +harmony with her circumstances, yearning after renegades and bulbuls, and being +subject to claims from a veterinary surgeon fond of mince-pies. The third step +was to harden herself by telling the fact of the bought mince-pies to her +intimate friend Mrs. Mole, who had already guessed it, and who subsequently +encouraged herself in buying a mould of jelly, instead of exerting her own +skill, by the reflection that “other people” did the same sort of +thing. The infection spread; soon there was a party or clique in Grimworth on +the side of “buying at Freely’s”; and many husbands, kept for +some time in the dark on this point, innocently swallowed at two mouthfuls a +tart on which they were paying a profit of a hundred per cent., and as +innocently encouraged a fatal disingenuousness in the partners of their bosoms +by praising the pastry. Others, more keen-sighted, winked at the too frequent +presentation on washing-days, and at impromptu suppers, of superior +spiced-beef, which flattered their palates more than the cold remnants they had +formerly been contented with. Every housewife who had once “bought at +Freely’s” felt a secret joy when she detected a similar perversion +in her neighbour’s practice, and soon only two or three old-fashioned +mistresses of families held out in the protest against the growing +demoralization, saying to their neighbours who came to sup with them, “I +can’t offer you Freely’s beef, or Freely’s cheesecakes; +everything in our house is home-made; I’m afraid you’ll hardly have +any appetite for our plain pastry.” The doctor, whose cook was not +satisfactory, the curate, who kept no cook, and the mining agent, who was a +great <i>bon vivant</i>, even began to rely on Freely for the greater part of +their dinner, when they wished to give an entertainment of some brilliancy. In +short, the business of manufacturing the more fanciful viands was fast passing +out of the hinds of maids and matrons in private families, and was becoming the +work of a special commercial organ. +</p> + +<p> +I am not ignorant that this sort of thing is called the inevitable course of +civilization, division of labour, and so forth, and that the maids and matrons +may be said to have had their hands set free from cookery to add to the wealth +of society in some other way. Only it happened at Grimworth, which, to be sure, +was a low place, that the maids and matrons could do nothing with their hands +at all better than cooking: not even those who had always made heavy cakes and +leathery pastry. And so it came to pass, that the progress of civilization at +Grimworth was not otherwise apparent than in the impoverishment of men, the +gossiping idleness of women, and the heightening prosperity of Mr. Edward +Freely. +</p> + +<p> +The Yellow Coat School was a double source of profit to the calculating +confectioner; for he opened an eating-room for the superior workmen employed on +the new school, and he accommodated the pupils at the old school by giving +great attention to the fancy-sugar department. When I think of the sweet-tasted +swans and other ingenious white shapes crunched by the small teeth of that +rising generation, I am glad to remember that a certain amount of calcareous +food has been held good for young creatures whose bones are not quite formed; +for I have observed these delicacies to have an inorganic flavour which would +have recommended them greatly to that young lady of the +<i>Spectator’s</i> acquaintance who habitually made her dessert on the +stems of tobacco-pipes. +</p> + +<p> +As for the confectioner himself, he made his way gradually into Grimworth +homes, as his commodities did, in spite of some initial repugnance. Somehow or +other, his reception as a guest seemed a thing that required justifying, like +the purchasing of his pastry. In the first place, he was a stranger, and +therefore open to suspicion; secondly, the confectionery business was so +entirely new at Grimworth, that its place in the scale of rank had not been +distinctly ascertained. There was no doubt about drapers and grocers, when they +came of good old Grimworth families, like Mr. Luff and Mr. Prettyman: they +visited with the Palfreys, who farmed their own land, played many a game at +whist with the doctor, and condescended a little towards the timber-merchant, +who had lately taken to the coal-trade also, and had got new furniture; but +whether a confectioner should be admitted to this higher level of +respectability, or should be understood to find his associates among butchers +and bakers, was a new question on which tradition threw no light. His being a +bachelor was in his favour, and would perhaps have been enough to turn the +scale, even if Mr. Edward Freely’s other personal pretensions had been of +an entirely insignificant cast. But so far from this, it very soon appeared +that he was a remarkable young man, who had been in the West Indies, and had +seen many wonders by sea and land, so that he could charm the ears of Grimworth +Desdemonas with stories of strange fishes, especially sharks, which he had +stabbed in the nick of time by bravely plunging overboard just as the monster +was turning on his side to devour the cook’s mate; of terrible fevers +which he had undergone in a land where the wind blows from all quarters at +once; of rounds of toast cut straight from the breadfruit trees; of toes bitten +off by land-crabs; of large honours that had been offered to him as a man who +knew what was what, and was therefore particularly needed in a tropical +climate; and of a Creole heiress who had wept bitterly at his departure. Such +conversational talents as these, we know, will overcome disadvantages of +complexion; and young Towers, whose cheeks were of the finest pink, set off by +a fringe of dark whisker, was quite eclipsed by the presence of the sallow Mr. +Freely. So exceptional a confectioner elevated the business, and might well +begin to make disengaged hearts flutter a little. +</p> + +<p> +Fathers and mothers were naturally more slow and cautious in their recognition +of the newcomer’s merits. +</p> + +<p> +“He’s an amusing fellow,” said Mr. Prettyman, the highly +respectable grocer. (Mrs. Prettyman was a Miss Fothergill, and her sister had +married a London mercer.) “He’s an amusing fellow; and I’ve +no objection to his making one at the Oyster Club; but he’s a bit too +fond of riding the high horse. He’s uncommonly knowing, I’ll allow; +but how came he to go to the Indies? I should like that answered. It’s +unnatural in a confectioner. I’m not fond of people that have been beyond +seas, if they can’t give a good account how they happened to go. When +folks go so far off, it’s because they’ve got little credit nearer +home—that’s my opinion. However, he’s got some good rum; but +I don’t want to be hand and glove with him, for all that.” +</p> + +<p> +It was this kind of dim suspicion which beclouded the view of Mr. +Freely’s qualities in the maturer minds of Grimworth through the early +months of his residence there. But when the confectioner ceased to be a +novelty, the suspicions also ceased to be novel, and people got tired of +hinting at them, especially as they seemed to be refuted by his advancing +prosperity and importance. Mr. Freely was becoming a person of influence in the +parish; he was found useful as an overseer of the poor, having great firmness +in enduring other people’s pain, which firmness, he said, was due to his +great benevolence; he always did what was good for people in the end. Mr. +Chaloner had even selected him as clergyman’s churchwarden, for he was a +very handy man, and much more of Mr. Chaloner’s opinion in everything +about church business than the older parishioners. Mr. Freely was a very +regular churchman, but at the Oyster Club he was sometimes a little free in his +conversation, more than hinting at a life of Sultanic self-indulgence which he +had passed in the West Indies, shaking his head now and then and smiling rather +bitterly, as men are wont to do when they intimate that they have become a +little too wise to be instructed about a world which has long been flat and +stale to them. +</p> + +<p> +For some time he was quite general in his attentions to the fair sex, combining +the gallantries of a lady’s man with a severity of criticism on the +person and manners of absent belles, which tended rather to stimulate in the +feminine breast the desire to conquer the approval of so fastidious a judge. +Nothing short of the very best in the department of female charms and virtues +could suffice to kindle the ardour of Mr. Edward Freely, who had become +familiar with the most luxuriant and dazzling beauty in the West Indies. It may +seem incredible that a confectioner should have ideas and conversation so much +resembling those to be met with in a higher walk of life, but it must be +remembered that he had not merely travelled, he had also bow-legs and a sallow, +small-featured visage, so that nature herself had stamped him for a fastidious +connoisseur of the fair sex. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, it seemed clear that Cupid had found a sharper arrow than +usual, and that Mr. Freely’s heart was pierced. It was the general talk +among the young people at Grimworth. But was it really love, and not rather +ambition? Miss Fullilove, the timber-merchant’s daughter, was quite sure +that if <i>she</i> were Miss Penny Palfrey, she would be cautious; it was not a +good sign when men looked so much above themselves for a wife. For it was no +less a person than Miss Penelope Palfrey, second daughter of the Mr. Palfrey +who farmed his own land, that had attracted Mr. Freely’s peculiar regard, +and conquered his fastidiousness; and no wonder, for the Ideal, as exhibited in +the finest waxwork, was perhaps never so closely approached by the Real as in +the person of the pretty Penelope. Her yellowish flaxen hair did not curl +naturally, I admit, but its bright crisp ringlets were such smooth, perfect +miniature tubes, that you would have longed to pass your little finger through +them, and feel their soft elasticity. She wore them in a crop, for in those +days, when society was in a healthier state, young ladies wore crops long after +they were twenty, and Penelope was not yet nineteen. Like the waxen ideal, she +had round blue eyes, and round nostrils in her little nose, and teeth such as +the ideal would be seen to have, if it ever showed them. Altogether, she was a +small, round thing, as neat as a pink and white double daisy, and as guileless; +for I hope it does not argue guile in a pretty damsel of nineteen, to think +that she should like to have a beau and be “engaged,” when her +elder sister had already been in that position a year and a half. To be sure, +there was young Towers always coming to the house; but Penny felt convinced he +only came to see her brother, for he never had anything to say to her, and +never offered her his arm, and was as awkward and silent as possible. +</p> + +<p> +It is not unlikely that Mr. Freely had early been smitten by Penny’s +charms, as brought under his observation at church, but he had to make his way +in society a little before he could come into nearer contact with them; and +even after he was well received in Grimworth families, it was a long while +before he could converse with Penny otherwise than in an incidental meeting at +Mr. Luff’s. It was not so easy to get invited to Long Meadows, the +residence of the Palfreys; for though Mr. Palfrey had been losing money of late +years, not being able quite to recover his feet after the terrible murrain +which forced him to borrow, his family were far from considering themselves on +the same level even as the old-established tradespeople with whom they visited. +The greatest people, even kings and queens, must visit with somebody, and the +equals of the great are scarce. They were especially scarce at Grimworth, +which, as I have before observed, was a low parish, mentioned with the most +scornful brevity in gazetteers. Even the great people there were far behind +those of their own standing in other parts of this realm. Mr. Palfrey’s +farmyard doors had the paint all worn off them, and the front garden walks had +long been merged in a general weediness. Still, his father had been called +Squire Palfrey, and had been respected by the last Grimworth generation as a +man who could afford to drink too much in his own house. +</p> + +<p> +Pretty Penny was not blind to the fact that Mr. Freely admired her, and she +felt sure that it was he who had sent her a beautiful valentine; but her sister +seemed to think so lightly of him (all young ladies think lightly of the +gentlemen to whom they are not engaged), that Penny never dared mention him, +and trembled and blushed whenever they met him, thinking of the valentine, +which was very strong in its expressions, and which she felt guilty of knowing +by heart. A man who had been to the Indies, and knew the sea so well, seemed to +her a sort of public character, almost like Robinson Crusoe or Captain Cook; +and Penny had always wished her husband to be a remarkable personage, likely to +be put in Mangnall’s Questions, with which register of the immortals she +had become acquainted during her one year at a boarding-school. Only it seemed +strange that a remarkable man should be a confectioner and pastry-cook, and +this anomaly quite disturbed Penny’s dreams. Her brothers, she knew, +laughed at men who couldn’t sit on horseback well, and called them +tailors; but her brothers were very rough, and were quite without that power of +anecdote which made Mr. Freely such a delightful companion. He was a very good +man, she thought, for she had heard him say at Mr. Luff’s, one day, that +he always wished to do his duty in whatever state of life he might be placed; +and he knew a great deal of poetry, for one day he had repeated a verse of a +song. She wondered if he had made the words of the valentine!—it ended in +this way:— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“Without thee, it is pain to live,<br /> +But with thee, it were sweet to die.” +</p> + +<p> +Poor Mr. Freely! her father would very likely object—she felt sure he +would, for he always called Mr. Freely “that sugar-plum fellow.” +Oh, it was very cruel, when true love was crossed in that way, and all because +Mr. Freely was a confectioner: well, Penny would be true to him, for all that, +and since his being a confectioner gave her an opportunity of showing her +faithfulness, she was glad of it. Edward Freely was a pretty name, much better +than John Towers. Young Towers had offered her a rose out of his button-hole +the other day, blushing very much; but she refused it, and thought with delight +how much Mr. Freely would be comforted if he knew her firmness of mind. +</p> + +<p> +Poor little Penny! the days were so very long among the daisies on a grazing +farm, and thought is so active—how was it possible that the inward drama +should not get the start of the outward? I have known young ladies, much better +educated, and with an outward world diversified by instructive lectures, to say +nothing of literature and highly-developed fancy-work, who have spun a cocoon +of visionary joys and sorrows for themselves, just as Penny did. Her elder +sister Letitia, who had a prouder style of beauty, and a more worldly ambition, +was engaged to a wool-factor, who came all the way from Cattelton to see her; +and everybody knows that a wool-factor takes a very high rank, sometimes +driving a double-bodied gig. Letty’s notions got higher every day, and +Penny never dared to speak of her cherished griefs to her lofty +sister—never dared to propose that they should call at Mr. Freely’s +to buy liquorice, though she had prepared for such an incident by mentioning a +slight sore throat. So she had to pass the shop on the other side of the +market-place, and reflect, with a suppressed sigh, that behind those pink and +white jars somebody was thinking of her tenderly, unconscious of the small +space that divided her from him. +</p> + +<p> +And it was quite true that, when business permitted, Mr. Freely thought a great +deal of Penny. He thought her prettiness comparable to the loveliest things in +confectionery; he judged her to be of submissive temper—likely to wait +upon him as well as if she had been a negress, and to be silently terrified +when his liver made him irritable; and he considered the Palfrey family quite +the best in the parish, possessing marriageable daughters. On the whole, he +thought her worthy to become Mrs. Edward Freely, and all the more so, because +it would probably require some ingenuity to win her. Mr. Palfrey was capable of +horse-whipping a too rash pretender to his daughter’s hand; and, +moreover, he had three tall sons: it was clear that a suitor would be at a +disadvantage with such a family, unless travel and natural acumen had given him +a countervailing power of contrivance. And the first idea that occurred to him +in the matter was, that Mr. Palfrey would object less if he knew that the +Freelys were a much higher family than his own. It had been foolish modesty in +him hitherto to conceal the fact that a branch of the Freelys held a manor in +Yorkshire, and to shut up the portrait of his great uncle the admiral, instead +of hanging it up where a family portrait should be hung—over the +mantelpiece in the parlour. Admiral Freely, K.C.B., once placed in this +conspicuous position, was seen to have had one arm only, and one eye—in +these points resembling the heroic Nelson—while a certain pallid +insignificance of feature confirmed the relationship between himself and his +grand-nephew. +</p> + +<p> +Next, Mr. Freely was seized with an irrepressible ambition to posses Mrs. +Palfrey’s receipt for brawn, hers being pronounced on all hands to be +superior to his own—as he informed her in a very flattering letter +carried by his errand-boy. Now Mrs. Palfrey, like other geniuses, wrought by +instinct rather than by rule, and possessed no receipts—indeed, despised +all people who used them, observing that people who pickled by book, must +pickle by weights and measures, and such nonsense; as for herself, her weights +and measures were the tip of her finger and the tip of her tongue, and if you +went nearer, why, of course, for dry goods like flour and spice, you went by +handfuls and pinches, and for wet, there was a middle-sized jug—quite the +best thing whether for much or little, because you might know how much a +teacupful was if you’d got any use of your senses, and you might be sure +it would take five middle-sized jugs to make a gallon. Knowledge of this kind +is like Titian’s colouring, difficult to communicate; and as Mrs. +Palfrey, once remarkably handsome, had now become rather stout and asthmatical, +and scarcely ever left home, her oral teaching could hardly be given anywhere +except at Long Meadows. Even a matron is not insusceptible to flattery, and the +prospect of a visitor whose great object would be to listen to her +conversation, was not without its charms to Mrs. Palfrey. Since there was no +receipt to be sent in reply to Mr. Freely’s humble request, she called on +her more docile daughter, Penny, to write a note, telling him that her mother +would be glad to see him and talk with him on brawn, any day that he could call +at Long Meadows. Penny obeyed with a trembling hand, thinking how wonderfully +things came about in this world. +</p> + +<p> +In this way, Mr. Freely got himself introduced into the home of the Palfreys, +and notwithstanding a tendency in the male part of the family to jeer at him a +little as “peaky” and bow-legged, he presently established his +position as an accepted and frequent guest. Young Towers looked at him with +increasing disgust when they met at the house on a Sunday, and secretly longed +to try his ferret upon him, as a piece of vermin which that valuable animal +would be likely to tackle with unhesitating vigour. But—so blind +sometimes are parents—neither Mr. nor Mrs. Palfrey suspected that Penny +would have anything to say to a tradesman of questionable rank whose youthful +bloom was much withered. Young Towers, they thought, had an eye to her, and +<i>that</i> was likely enough to be a match some day; but Penny was a child at +present. And all the while Penny was imagining the circumstances under which +Mr. Freely would make her an offer: perhaps down by the row of damson-trees, +when they were in the garden before tea; perhaps by letter—in which case, +how would the letter begin? “Dearest Penelope?” or “My dear +Miss Penelope?” or straight off, without dear anything, as seemed the +most natural when people were embarrassed? But, however he might make the +offer, she would not accept it without her father’s consent: she would +always be true to Mr. Freely, but she would not disobey her father. For Penny +was a good girl, though some of her female friends were afterwards of opinion +that it spoke ill for her not to have felt an instinctive repugnance to Mr. +Freely. +</p> + +<p> +But he was cautious, and wished to be quite sure of the ground he trod on. His +views on marriage were not entirely sentimental, but were as duly mingled with +considerations of what would be advantageous to a man in his position, as if he +had had a very large amount of money spent on his education. He was not a man +to fall in love in the wrong place; and so, he applied himself quite as much to +conciliate the favour of the parents, as to secure the attachment of Penny. +Mrs. Palfrey had not been inaccessible to flattery, and her husband, being also +of mortal mould, would not, it might be hoped, be proof against rum—that +very fine Jamaica rum—of which Mr. Freely expected always to have a +supply sent him from Jamaica. It was not easy to get Mr. Palfrey into the +parlour behind the shop, where a mild back-street light fell on the features of +the heroic admiral; but by getting hold of him rather late one evening as he +was about to return home from Grimworth, the aspiring lover succeeded in +persuading him to sup on some collared beef which, after Mrs. Palfrey’s +brawn, he would find the very best of cold eating. +</p> + +<p> +From that hour Mr. Freely felt sure of success: being in privacy with an +estimable man old enough to be his father, and being rather lonely in the +world, it was natural he should unbosom himself a little on subjects which he +could not speak of in a mixed circle—especially concerning his +expectations from his uncle in Jamaica, who had no children, and loved his +nephew Edward better than any one else in the world, though he had been so hurt +at his leaving Jamaica, that he had threatened to cut him off with a shilling. +However, he had since written to state his full forgiveness, and though he was +an eccentric old gentleman and could not bear to give away money during his +life, Mr. Edward Freely could show Mr. Palfrey the letter which declared, +plainly enough, who would be the affectionate uncle’s heir. Mr. Palfrey +actually saw the letter, and could not help admiring the spirit of the nephew +who declared that such brilliant hopes as these made no difference to his +conduct; he should work at his humble business and make his modest fortune at +it all the same. If the Jamaica estate was to come to him—well and good. +It was nothing very surprising for one of the Freely family to have an estate +left him, considering the lands that family had possessed in time gone +by—nay, still possessed in the Northumberland branch. Would not Mr. +Palfrey take another glass of rum? and also look at the last year’s +balance of the accounts? Mr. Freely was a man who cared to possess personal +virtues, and did not pique himself on his family, though some men would. +</p> + +<p> +We know how easily the great Leviathan may be led, when once there is a hook in +his nose or a bridle in his jaws. Mr. Palfrey was a large man, but, like +Leviathan’s, his bulk went against him when once he had taken a turning. +He was not a mercurial man, who easily changed his point of view. Enough. +Before two months were over, he had given his consent to Mr. Freely’s +marriage with his daughter Penny, and having hit on a formula by which he could +justify it, fenced off all doubts and objections, his own included. The formula +was this: “I’m not a man to put my head up an entry before I know +where it leads.” +</p> + +<p> +Little Penny was very proud and fluttering, but hardly so happy as she expected +to be in an engagement. She wondered if young Towers cared much about it, for +he had not been to the house lately, and her sister and brothers were rather +inclined to sneer than to sympathize. Grimworth rang with the news. All men +extolled Mr. Freely’s good fortune; while the women, with the tender +solicitude characteristic of the sex, wished the marriage might turn out well. +</p> + +<p> +While affairs were at this triumphant juncture, Mr. Freely one morning observed +that a stone-carver who had been breakfasting in the eating-room had left a +newspaper behind. It was the <i>X-shire Gazette</i>, and X-shire being a county +not unknown to Mr. Freely, he felt some curiosity to glance over it, and +especially over the advertisements. A slight flush came over his face as he +read. It was produced by the following announcement:—“If David +Faux, son of Jonathan Faux, late of Gilsbrook, will apply at the office of Mr. +Strutt, attorney, of Rodham, he will hear of something to his advantage.” +</p> + +<p> +“Father’s dead!” exclaimed Mr. Freely, involuntarily. +“Can he have left me a legacy?” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p> +Perhaps it was a result quite different from your expectations, that Mr. David +Faux should have returned from the West Indies only a few years after his +arrival there, and have set up in his old business, like any plain man who has +never travelled. But these cases do occur in life. Since, as we know, men +change their skies and see new constellations without changing their souls, it +will follow sometimes that they don’t change their business under those +novel circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +Certainly, this result was contrary to David’s own expectations. He had +looked forward, you are aware, to a brilliant career among “the +blacks”; but, either because they had already seen too many white men, or +for some other reason, they did not at once recognize him as a superior order +of human being; besides, there were no princesses among them. Nobody in Jamaica +was anxious to maintain David for the mere pleasure of his society; and those +hidden merits of a man which are so well known to himself were as little +recognized there as they notoriously are in the effete society of the Old +World. So that in the dark hints that David threw out at the Oyster Club about +that life of Sultanic self-indulgence spent by him in the luxurious Indies, I +really think he was doing himself a wrong; I believe he worked for his bread, +and, in fact, took to cooking as, after all, the only department in which he +could offer skilled labour. He had formed several ingenious plans by which he +meant to circumvent people of large fortune and small faculty; but then he +never met with exactly the right circumstances. David’s devices for +getting rich without work had apparently no direct relation with the world +outside him, as his confectionery receipts had. It is possible to pass a great +many bad half pennies and bad half-crowns, but I believe there has no instance +been known of passing a halfpenny or a half-crown as a sovereign. A sharper can +drive a brisk trade in this world: it is undeniable that there may be a fine +career for him, if he will dare consequences; but David was too timid to be a +sharper, or venture in any way among the mantraps of the law. He dared rob +nobody but his mother. And so he had to fall back on the genuine value there +was in him—to be content to pass as a good halfpenny, or, to speak more +accurately, as a good confectioner. For in spite of some additional reading and +observation, there was nothing else he could make so much money by; nay, he +found in himself even a capability of extending his skill in this direction, +and embracing all forms of cookery; while, in other branches of human labour, +he began to see that it was not possible for him to shine. Fate was too strong +for him; he had thought to master her inclination and had fled over the seas to +that end; but she caught him, tied an apron round him, and snatching him from +all other devices, made him devise cakes and patties in a kitchen at Kingstown. +He was getting submissive to her, since she paid him with tolerable gains; but +fevers and prickly heat, and other evils incidental to cooks in ardent +climates, made him long for his native land; so he took ship once more, +carrying his six years’ savings, and seeing distinctly, this time, what +were Fate’s intentions as to his career. If you question me closely as to +whether all the money with which he set up at Grimworth consisted of pure and +simple earnings, I am obliged to confess that he got a sum or two for +charitably abstaining from mentioning some other people’s misdemeanours. +Altogether, since no prospects were attached to his family name, and since a +new christening seemed a suitable commencement of a new life, Mr. David Faux +thought it as well to call himself Mr. Edward Freely. +</p> + +<p> +But lo! now, in opposition to all calculable probability, some benefit appeared +to be attached to the name of David Faux. Should he neglect it, as beneath the +attention of a prosperous tradesman? It might bring him into contact with his +family again, and he felt no yearnings in that direction: moreover, he had +small belief that the “something to his advantage” could be +anything considerable. On the other hand, even a small gain is pleasant, and +the promise of it in this instance was so surprising, that David felt his +curiosity awakened. The scale dipped at last on the side of writing to the +lawyer, and, to be brief, the correspondence ended in an appointment for a +meeting between David and his eldest brother at Mr. Strutt’s, the vague +“something” having been defined as a legacy from his father of +eighty-two pounds, three shillings. +</p> + +<p> +David, you know, had expected to be disinherited; and so he would have been, if +he had not, like some other indifferent sons, come of excellent parents, whose +conscience made them scrupulous where much more highly-instructed people often +feel themselves warranted in following the bent of their indignation. Good Mrs. +Faux could never forget that she had brought this ill-conditioned son into the +world when he was in that entirely helpless state which excluded the smallest +choice on his part; and, somehow or other, she felt that his going wrong would +be his father’s and mother’s fault, if they failed in one tittle of +their parental duty. Her notion of parental duty was not of a high and subtle +kind, but it included giving him his due share of the family property; for when +a man had got a little honest money of his own, was he so likely to steal? To +cut the delinquent son off with a shilling, was like delivering him over to his +evil propensities. No; let the sum of twenty guineas which he had stolen be +deducted from his share, and then let the sum of three guineas be put back from +it, seeing that his mother had always considered three of the twenty guineas as +his; and, though he had run away, and was, perhaps, gone across the sea, let +the money be left to him all the same, and be kept in reserve for his possible +return. Mr. Faux agreed to his wife’s views, and made a codicil to his +will accordingly, in time to die with a clear conscience. But for some time his +family thought it likely that David would never reappear; and the eldest son, +who had the charge of Jacob on his hands, often thought it a little hard that +David might perhaps be dead, and yet, for want of certitude on that point, his +legacy could not fall to his legal heir. But in this state of things the +opposite certitude—namely, that David was still alive and in +England—seemed to be brought by the testimony of a neighbour, who, having +been on a journey to Cattelton, was pretty sure he had seen David in a gig, +with a stout man driving by his side. He could “swear it was +David,” though he could “give no account why, for he had no marks +on him; but no more had a white dog, and that didn’t hinder folks from +knowing a white dog.” It was this incident which had led to the +advertisement. +</p> + +<p> +The legacy was paid, of course, after a few preliminary disclosures as to Mr. +David’s actual position. He begged to send his love to his mother, and to +say that he hoped to pay her a dutiful visit by and by; but, at present, his +business and near prospect of marriage made it difficult for him to leave home. +His brother replied with much frankness. +</p> + +<p> +“My mother may do as she likes about having you to see her, but, for my +part, I don’t want to catch sight of you on the premises again. When +folks have taken a new name, they’d better keep to their new +’quinetance.” +</p> + +<p> +David pocketed the insult along with the eighty-two pounds three, and travelled +home again in some triumph at the ease of a transaction which had enriched him +to this extent. He had no intention of offending his brother by further claims +on his fraternal recognition, and relapsed with full contentment into the +character of Mr. Edward Freely, the orphan, scion of a great but reduced +family, with an eccentric uncle in the West Indies. (I have already hinted that +he had some acquaintance with imaginative literature; and being of a practical +turn, he had, you perceive, applied even this form of knowledge to practical +purposes.) +</p> + +<p> +It was little more than a week after the return from his fruitful journey, that +the day of his marriage with Penny having been fixed, it was agreed that Mrs. +Palfrey should overcome her reluctance to move from home, and that she and her +husband should bring their two daughters to inspect little Penny’s future +abode and decide on the new arrangements to be made for the reception of the +bride. Mr. Freely meant her to have a house so pretty and comfortable that she +need not envy even a wool-factor’s wife. Of course, the upper room over +the shop was to be the best sitting-room; but also the parlour behind the shop +was to be made a suitable bower for the lovely Penny, who would naturally wish +to be near her husband, though Mr. Freely declared his resolution never to +allow <i>his</i> wife to wait in the shop. The decisions about the parlour +furniture were left till last, because the party was to take tea there; and, +about five o’clock, they were all seated there with the best muffins and +buttered buns before them, little Penny blushing and smiling, with her +“crop” in the best order, and a blue frock showing her little white +shoulders, while her opinion was being always asked and never given. She +secretly wished to have a particular sort of chimney ornaments, but she could +not have brought herself to mention it. Seated by the side of her yellow and +rather withered lover, who, though he had not reached his thirtieth year, had +already crow’s-feet about his eyes, she was quite tremulous at the +greatness of her lot in being married to a man who had travelled so +much—and before her sister Letty! The handsome Letitia looked rather +proud and contemptuous, thought her future brother-in-law an odious person, and +was vexed with her father and mother for letting Penny marry him. Dear little +Penny! She certainly did look like a fresh white-heart cherry going to be +bitten off the stem by that lipless mouth. Would no deliverer come to make a +slip between that cherry and that mouth without a lip? +</p> + +<p> +“Quite a family likeness between the admiral and you, Mr. Freely,” +observed Mrs. Palfrey, who was looking at the family portrait for the first +time. “It’s wonderful! and only a grand-uncle. Do you feature the +rest of your family, as you know of?” +</p> + +<p> +“I can’t say,” said Mr. Freely, with a sigh. “My family +have mostly thought themselves too high to take any notice of me.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment an extraordinary disturbance was heard in the shop, as of a +heavy animal stamping about and making angry noises, and then of a glass vessel +falling in shivers, while the voice of the apprentice was heard calling +“Master” in great alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Freely rose in anxious astonishment, and hastened into the shop, followed +by the four Palfreys, who made a group at the parlour-door, transfixed with +wonder at seeing a large man in a smock-frock, with a pitchfork in his hand, +rush up to Mr. Freely and hug him, crying out,—“Zavy, Zavy, +b’other Zavy!” +</p> + +<p> +It was Jacob, and for some moments David lost all presence of mind. He felt +arrested for having stolen his mother’s guineas. He turned cold, and +trembled in his brother’s grasp. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, how’s this?” said Mr. Palfrey, advancing from the door. +“Who is he?” +</p> + +<p> +Jacob supplied the answer by saying over and over again— +</p> + +<p> +“I’se Zacob, b’other Zacob. Come ’o zee +Zavy”—till hunger prompted him to relax his grasp, and to seize a +large raised pie, which he lifted to his mouth. +</p> + +<p> +By this time David’s power of device had begun to return, but it was a +very hard task for his prudence to master his rage and hatred towards poor +Jacob. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know who he is; he must be drunk,” he said, in a low +tone to Mr. Palfrey. “But he’s dangerous with that pitchfork. +He’ll never let it go.” Then checking himself on the point of +betraying too great an intimacy with Jacob’s habits, he added “You +watch him, while I run for the constable.” And he hurried out of the +shop. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, where do you come from, my man?” said Mr. Palfrey, speaking +to Jacob in a conciliatory tone. Jacob was eating his pie by large mouthfuls, +and looking round at the other good things in the shop, while he embraced his +pitchfork with his left arm, and laid his left hand on some Bath buns. He was +in the rare position of a person who recovers a long absent friend and finds +him richer than ever in the characteristics that won his heart. +</p> + +<p> +“I’s Zacob—b’other Zacob—’t home. I love +Zavy—b’other Zavy,” he said, as soon as Mr. Palfrey had drawn +his attention. “Zavy come back from z’ Indies—got +mother’s zinnies. Where’s Zavy?” he added, looking round and +then turning to the others with a questioning air, puzzled by David’s +disappearance. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s very odd,” observed Mr. Palfrey to his wife and +daughters. “He seems to say Freely’s his brother come back from +th’ Indies.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a pleasant relation for us!” said Letitia, sarcastically. +“I think he’s a good deal like Mr. Freely. He’s got just the +same sort of nose, and his eyes are the same colour.” +</p> + +<p> +Poor Penny was ready to cry. +</p> + +<p> +But now Mr. Freely re-entered the shop without the constable. During his walk +of a few yards he had had time and calmness enough to widen his view of +consequences, and he saw that to get Jacob taken to the workhouse or to the +lock-up house as an offensive stranger might have awkward effects if his family +took the trouble of inquiring after him. He must resign himself to more patient +measures. +</p> + +<p> +“On second thoughts,” he said, beckoning to Mr. Palfrey and +whispering to him while Jacob’s back was turned, “he’s a poor +half-witted fellow. Perhaps his friends will come after him. I don’t mind +giving him something to eat, and letting him lie down for the night. He’s +got it into his head that he knows me—they do get these fancies, idiots +do. He’ll perhaps go away again in an hour or two, and make no more ado. +I’m a kind-hearted man <i>myself</i>—I shouldn’t like to have +the poor fellow ill-used.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why, he’ll eat a sovereign’s worth in no time,” said +Mr. Palfrey, thinking Mr. Freely a little too magnificent in his generosity. +</p> + +<p> +“Eh, Zavy, come back?” exclaimed Jacob, giving his dear brother +another hug, which crushed Mr. Freely’s features inconveniently against +the handle of the pitchfork. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, aye,” said Mr. Freely, smiling, with every capability of +murder in his mind, except the courage to commit it. He wished the Bath buns +might by chance have arsenic in them. +</p> + +<p> +“Mother’s zinnies?” said Jacob, pointing to a glass jar of +yellow lozenges that stood in the window. “Zive ’em me.” +</p> + +<p> +David dared not do otherwise than reach down the glass jar and give Jacob a +handful. He received them in his smock-frock, which he held out for more. +</p> + +<p> +“They’ll keep him quiet a bit, at any rate,” thought David, +and emptied the jar. Jacob grinned and mowed with delight. +</p> + +<p> +“You’re very good to this stranger, Mr. Freely,” said +Letitia; and then spitefully, as David joined the party at the parlour-door, +“I think you could hardly treat him better, if he was really your +brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ve always thought it a duty to be good to idiots,” said +Mr. Freely, striving after the most moral view of the subject. “We might +have been idiots ourselves—everybody might have been born idiots, instead +of having their right senses.” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know where there’d ha’ been victual for us all +then,” observed Mrs. Palfrey, regarding the matter in a housewifely +light. +</p> + +<p> +“But let us sit down again and finish our tea,” said Mr. Freely. +“Let us leave the poor creature to himself.” +</p> + +<p> +They walked into the parlour again; but Jacob, not apparently appreciating the +kindness of leaving him to himself, immediately followed his brother, and +seated himself, pitchfork grounded, at the table. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Miss Letitia, rising, “I don’t know +whether <i>you</i> mean to stay, mother; but I shall go home.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, me too,” said Penny, frightened to death at Jacob, who had +begun to nod and grin at her. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I think we <i>had</i> better be going, Mr. Palfrey,” said +the mother, rising more slowly. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Freely, whose complexion had become decidedly yellower during the last +half-hour, did not resist this proposition. He hoped they should meet again +“under happier circumstances.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s my belief the man is his brother,” said Letitia, when +they were all on their way home. +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense!” said Mr. Palfrey. “Freely’s got no +brother—he’s said so many and many a time; he’s an orphan; +he’s got nothing but uncles—leastwise, one. What’s it matter +what an idiot says? What call had Freely to tell lies?” +</p> + +<p> +Letitia tossed her head and was silent. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Freely, left alone with his affectionate brother Jacob, brooded over the +possibility of luring him out of the town early the next morning, and getting +him conveyed to Gilsbrook without further betrayals. But the thing was +difficult. He saw clearly that if he took Jacob himself, his absence, conjoined +with the disappearance of the stranger, would either cause the conviction that +he was really a relative, or would oblige him to the dangerous course of +inventing a story to account for his disappearance, and his own absence at the +same time. David groaned. There come occasions when falsehood is felt to be +inconvenient. It would, perhaps, have been a longer-headed device, if he had +never told any of those clever fibs about his uncles, grand and otherwise; for +the Palfreys were simple people, and shared the popular prejudice against +lying. Even if he could get Jacob away this time, what security was there that +he would not come again, having once found the way? O guineas! O lozenges! what +enviable people those were who had never robbed their mothers, and had never +told fibs! David spent a sleepless night, while Jacob was snoring close by. Was +this the upshot of travelling to the Indies, and acquiring experience combined +with anecdote? +</p> + +<p> +He rose at break of day, as he had once before done when he was in fear of +Jacob, and took all gentle means to rouse this fatal brother from his deep +sleep; he dared not be loud, because his apprentice was in the house, and would +report everything. But Jacob was not to be roused. He fought out with his fist +at the unknown cause of disturbance, turned over, and snored again. He must be +left to wake as he would. David, with a cold perspiration on his brow, +confessed to himself that Jacob could not be got away that day. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Palfrey came over to Grimworth before noon, with a natural curiosity to see +how his future son-in-law got on with the stranger to whom he was so +benevolently inclined. He found a crowd round the shop. All Grimworth by this +time had heard how Freely had been fastened on by an idiot, who called him +“Brother Zavy”; and the younger population seemed to find the +singular stranger an unwearying source of fascination, while the householders +dropped in one by one to inquire into the incident. +</p> + +<p> +“Why don’t you send him to the workhouse?” said Mr. +Prettyman. “You’ll have a row with him and the children presently, +and he’ll eat you up. The workhouse is the proper place for him; let his +kin claim him, if he’s got any.” +</p> + +<p> +“Those may be <i>your</i> feelings, Mr. Prettyman,” said David, his +mind quite enfeebled by the torture of his position. +</p> + +<p> +“What! <i>is</i> he your brother, then?” said Mr. Prettyman, +looking at his neighbour Freely rather sharply. +</p> + +<p> +“All men are our brothers, and idiots particular so,” said Mr. +Freely, who, like many other travelled men, was not master of the English +language. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, come, if he’s your brother, tell the truth, man,” said +Mr. Prettyman, with growing suspicion. “Don’t be ashamed of your +own flesh and blood.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Palfrey was present, and also had his eye on Freely. It is difficult for a +man to believe in the advantage of a truth which will disclose him to have been +a liar. In this critical moment, David shrank from this immediate disgrace in +the eyes of his future father-in-law. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Prettyman,” he said, “I take your observations as an +insult. I’ve no reason to be otherwise than proud of my own flesh and +blood. If this poor man was my brother more than all men are, I should say +so.” +</p> + +<p> +A tall figure darkened the door, and David, lifting his eyes in that direction, +saw his eldest brother, Jonathan, on the door-sill. +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll stay wi’ Zavy,” shouted Jacob, as he, too, caught +sight of his eldest brother; and, running behind the counter, he clutched David +hard. +</p> + +<p> +“What, he <i>is</i> here?” said Jonathan Faux, coming forward. +“My mother would have no nay, as he’d been away so long, but I must +see after him. And it struck me he was very like come after you, because +we’d been talking of you o’ late, and where you lived.” +</p> + +<p> +David saw there was no escape; he smiled a ghastly smile. +</p> + +<p> +“What! is this a relation of yours, sir?” said Mr. Palfrey to +Jonathan. +</p> + +<p> +“Aye, it’s my innicent of a brother, sure enough,” said +honest Jonathan. “A fine trouble and cost he is to us, in th’ +eating and other things, but we must bear what’s laid on us.” +</p> + +<p> +“And your name’s Freely, is it?” said Mr. Prettyman. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, nay, my name’s Faux, I know nothing o’ Freelys,” +said Jonathan, curtly. “Come,” he added, turning to David, “I +must take some news to mother about Jacob. Shall I take him with me, or will +you undertake to send him back?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take him, if you can make him loose his hold of me,” said David, +feebly. +</p> + +<p> +“Is this gentleman here in the confectionery line your brother, then, +sir?” said Mr. Prettyman, feeling that it was an occasion on which formal +language must be used. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>I</i> don’t want to own him,” said Jonathan, unable to +resist a movement of indignation that had never been allowed to satisfy itself. +“He ran away from home with good reasons in his pocket years ago: he +didn’t want to be owned again, I reckon.” +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Palfrey left the shop; he felt his own pride too severely wounded by the +sense that he had let himself be fooled, to feel curiosity for further details. +The most pressing business was to go home and tell his daughter that Freely was +a poor sneak, probably a rascal, and that her engagement was broken off. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Prettyman stayed, with some internal self-gratulation that <i>he</i> had +never given in to Freely, and that Mr. Chaloner would see now what sort of +fellow it was that he had put over the heads of older parishioners. He +considered it due from him (Mr. Prettyman) that, for the interests of the +parish, he should know all that was to be known about this +“interloper.” Grimworth would have people coming from Botany Bay to +settle in it, if things went on in this way. +</p> + +<p> +It soon appeared that Jacob could not be made to quit his dear brother David +except by force. He understood, with a clearness equal to that of the most +intelligent mind, that Jonathan would take him back to skimmed milk, +apple-dumpling, broad beans, and pork. And he had found a paradise in his +brother’s shop. It was a difficult matter to use force with Jacob, for he +wore heavy nailed boots; and if his pitchfork had been mastered, he would have +resorted without hesitation to kicks. Nothing short of using guile to bind him +hand and foot would have made all parties safe. +</p> + +<p> +“Let him stay,” said David, with desperate resignation, frightened +above all things at the idea of further disturbances in his shop, which would +make his exposure all the more conspicuous. “<i>You</i> go away again, +and to-morrow I can, perhaps, get him to go to Gilsbrook with me. He’ll +follow me fast enough, I daresay,” he added, with a half-groan. +</p> + +<p> +“Very well,” said Jonathan, gruffly. “I don’t see why +<i>you</i> shouldn’t have some trouble and expense with him as well as +the rest of us. But mind you bring him back safe and soon, else mother’ll +never rest.” +</p> + +<p> +On this arrangement being concluded, Mr. Prettyman begged Mr. Jonathan Faux to +go and take a snack with him, an invitation which was quite acceptable; and as +honest Jonathan had nothing to be ashamed of, it is probable that he was very +frank in his communications to the civil draper, who, pursuing the benefit of +the parish, hastened to make all the information he could gather about Freely +common parochial property. You may imagine that the meeting of the Club at the +Woolpack that evening was unusually lively. Every member was anxious to prove +that he had never liked Freely, as he called himself. Faux was his name, was +it? Fox would have been more suitable. The majority expressed a desire to see +him hooted out of the town. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Freely did not venture over his door-sill that day, for he knew Jacob would +keep at his side, and there was every probability that they would have a train +of juvenile followers. He sent to engage the Woolpack gig for an early hour the +next morning; but this order was not kept religiously a secret by the landlord. +Mr. Freely was informed that he could not have the gig till seven; and the +Grimworth people were early risers. Perhaps they were more alert than usual on +this particular morning; for when Jacob, with a bag of sweets in his hand, was +induced to mount the gig with his brother David, the inhabitants of the +market-place were looking out of their doors and windows, and at the turning of +the street there was even a muster of apprentices and schoolboys, who shouted +as they passed in what Jacob took to be a very merry and friendly way, nodding +and grinning in return. “Huzzay, David Faux! how’s your +uncle?” was their morning’s greeting. Like other pointed things, it +was not altogether impromptu. +</p> + +<p> +Even this public derision was not so crushing to David as the horrible thought +that though he might succeed now in getting Jacob home again there would never +be any security against his coming back, like a wasp to the honey-pot. As long +as David lived at Grimworth, Jacob’s return would be hanging over him. +But could he go on living at Grimworth—an object of ridicule, discarded +by the Palfreys, after having revelled in the consciousness that he was an +envied and prosperous confectioner? David liked to be envied; he minded less +about being loved. +</p> + +<p> +His doubts on this point were soon settled. The mind of Grimworth became +obstinately set against him and his viands, and the new school being finished, +the eating-room was closed. If there had been no other reason, sympathy with +the Palfreys, that respectable family who had lived in the parish time out of +mind, would have determined all well-to-do people to decline Freely’s +goods. Besides, he had absconded with his mother’s guineas: who knew what +else he had done, in Jamaica or elsewhere, before he came to Grimworth, worming +himself into families under false pretences? Females shuddered. Dreadful +suspicions gathered round him: his green eyes, his bow-legs had a criminal +aspect. The rector disliked the sight of a man who had imposed upon him; and +all boys who could not afford to purchase, hooted “David Faux” as +they passed his shop. Certainly no man now would pay anything for the +“goodwill” of Mr. Freely’s business, and he would be obliged +to quit it without a peculium so desirable towards defraying the expense of +moving. +</p> + +<p> +In a few months the shop in the market-place was again to let, and Mr. David +Faux, <i>alias</i> Mr. Edward Freely, had gone—nobody at Grimworth knew +whither. In this way the demoralization of Grimworth women was checked. Young +Mrs. Steene renewed her efforts to make light mince-pies, and having at last +made a batch so excellent that Mr. Steene looked at her with complacency as he +ate them, and said they were the best he had ever eaten in his life, she +thought less of bulbuls and renegades ever after. The secrets of the finer +cookery were revived in the breasts of matronly house-wives, and daughters were +again anxious to be initiated in them. +</p> + +<p> +You will further, I hope, be glad to hear, that some purchases of drapery made +by pretty Penny, in preparation for her marriage with Mr. Freely, came in quite +as well for her wedding with young Towers as if they had been made expressly +for the latter occasion. For Penny’s complexion had not altered, and blue +always became it best. +</p> + +<p> +Here ends the story of Mr. David Faux, confectioner, and his brother Jacob. And +we see in it, I think, an admirable instance of the unexpected forms in which +the great Nemesis hides herself. +</p> + +<p> +(1860) +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for +copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very +easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation +of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project +Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away--you may +do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected +by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark +license, especially commercial redistribution. +</div> + +<div style='margin:0.83em 0; font-size:1.1em; text-align:center'>START: FULL LICENSE<br /> +<span style='font-size:smaller'>THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE<br /> +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK</span> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person +or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the +Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when +you share it without charge with others. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country other than the United States. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work +on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: +</div> + +<blockquote> + <div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most + other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions + whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms + of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online + at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you + are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws + of the country where you are located before using this eBook. + </div> +</blockquote> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project +Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg™ License. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format +other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain +Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +provided that: +</div> + +<div style='margin-left:0.7em;'> + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation.” + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ + works. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + </div> + + <div style='text-indent:-0.7em'> + • You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + </div> +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of +the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set +forth in Section 3 below. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right +of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, +Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up +to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website +and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state +visit <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/donate/">www.gutenberg.org/donate</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate +</div> + +<div style='display:block; font-size:1.1em; margin:1em 0; font-weight:bold'> +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Most people start at our website which has the main PG search +facility: <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +</div> + +</div> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c00b97 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #2171 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2171) diff --git a/old/2171.txt b/old/2171.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..20175dc --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2171.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1954 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Brother Jacob, by George Eliot + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Brother Jacob + + +Author: George Eliot + +Release Date: April 20, 2005 [eBook #2171] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB*** + + + + + + +Transcribed from the 1921 Oxford University Press edition by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +BROTHER JACOB + + +CHAPTER I + + +Among the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, that of +blindly taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, been +sufficiently considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, who has +been fed principally on salt pork and yeast dumplings, to know that there +is satiety for the human stomach even in a paradise of glass jars full of +sugared almonds and pink lozenges, and that the tedium of life can reach +a pitch where plum-buns at discretion cease to offer the slightest +excitement? Or how, at the tender age when a confectioner seems to him a +very prince whom all the world must envy--who breakfasts on macaroons, +dines on meringues, sups on twelfth-cake, and fills up the intermediate +hours with sugar-candy or peppermint--how is he to foresee the day of sad +wisdom, when he will discern that the confectioner's calling is not +socially influential, or favourable to a soaring ambition? I have known +a man who turned out to have a metaphysical genius, incautiously, in the +period of youthful buoyancy, commence his career as a dancing-master; and +you may imagine the use that was made of this initial mistake by +opponents who felt themselves bound to warn the public against his +doctrine of the Inconceivable. He could not give up his dancing-lessons, +because he made his bread by them, and metaphysics would not have found +him in so much as salt to his bread. It was really the same with Mr. +David Faux and the confectionery business. His uncle, the butler at the +great house close by Brigford, had made a pet of him in his early +boyhood, and it was on a visit to this uncle that the confectioners' +shops in that brilliant town had, on a single day, fired his tender +imagination. He carried home the pleasing illusion that a confectioner +must be at once the happiest and the foremost of men, since the things he +made were not only the most beautiful to behold, but the very best +eating, and such as the Lord Mayor must always order largely for his +private recreation; so that when his father declared he must be put to a +trade, David chose his line without a moment's hesitation; and, with a +rashness inspired by a sweet tooth, wedded himself irrevocably to +confectionery. Soon, however, the tooth lost its relish and fell into +blank indifference; and all the while, his mind expanded, his ambition +took new shapes, which could hardly be satisfied within the sphere his +youthful ardour had chosen. But what was he to do? He was a young man +of much mental activity, and, above all, gifted with a spirit of +contrivance; but then, his faculties would not tell with great effect in +any other medium than that of candied sugars, conserves, and pastry. Say +what you will about the identity of the reasoning process in all branches +of thought, or about the advantage of coming to subjects with a fresh +mind, the adjustment of butter to flour, and of heat to pastry, is _not_ +the best preparation for the office of prime minister; besides, in the +present imperfectly-organized state of society, there are social +barriers. David could invent delightful things in the way of drop-cakes, +and he had the widest views of the sugar department; but in other +directions he certainly felt hampered by the want of knowledge and +practical skill; and the world is so inconveniently constituted, that the +vague consciousness of being a fine fellow is no guarantee of success in +any line of business. + +This difficulty pressed with some severity on Mr. David Faux, even before +his apprenticeship was ended. His soul swelled with an impatient sense +that he ought to become something very remarkable--that it was quite out +of the question for him to put up with a narrow lot as other men did: he +scorned the idea that he could accept an average. He was sure there was +nothing average about him: even such a person as Mrs. Tibbits, the washer- +woman, perceived it, and probably had a preference for his linen. At +that particular period he was weighing out gingerbread nuts; but such an +anomaly could not continue. No position could be suited to Mr. David +Faux that was not in the highest degree easy to the flesh and flattering +to the spirit. If he had fallen on the present times, and enjoyed the +advantages of a Mechanic's Institute, he would certainly have taken to +literature and have written reviews; but his education had not been +liberal. He had read some novels from the adjoining circulating library, +and had even bought the story of _Inkle and Yarico_, which had made him +feel very sorry for poor Mr. Inkle; so that his ideas might not have been +below a certain mark of the literary calling; but his spelling and +diction were too unconventional. + +When a man is not adequately appreciated or comfortably placed in his own +country, his thoughts naturally turn towards foreign climes; and David's +imagination circled round and round the utmost limits of his geographical +knowledge, in search of a country where a young gentleman of pasty +visage, lipless mouth, and stumpy hair, would be likely to be received +with the hospitable enthusiasm which he had a right to expect. Having a +general idea of America as a country where the population was chiefly +black, it appeared to him the most propitious destination for an emigrant +who, to begin with, had the broad and easily recognizable merit of +whiteness; and this idea gradually took such strong possession of him +that Satan seized the opportunity of suggesting to him that he might +emigrate under easier circumstances, if he supplied himself with a little +money from his master's till. But that evil spirit, whose understanding, +I am convinced, has been much overrated, quite wasted his time on this +occasion. David would certainly have liked well to have some of his +master's money in his pocket, if he had been sure his master would have +been the only man to suffer for it; but he was a cautious youth, and +quite determined to run no risks on his own account. So he stayed out +his apprenticeship, and committed no act of dishonesty that was at all +likely to be discovered, reserving his plan of emigration for a future +opportunity. And the circumstances under which he carried it out were in +this wise. Having been at home a week or two partaking of the family +beans, he had used his leisure in ascertaining a fact which was of +considerable importance to him, namely, that his mother had a small sum +in guineas painfully saved from her maiden perquisites, and kept in the +corner of a drawer where her baby-linen had reposed for the last twenty +years--ever since her son David had taken to his feet, with a slight +promise of bow-legs which had not been altogether unfulfilled. Mr. Faux, +senior, had told his son very frankly, that he must not look to being set +up in business by _him_: with seven sons, and one of them a very healthy +and well-developed idiot, who consumed a dumpling about eight inches in +diameter every day, it was pretty well if they got a hundred apiece at +his death. Under these circumstances, what was David to do? It was +certainly hard that he should take his mother's money; but he saw no +other ready means of getting any, and it was not to be expected that a +young man of his merit should put up with inconveniences that could be +avoided. Besides, it is not robbery to take property belonging to your +mother: she doesn't prosecute you. And David was very well behaved to +his mother; he comforted her by speaking highly of himself to her, and +assuring her that he never fell into the vices he saw practised by other +youths of his own age, and that he was particularly fond of honesty. If +his mother would have given him her twenty guineas as a reward of this +noble disposition, he really would not have stolen them from her, and it +would have been more agreeable to his feelings. Nevertheless, to an +active mind like David's, ingenuity is not without its pleasures: it was +rather an interesting occupation to become stealthily acquainted with the +wards of his mother's simple key (not in the least like Chubb's patent), +and to get one that would do its work equally well; and also to arrange a +little drama by which he would escape suspicion, and run no risk of +forfeiting the prospective hundred at his father's death, which would be +convenient in the improbable case of his _not_ making a large fortune in +the "Indies." + +First, he spoke freely of his intention to start shortly for Liverpool +and take ship for America; a resolution which cost his good mother some +pain, for, after Jacob the idiot, there was not one of her sons to whom +her heart clung more than to her youngest-born, David. Next, it appeared +to him that Sunday afternoon, when everybody was gone to church except +Jacob and the cowboy, was so singularly favourable an opportunity for +sons who wanted to appropriate their mothers' guineas, that he half +thought it must have been kindly intended by Providence for such +purposes. Especially the third Sunday in Lent; because Jacob had been +out on one of his occasional wanderings for the last two days; and David, +being a timid young man, had a considerable dread and hatred of Jacob, as +of a large personage who went about habitually with a pitchfork in his +hand. + +Nothing could be easier, then, than for David on this Sunday afternoon to +decline going to church, on the ground that he was going to tea at Mr. +Lunn's, whose pretty daughter Sally had been an early flame of his, and, +when the church-goers were at a safe distance, to abstract the guineas +from their wooden box and slip them into a small canvas bag--nothing +easier than to call to the cowboy that he was going, and tell him to keep +an eye on the house for fear of Sunday tramps. David thought it would be +easy, too, to get to a small thicket and bury his bag in a hole he had +already made and covered up under the roots of an old hollow ash, and he +had, in fact, found the hole without a moment's difficulty, had uncovered +it, and was about gently to drop the bag into it, when the sound of a +large body rustling towards him with something like a bellow was such a +surprise to David, who, as a gentleman gifted with much contrivance, was +naturally only prepared for what he expected, that instead of dropping +the bag gently he let it fall so as to make it untwist and vomit forth +the shining guineas. In the same moment he looked up and saw his dear +brother Jacob close upon him, holding the pitchfork so that the bright +smooth prongs were a yard in advance of his own body, and about a foot +off David's. (A learned friend, to whom I once narrated this history, +observed that it was David's guilt which made these prongs formidable, +and that the "mens nil conscia sibi" strips a pitchfork of all terrors. I +thought this idea so valuable, that I obtained his leave to use it on +condition of suppressing his name.) Nevertheless, David did not entirely +lose his presence of mind; for in that case he would have sunk on the +earth or started backward; whereas he kept his ground and smiled at +Jacob, who nodded his head up and down, and said, "Hoich, Zavy!" in a +painfully equivocal manner. David's heart was beating audibly, and if he +had had any lips they would have been pale; but his mental activity, +instead of being paralysed, was stimulated. While he was inwardly +praying (he always prayed when he was much frightened)--"Oh, save me this +once, and I'll never get into danger again!"--he was thrusting his hand +into his pocket in search of a box of yellow lozenges, which he had +brought with him from Brigford among other delicacies of the same +portable kind, as a means of conciliating proud beauty, and more +particularly the beauty of Miss Sarah Lunn. Not one of these delicacies +had he ever offered to poor Jacob, for David was not a young man to waste +his jujubes and barley-sugar in giving pleasure to people from whom he +expected nothing. But an idiot with equivocal intentions and a pitchfork +is as well worth flattering and cajoling as if he were Louis Napoleon. So +David, with a promptitude equal to the occasion, drew out his box of +yellow lozenges, lifted the lid, and performed a pantomime with his mouth +and fingers, which was meant to imply that he was delighted to see his +dear brother Jacob, and seized the opportunity of making him a small +present, which he would find particularly agreeable to the taste. Jacob, +you understand, was not an intense idiot, but within a certain limited +range knew how to choose the good and reject the evil: he took one +lozenge, by way of test, and sucked it as if he had been a philosopher; +then, in as great an ecstacy at its new and complex savour as Caliban at +the taste of Trinculo's wine, chuckled and stroked this suddenly +beneficent brother, and held out his hand for more; for, except in fits +of anger, Jacob was not ferocious or needlessly predatory. David's +courage half returned, and he left off praying; pouring a dozen lozenges +into Jacob's palm, and trying to look very fond of him. He congratulated +himself that he had formed the plan of going to see Miss Sally Lunn this +afternoon, and that, as a consequence, he had brought with him these +propitiatory delicacies: he was certainly a lucky fellow; indeed, it was +always likely Providence should be fonder of him than of other +apprentices, and since he _was_ to be interrupted, why, an idiot was +preferable to any other sort of witness. For the first time in his life, +David thought he saw the advantage of idiots. + +As for Jacob, he had thrust his pitchfork into the ground, and had thrown +himself down beside it, in thorough abandonment to the unprecedented +pleasure of having five lozenges in his mouth at once, blinking +meanwhile, and making inarticulate sounds of gustative content. He had +not yet given any sign of noticing the guineas, but in seating himself he +had laid his broad right hand on them, and unconsciously kept it in that +position, absorbed in the sensations of his palate. If he could only be +kept so occupied with the lozenges as not to see the guineas before David +could manage to cover them! That was David's best hope of safety; for +Jacob knew his mother's guineas; it had been part of their common +experience as boys to be allowed to look at these handsome coins, and +rattle them in their box on high days and holidays, and among all Jacob's +narrow experiences as to money, this was likely to be the most memorable. + +"Here, Jacob," said David, in an insinuating tone, handing the box to +him, "I'll give 'em all to you. Run!--make haste!--else somebody'll come +and take 'em." + +David, not having studied the psychology of idiots, was not aware that +they are not to be wrought upon by imaginative fears. Jacob took the box +with his left hand, but saw no necessity for running away. Was ever a +promising young man wishing to lay the foundation of his fortune by +appropriating his mother's guineas obstructed by such a day-mare as this? +But the moment must come when Jacob would move his right hand to draw off +the lid of the tin box, and then David would sweep the guineas into the +hole with the utmost address and swiftness, and immediately seat himself +upon them. Ah, no! It's of no use to have foresight when you are +dealing with an idiot: he is not to be calculated upon. Jacob's right +hand was given to vague clutching and throwing; it suddenly clutched the +guineas as if they had been so many pebbles, and was raised in an +attitude which promised to scatter them like seed over a distant bramble, +when, from some prompting or other--probably of an unwonted sensation--it +paused, descended to Jacob's knee, and opened slowly under the inspection +of Jacob's dull eyes. David began to pray again, but immediately +desisted--another resource having occurred to him. + +"Mother! zinnies!" exclaimed the innocent Jacob. Then, looking at David, +he said, interrogatively, "Box?" + +"Hush! hush!" said David, summoning all his ingenuity in this severe +strait. "See, Jacob!" He took the tin box from his brother's hand, and +emptied it of the lozenges, returning half of them to Jacob, but secretly +keeping the rest in his own hand. Then he held out the empty box, and +said, "Here's the box, Jacob! The box for the guineas!" gently sweeping +them from Jacob's palm into the box. + +This procedure was not objectionable to Jacob; on the contrary, the +guineas clinked so pleasantly as they fell, that he wished for a +repetition of the sound, and seizing the box, began to rattle it very +gleefully. David, seizing the opportunity, deposited his reserve of +lozenges in the ground and hastily swept some earth over them. "Look, +Jacob!" he said, at last. Jacob paused from his clinking, and looked +into the hole, while David began to scratch away the earth, as if in +doubtful expectation. When the lozenges were laid bare, he took them out +one by one, and gave them to Jacob. "Hush!" he said, in a loud whisper, +"Tell nobody--all for Jacob--hush--sh--sh! Put guineas in the +hole--they'll come out like this!" To make the lesson more complete, he +took a guinea, and lowering it into the hole, said, "Put in _so_." Then, +as he took the last lozenge out, he said, "Come out _so_," and put the +lozenge into Jacob's hospitable mouth. + +Jacob turned his head on one side, looked first at his brother and then +at the hole, like a reflective monkey, and, finally, laid the box of +guineas in the hole with much decision. David made haste to add every +one of the stray coins, put on the lid, and covered it well with earth, +saying in his meet coaxing tone-- + +"Take 'm out to-morrow, Jacob; all for Jacob! Hush--sh--sh!" + +Jacob, to whom this once indifferent brother had all at once become a +sort of sweet-tasted fetish, stroked David's best coat with his adhesive +fingers, and then hugged him with an accompaniment of that mingled +chuckling and gurgling by which he was accustomed to express the milder +passions. But if he had chosen to bite a small morsel out of his +beneficent brother's cheek, David would have been obliged to bear it. + +And here I must pause, to point out to you the short-sightedness of human +contrivance. This ingenious young man, Mr. David Faux, thought he had +achieved a triumph of cunning when he had associated himself in his +brother's rudimentary mind with the flavour of yellow lozenges. But he +had yet to learn that it is a dreadful thing to make an idiot fond of +you, when you yourself are not of an affectionate disposition: especially +an idiot with a pitchfork--obviously a difficult friend to shake off by +rough usage. + +It may seem to you rather a blundering contrivance for a clever young man +to bury the guineas. But, if everything had turned out as David had +calculated, you would have seen that his plan was worthy of his talents. +The guineas would have lain safely in the earth while the theft was +discovered, and David, with the calm of conscious innocence, would have +lingered at home, reluctant to say good-bye to his dear mother while she +was in grief about her guineas; till at length, on the eve of his +departure, he would have disinterred them in the strictest privacy, and +carried them on his own person without inconvenience. But David, you +perceive, had reckoned without his host, or, to speak more precisely, +without his idiot brother--an item of so uncertain and fluctuating a +character, that I doubt whether he would not have puzzled the astute +heroes of M. de Balzac, whose foresight is so remarkably at home in the +future. + +It was clear to David now that he had only one alternative before him: he +must either renounce the guineas, by quietly putting them back in his +mother's drawer (a course not unattended with difficulty); or he must +leave more than a suspicion behind him, by departing early the next +morning without giving notice, and with the guineas in his pocket. For +if he gave notice that he was going, his mother, he knew, would insist on +fetching from her box of guineas the three she had always promised him as +his share; indeed, in his original plan, he had counted on this as a +means by which the theft would be discovered under circumstances that +would themselves speak for his innocence; but now, as I need hardly +explain, that well-combined plan was completely frustrated. Even if +David could have bribed Jacob with perpetual lozenges, an idiot's secrecy +is itself betrayal. He dared not even go to tea at Mr. Lunn's, for in +that case he would have lost sight of Jacob, who, in his impatience for +the crop of lozenges, might scratch up the box again while he was absent, +and carry it home--depriving him at once of reputation and guineas. No! +he must think of nothing all the rest of this day, but of coaxing Jacob +and keeping him out of mischief. It was a fatiguing and anxious evening +to David; nevertheless, he dared not go to sleep without tying a piece of +string to his thumb and great toe, to secure his frequent waking; for he +meant to be up with the first peep of dawn, and be far out of reach +before breakfast-time. His father, he thought, would certainly cut him +off with a shilling; but what then? Such a striking young man as he +would be sure to be well received in the West Indies: in foreign +countries there are always openings--even for cats. It was probable that +some Princess Yarico would want him to marry her, and make him presents +of very large jewels beforehand; after which, he needn't marry her unless +he liked. David had made up his mind not to steal any more, even from +people who were fond of him: it was an unpleasant way of making your +fortune in a world where you were likely to surprised in the act by +brothers. Such alarms did not agree with David's constitution, and he +had felt so much nausea this evening that no doubt his liver was +affected. Besides, he would have been greatly hurt not to be thought +well of in the world: he always meant to make a figure, and be thought +worthy of the best seats and the best morsels. + +Ruminating to this effect on the brilliant future in reserve for him, +David by the help of his check-string kept himself on the alert to seize +the time of earliest dawn for his rising and departure. His brothers, of +course, were early risers, but he should anticipate them by at least an +hour and a half, and the little room which he had to himself as only an +occasional visitor, had its window over the horse-block, so that he could +slip out through the window without the least difficulty. Jacob, the +horrible Jacob, had an awkward trick of getting up before everybody else, +to stem his hunger by emptying the milk-bowl that was "duly set" for him; +but of late he had taken to sleeping in the hay-loft, and if he came into +the house, it would be on the opposite side to that from which David was +making his exit. There was no need to think of Jacob; yet David was +liberal enough to bestow a curse on him--it was the only thing he ever +did bestow gratuitously. His small bundle of clothes was ready packed, +and he was soon treading lightly on the steps of the horse-block, soon +walking at a smart pace across the fields towards the thicket. It would +take him no more than two minutes to get out the box; he could make out +the tree it was under by the pale strip where the bark was off, although +the dawning light was rather dimmer in the thicket. But what, in the +name of--burnt pastry--was that large body with a staff planted beside +it, close at the foot of the ash-tree? David paused, not to make up his +mind as to the nature of the apparition--he had not the happiness of +doubting for a moment that the staff was Jacob's pitchfork--but to gather +the self-command necessary for addressing his brother with a sufficiently +honeyed accent. Jacob was absorbed in scratching up the earth, and had +not heard David's approach. + +"I say, Jacob," said David in a loud whisper, just as the tin box was +lifted out of the hole. + +Jacob looked up, and discerning his sweet-flavoured brother, nodded and +grinned in the dim light in a way that made him seem to David like a +triumphant demon. If he had been of an impetuous disposition, he would +have snatched the pitchfork from the ground and impaled this fraternal +demon. But David was by no means impetuous; he was a young man greatly +given to calculate consequences, a habit which has been held to be the +foundation of virtue. But somehow it had not precisely that effect in +David: he calculated whether an action would harm himself, or whether it +would only harm other people. In the former case he was very timid about +satisfying his immediate desires, but in the latter he would risk the +result with much courage. + +"Give it me, Jacob," he said, stooping down and patting his brother. "Let +us see." + +Jacob, finding the lid rather tight, gave the box to his brother in +perfect faith. David raised the lids and shook his head, while Jacob put +his finger in and took out a guinea to taste whether the metamorphosis +into lozenges was complete and satisfactory. + +"No, Jacob; too soon, too soon," said David, when the guinea had been +tasted. "Give it me; we'll go and bury it somewhere else; we'll put it +in yonder," he added, pointing vaguely toward the distance. + +David screwed on the lid, while Jacob, looking grave, rose and grasped +his pitchfork. Then, seeing David's bundle, he snatched it, like a too +officious Newfoundland, stuck his pitchfork into it and carried it over +his shoulder in triumph as he accompanied David and the box out of the +thicket. + +What on earth was David to do? It would have been easy to frown at +Jacob, and kick him, and order him to get away; but David dared as soon +have kicked the bull. Jacob was quiet as long as he was treated +indulgently; but on the slightest show of anger, he became unmanageable, +and was liable to fits of fury which would have made him formidable even +without his pitchfork. There was no mastery to be obtained over him +except by kindness or guile. David tried guile. + +"Go, Jacob," he said, when they were out of the thicket--pointing towards +the house as he spoke; "go and fetch me a spade--a spade. But give _me_ +the bundle," he added, trying to reach it from the fork, where it hung +high above Jacob's tall shoulder. + +But Jacob showed as much alacrity in obeying as a wasp shows in leaving a +sugar-basin. Near David, he felt himself in the vicinity of lozenges: he +chuckled and rubbed his brother's back, brandishing the bundle higher out +of reach. David, with an inward groan, changed his tactics, and walked +on as fast as he could. It was not safe to linger. Jacob would get +tired of following him, or, at all events, could be eluded. If they +could once get to the distant highroad, a coach would overtake them, +David would mount it, having previously by some ingenious means secured +his bundle, and then Jacob might howl and flourish his pitchfork as much +as he liked. Meanwhile he was under the fatal necessity of being very +kind to this ogre, and of providing a large breakfast for him when they +stopped at a roadside inn. It was already three hours since they had +started, and David was tired. Would no coach be coming up soon? he +inquired. No coach for the next two hours. But there was a carrier's +cart to come immediately, on its way to the next town. If he could slip +out, even leaving his bundle behind, and get into the cart without Jacob! +But there was a new obstacle. Jacob had recently discovered a remnant of +sugar-candy in one of his brother's tail-pockets; and, since then, had +cautiously kept his hold on that limb of the garment, perhaps with an +expectation that there would be a further development of sugar-candy +after a longer or shorter interval. Now every one who has worn a coat +will understand the sensibilities that must keep a man from starting away +in a hurry when there is a grasp on his coat-tail. David looked forward +to being well received among strangers, but it might make a difference if +he had only one tail to his coat. + +He felt himself in a cold perspiration. He could walk no more: he must +get into the cart and let Jacob get in with him. Presently a cheering +idea occurred to him: after so large a breakfast, Jacob would be sure to +go to sleep in the cart; you see at once that David meant to seize his +bundle, jump out, and be free. His expectation was partly fulfilled: +Jacob did go to sleep in the cart, but it was in a peculiar attitude--it +was with his arms tightly fastened round his dear brother's body; and if +ever David attempted to move, the grasp tightened with the force of an +affectionate boa-constrictor. + +"Th' innicent's fond on you," observed the carrier, thinking that David +was probably an amiable brother, and wishing to pay him a compliment. + +David groaned. The ways of thieving were not ways of pleasantness. Oh, +why had he an idiot brother? Oh, why, in general, was the world so +constituted that a man could not take his mother's guineas comfortably? +David became grimly speculative. + +Copious dinner at noon for Jacob; but little dinner, because little +appetite, for David. Instead of eating, he plied Jacob with beer; for +through this liberality he descried a hope. Jacob fell into a dead +sleep, at last, without having his arms round David, who paid the +reckoning, took his bundle, and walked off. In another half-hour he was +on the coach on his way to Liverpool, smiling the smile of the triumphant +wicked. He was rid of Jacob--he was bound for the Indies, where a +gullible princess awaited him. He would never steal any more, but there +would be no need; he would show himself so deserving, that people would +make him presents freely. He must give up the notion of his father's +legacy; but it was not likely he would ever want that trifle; and even if +he did--why, it was a compensation to think that in being for ever +divided from his family he was divided from Jacob, more terrible than +Gorgon or Demogorgon to David's timid green eyes. Thank heaven, he +should never see Jacob any more! + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +It was nearly six years after the departure of Mr. David Faux for the +West Indies, that the vacant shop in the market-place at Grimworth was +understood to have been let to the stranger with a sallow complexion and +a buff cravat, whose first appearance had caused some excitement in the +bar of the Woolpack, where he had called to wait for the coach. + +Grimworth, to a discerning eye, was a good place to set up shopkeeping +in. There was no competition in it at present; the Church-people had +their own grocer and draper; the Dissenters had theirs; and the two or +three butchers found a ready market for their joints without strict +reference to religious persuasion--except that the rector's wife had +given a general order for the veal sweet-breads and the mutton kidneys, +while Mr. Rodd, the Baptist minister, had requested that, so far as was +compatible with the fair accommodation of other customers, the sheep's +trotters might be reserved for him. And it was likely to be a growing +place, for the trustees of Mr. Zephaniah Crypt's Charity, under the +stimulus of a late visitation by commissioners, were beginning to apply +long-accumulating funds to the rebuilding of the Yellow Coat School, +which was henceforth to be carried forward on a greatly-extended scale, +the testator having left no restrictions concerning the curriculum, but +only concerning the coat. + +The shopkeepers at Grimworth were by no means unanimous as to the +advantages promised by this prospect of increased population and trading, +being substantial men, who liked doing a quiet business in which they +were sure of their customers, and could calculate their returns to a +nicety. Hitherto, it had been held a point of honour by the families in +Grimworth parish, to buy their sugar and their flannel at the shop where +their fathers and mothers had bought before them; but, if newcomers were +to bring in the system of neck-and-neck trading, and solicit feminine +eyes by gown-pieces laid in fan-like folds, and surmounted by artificial +flowers, giving them a factitious charm (for on what human figure would a +gown sit like a fan, or what female head was like a bunch of +China-asters?), or, if new grocers were to fill their windows with +mountains of currants and sugar, made seductive by contrast and +tickets,--what security was there for Grimworth, that a vagrant spirit in +shopping, once introduced, would not in the end carry the most important +families to the larger market town of Cattleton, where, business being +done on a system of small profits and quick returns, the fashions were of +the freshest, and goods of all kinds might be bought at an advantage? + +With this view of the times predominant among the tradespeople at +Grimworth, their uncertainty concerning the nature of the business which +the sallow-complexioned stranger was about to set up in the vacant shop, +naturally gave some additional strength to the fears of the less +sanguine. If he was going to sell drapery, it was probable that a pale- +faced fellow like that would deal in showy and inferior articles--printed +cottons and muslins which would leave their dye in the wash-tub, jobbed +linen full of knots, and flannel that would soon look like gauze. If +grocery, then it was to be hoped that no mother of a family would trust +the teas of an untried grocer. Such things had been known in some +parishes as tradesmen going about canvassing for custom with cards in +their pockets: when people came from nobody knew where, there was no +knowing what they might do. It was a thousand pities that Mr. Moffat, +the auctioneer and broker, had died without leaving anybody to follow him +in the business, and Mrs. Cleve's trustee ought to have known better than +to let a shop to a stranger. Even the discovery that ovens were being +put up on the premises, and that the shop was, in fact, being fitted up +for a confectioner and pastry-cook's business, hitherto unknown in +Grimworth, did not quite suffice to turn the scale in the newcomer's +favour, though the landlady at the Woolpack defended him warmly, said he +seemed to be a very clever young man, and from what she could make out, +came of a very good family; indeed, was most likely a good many people's +betters. + +It certainly made a blaze of light and colour, almost as if a rainbow had +suddenly descended into the market-place, when, one fine morning, the +shutters were taken down from the new shop, and the two windows displayed +their decorations. On one side, there were the variegated tints of +collared and marbled meats, set off by bright green leaves, the pale +brown of glazed pies, the rich tones of sauces and bottled fruits +enclosed in their veil of glass--altogether a sight to bring tears into +the eyes of a Dutch painter; and on the other, there was a predominance +of the more delicate hues of pink, and white, and yellow, and buff, in +the abundant lozenges, candies, sweet biscuits and icings, which to the +eyes of a bilious person might easily have been blended into a faery +landscape in Turner's latest style. What a sight to dawn upon the eyes +of Grimworth children! They almost forgot to go to their dinner that +day, their appetites being preoccupied with imaginary sugar-plums; and I +think even Punch, setting up his tabernacle in the market-place, would +not have succeeded in drawing them away from those shop-windows, where +they stood according to gradations of size and strength, the biggest and +strongest being nearest the window, and the little ones in the outermost +rows lifting wide-open eyes and mouths towards the upper tier of jars, +like small birds at meal-time. + +The elder inhabitants pished and pshawed a little at the folly of the new +shopkeeper in venturing on such an outlay in goods that would not keep; +to be sure, Christmas was coming, but what housewife in Grimworth would +not think shame to furnish forth her table with articles that were not +home-cooked? No, no. Mr. Edward Freely, as he called himself, was +deceived, if he thought Grimworth money was to flow into his pockets on +such terms. + +Edward Freely was the name that shone in gilt letters on a mazarine +ground over the doorplace of the new shop--a generous-sounding name, that +might have belonged to the open-hearted, improvident hero of an old +comedy, who would have delighted in raining sugared almonds, like a new +manna-gift, among that small generation outside the windows. But Mr. +Edward Freely was a man whose impulses were kept in due subordination: he +held that the desire for sweets and pastry must only be satisfied in a +direct ratio with the power of paying for them. If the smallest child in +Grimworth would go to him with a halfpenny in its tiny fist, he would, +after ringing the halfpenny, deliver a just equivalent in "rock." He was +not a man to cheat even the smallest child--he often said so, observing +at the same time that he loved honesty, and also that he was very tender- +hearted, though he didn't show his feelings as some people did. + +Either in reward of such virtue, or according to some more hidden law of +sequence, Mr. Freely's business, in spite of prejudice, started under +favourable auspices. For Mrs. Chaloner, the rector's wife, was among the +earliest customers at the shop, thinking it only right to encourage a new +parishioner who had made a decorous appearance at church; and she found +Mr. Freely a most civil, obliging young man, and intelligent to a +surprising degree for a confectioner; well-principled, too, for in giving +her useful hints about choosing sugars he had thrown much light on the +dishonesty of other tradesmen. Moreover, he had been in the West Indies, +and had seen the very estate which had been her poor grandfather's +property; and he said the missionaries were the only cause of the negro's +discontent--an observing young man, evidently. Mrs. Chaloner ordered +wine-biscuits and olives, and gave Mr. Freely to understand that she +should find his shop a great convenience. So did the doctor's wife, and +so did Mrs. Gate, at the large carding-mill, who, having high connexions +frequently visiting her, might be expected to have a large consumption of +ratafias and macaroons. + +The less aristocratic matrons of Grimworth seemed likely at first to +justify their husbands' confidence that they would never pay a percentage +of profits on drop-cakes, instead of making their own, or get up a hollow +show of liberal housekeeping by purchasing slices of collared meat when a +neighbour came in for supper. But it is my task to narrate the gradual +corruption of Grimworth manners from their primitive simplicity--a +melancholy task, if it were not cheered by the prospect of the fine +peripateia or downfall by which the progress of the corruption was +ultimately checked. + +It was young Mrs. Steene, the veterinary surgeons wife, who first gave +way to temptation. I fear she had been rather over-educated for her +station in life, for she knew by heart many passages in _Lalla Rookh_, +the _Corsair_, and the _Siege of Corinth_, which had given her a distaste +for domestic occupations, and caused her a withering disappointment at +the discovery that Mr. Steene, since his marriage, had lost all interest +in the "bulbul," openly preferred discussing the nature of spavin with a +coarse neighbour, and was angry if the pudding turned out watery--indeed, +was simply a top-booted "vet.", who came in hungry at dinner-time; and +not in the least like a nobleman turned Corsair out of pure scorn for his +race, or like a renegade with a turban and crescent, unless it were in +the irritability of his temper. And scorn is such a very different thing +in top-boots! + +This brutal man had invited a supper-party for Christmas eve, when he +would expect to see mince-pies on the table. Mrs. Steene had prepared +her mince-meat, and had devoted much butter, fine flour, and labour, to +the making of a batch of pies in the morning; but they proved to be so +very heavy when they came out of the oven, that she could only think with +trembling of the moment when her husband should catch sight of them on +the supper-table. He would storm at her, she was certain; and before all +the company; and then she should never help crying: it was so dreadful to +think she had come to that, after the bulbul and everything! Suddenly +the thought darted through her mind that _this once_ she might send for a +dish of mince-pies from Freely's: she knew he had some. But what was to +become of the eighteen heavy mince-pies? Oh, it was of no use thinking +about that; it was very expensive--indeed, making mince-pies at all was a +great expense, when they were not sure to turn out well: it would be much +better to buy them ready-made. You paid a little more for them, but +there was no risk of waste. + +Such was the sophistry with which this misguided young woman--enough. +Mrs. Steene sent for the mince-pies, and, I am grieved to add, garbled +her household accounts in order to conceal the fact from her husband. +This was the second step in a downward course, all owing to a young +woman's being out of harmony with her circumstances, yearning after +renegades and bulbuls, and being subject to claims from a veterinary +surgeon fond of mince-pies. The third step was to harden herself by +telling the fact of the bought mince-pies to her intimate friend Mrs. +Mole, who had already guessed it, and who subsequently encouraged herself +in buying a mould of jelly, instead of exerting her own skill, by the +reflection that "other people" did the same sort of thing. The infection +spread; soon there was a party or clique in Grimworth on the side of +"buying at Freely's"; and many husbands, kept for some time in the dark +on this point, innocently swallowed at two mouthfuls a tart on which they +were paying a profit of a hundred per cent., and as innocently encouraged +a fatal disingenuousness in the partners of their bosoms by praising the +pastry. Others, more keen-sighted, winked at the too frequent +presentation on washing-days, and at impromptu suppers, of superior +spiced-beef, which flattered their palates more than the cold remnants +they had formerly been contented with. Every housewife who had once +"bought at Freely's" felt a secret joy when she detected a similar +perversion in her neighbour's practice, and soon only two or three old- +fashioned mistresses of families held out in the protest against the +growing demoralization, saying to their neighbours who came to sup with +them, "I can't offer you Freely's beef, or Freely's cheesecakes; +everything in our house is home-made; I'm afraid you'll hardly have any +appetite for our plain pastry." The doctor, whose cook was not +satisfactory, the curate, who kept no cook, and the mining agent, who was +a great _bon vivant_, even began to rely on Freely for the greater part +of their dinner, when they wished to give an entertainment of some +brilliancy. In short, the business of manufacturing the more fanciful +viands was fast passing out of the hinds of maids and matrons in private +families, and was becoming the work of a special commercial organ. + +I am not ignorant that this sort of thing is called the inevitable course +of civilization, division of labour, and so forth, and that the maids and +matrons may be said to have had their hands set free from cookery to add +to the wealth of society in some other way. Only it happened at +Grimworth, which, to be sure, was a low place, that the maids and matrons +could do nothing with their hands at all better than cooking: not even +those who had always made heavy cakes and leathery pastry. And so it +came to pass, that the progress of civilization at Grimworth was not +otherwise apparent than in the impoverishment of men, the gossiping +idleness of women, and the heightening prosperity of Mr. Edward Freely. + +The Yellow Coat School was a double source of profit to the calculating +confectioner; for he opened an eating-room for the superior workmen +employed on the new school, and he accommodated the pupils at the old +school by giving great attention to the fancy-sugar department. When I +think of the sweet-tasted swans and other ingenious white shapes crunched +by the small teeth of that rising generation, I am glad to remember that +a certain amount of calcareous food has been held good for young +creatures whose bones are not quite formed; for I have observed these +delicacies to have an inorganic flavour which would have recommended them +greatly to that young lady of the _Spectator's_ acquaintance who +habitually made her dessert on the stems of tobacco-pipes. + +As for the confectioner himself, he made his way gradually into Grimworth +homes, as his commodities did, in spite of some initial repugnance. +Somehow or other, his reception as a guest seemed a thing that required +justifying, like the purchasing of his pastry. In the first place, he +was a stranger, and therefore open to suspicion; secondly, the +confectionery business was so entirely new at Grimworth, that its place +in the scale of rank had not been distinctly ascertained. There was no +doubt about drapers and grocers, when they came of good old Grimworth +families, like Mr. Luff and Mr. Prettyman: they visited with the +Palfreys, who farmed their own land, played many a game at whist with the +doctor, and condescended a little towards the timber-merchant, who had +lately taken to the coal-trade also, and had got new furniture; but +whether a confectioner should be admitted to this higher level of +respectability, or should be understood to find his associates among +butchers and bakers, was a new question on which tradition threw no +light. His being a bachelor was in his favour, and would perhaps have +been enough to turn the scale, even if Mr. Edward Freely's other personal +pretensions had been of an entirely insignificant cast. But so far from +this, it very soon appeared that he was a remarkable young man, who had +been in the West Indies, and had seen many wonders by sea and land, so +that he could charm the ears of Grimworth Desdemonas with stories of +strange fishes, especially sharks, which he had stabbed in the nick of +time by bravely plunging overboard just as the monster was turning on his +side to devour the cook's mate; of terrible fevers which he had undergone +in a land where the wind blows from all quarters at once; of rounds of +toast cut straight from the breadfruit trees; of toes bitten off by land- +crabs; of large honours that had been offered to him as a man who knew +what was what, and was therefore particularly needed in a tropical +climate; and of a Creole heiress who had wept bitterly at his departure. +Such conversational talents as these, we know, will overcome +disadvantages of complexion; and young Towers, whose cheeks were of the +finest pink, set off by a fringe of dark whisker, was quite eclipsed by +the presence of the sallow Mr. Freely. So exceptional a confectioner +elevated the business, and might well begin to make disengaged hearts +flutter a little. + +Fathers and mothers were naturally more slow and cautious in their +recognition of the newcomer's merits. + +"He's an amusing fellow," said Mr. Prettyman, the highly respectable +grocer. (Mrs. Prettyman was a Miss Fothergill, and her sister had +married a London mercer.) "He's an amusing fellow; and I've no objection +to his making one at the Oyster Club; but he's a bit too fond of riding +the high horse. He's uncommonly knowing, I'll allow; but how came he to +go to the Indies? I should like that answered. It's unnatural in a +confectioner. I'm not fond of people that have been beyond seas, if they +can't give a good account how they happened to go. When folks go so far +off, it's because they've got little credit nearer home--that's my +opinion. However, he's got some good rum; but I don't want to be hand +and glove with him, for all that." + +It was this kind of dim suspicion which beclouded the view of Mr. +Freely's qualities in the maturer minds of Grimworth through the early +months of his residence there. But when the confectioner ceased to be a +novelty, the suspicions also ceased to be novel, and people got tired of +hinting at them, especially as they seemed to be refuted by his advancing +prosperity and importance. Mr. Freely was becoming a person of influence +in the parish; he was found useful as an overseer of the poor, having +great firmness in enduring other people's pain, which firmness, he said, +was due to his great benevolence; he always did what was good for people +in the end. Mr. Chaloner had even selected him as clergyman's +churchwarden, for he was a very handy man, and much more of Mr. +Chaloner's opinion in everything about church business than the older +parishioners. Mr. Freely was a very regular churchman, but at the Oyster +Club he was sometimes a little free in his conversation, more than +hinting at a life of Sultanic self-indulgence which he had passed in the +West Indies, shaking his head now and then and smiling rather bitterly, +as men are wont to do when they intimate that they have become a little +too wise to be instructed about a world which has long been flat and +stale to them. + +For some time he was quite general in his attentions to the fair sex, +combining the gallantries of a lady's man with a severity of criticism on +the person and manners of absent belles, which tended rather to stimulate +in the feminine breast the desire to conquer the approval of so +fastidious a judge. Nothing short of the very best in the department of +female charms and virtues could suffice to kindle the ardour of Mr. +Edward Freely, who had become familiar with the most luxuriant and +dazzling beauty in the West Indies. It may seem incredible that a +confectioner should have ideas and conversation so much resembling those +to be met with in a higher walk of life, but it must be remembered that +he had not merely travelled, he had also bow-legs and a sallow, small- +featured visage, so that nature herself had stamped him for a fastidious +connoisseur of the fair sex. + +At last, however, it seemed clear that Cupid had found a sharper arrow +than usual, and that Mr. Freely's heart was pierced. It was the general +talk among the young people at Grimworth. But was it really love, and +not rather ambition? Miss Fullilove, the timber-merchant's daughter, was +quite sure that if _she_ were Miss Penny Palfrey, she would be cautious; +it was not a good sign when men looked so much above themselves for a +wife. For it was no less a person than Miss Penelope Palfrey, second +daughter of the Mr. Palfrey who farmed his own land, that had attracted +Mr. Freely's peculiar regard, and conquered his fastidiousness; and no +wonder, for the Ideal, as exhibited in the finest waxwork, was perhaps +never so closely approached by the Real as in the person of the pretty +Penelope. Her yellowish flaxen hair did not curl naturally, I admit, but +its bright crisp ringlets were such smooth, perfect miniature tubes, that +you would have longed to pass your little finger through them, and feel +their soft elasticity. She wore them in a crop, for in those days, when +society was in a healthier state, young ladies wore crops long after they +were twenty, and Penelope was not yet nineteen. Like the waxen ideal, +she had round blue eyes, and round nostrils in her little nose, and teeth +such as the ideal would be seen to have, if it ever showed them. +Altogether, she was a small, round thing, as neat as a pink and white +double daisy, and as guileless; for I hope it does not argue guile in a +pretty damsel of nineteen, to think that she should like to have a beau +and be "engaged," when her elder sister had already been in that position +a year and a half. To be sure, there was young Towers always coming to +the house; but Penny felt convinced he only came to see her brother, for +he never had anything to say to her, and never offered her his arm, and +was as awkward and silent as possible. + +It is not unlikely that Mr. Freely had early been smitten by Penny's +charms, as brought under his observation at church, but he had to make +his way in society a little before he could come into nearer contact with +them; and even after he was well received in Grimworth families, it was a +long while before he could converse with Penny otherwise than in an +incidental meeting at Mr. Luff's. It was not so easy to get invited to +Long Meadows, the residence of the Palfreys; for though Mr. Palfrey had +been losing money of late years, not being able quite to recover his feet +after the terrible murrain which forced him to borrow, his family were +far from considering themselves on the same level even as the +old-established tradespeople with whom they visited. The greatest +people, even kings and queens, must visit with somebody, and the equals +of the great are scarce. They were especially scarce at Grimworth, +which, as I have before observed, was a low parish, mentioned with the +most scornful brevity in gazetteers. Even the great people there were +far behind those of their own standing in other parts of this realm. Mr. +Palfrey's farmyard doors had the paint all worn off them, and the front +garden walks had long been merged in a general weediness. Still, his +father had been called Squire Palfrey, and had been respected by the last +Grimworth generation as a man who could afford to drink too much in his +own house. + +Pretty Penny was not blind to the fact that Mr. Freely admired her, and +she felt sure that it was he who had sent her a beautiful valentine; but +her sister seemed to think so lightly of him (all young ladies think +lightly of the gentlemen to whom they are not engaged), that Penny never +dared mention him, and trembled and blushed whenever they met him, +thinking of the valentine, which was very strong in its expressions, and +which she felt guilty of knowing by heart. A man who had been to the +Indies, and knew the sea so well, seemed to her a sort of public +character, almost like Robinson Crusoe or Captain Cook; and Penny had +always wished her husband to be a remarkable personage, likely to be put +in Mangnall's Questions, with which register of the immortals she had +become acquainted during her one year at a boarding-school. Only it +seemed strange that a remarkable man should be a confectioner and pastry- +cook, and this anomaly quite disturbed Penny's dreams. Her brothers, she +knew, laughed at men who couldn't sit on horseback well, and called them +tailors; but her brothers were very rough, and were quite without that +power of anecdote which made Mr. Freely such a delightful companion. He +was a very good man, she thought, for she had heard him say at Mr. +Luff's, one day, that he always wished to do his duty in whatever state +of life he might be placed; and he knew a great deal of poetry, for one +day he had repeated a verse of a song. She wondered if he had made the +words of the valentine!--it ended in this way:-- + + "Without thee, it is pain to live, + But with thee, it were sweet to die." + +Poor Mr. Freely! her father would very likely object--she felt sure he +would, for he always called Mr. Freely "that sugar-plum fellow." Oh, it +was very cruel, when true love was crossed in that way, and all because +Mr. Freely was a confectioner: well, Penny would be true to him, for all +that, and since his being a confectioner gave her an opportunity of +showing her faithfulness, she was glad of it. Edward Freely was a pretty +name, much better than John Towers. Young Towers had offered her a rose +out of his button-hole the other day, blushing very much; but she refused +it, and thought with delight how much Mr. Freely would be comforted if he +knew her firmness of mind. + +Poor little Penny! the days were so very long among the daisies on a +grazing farm, and thought is so active--how was it possible that the +inward drama should not get the start of the outward? I have known young +ladies, much better educated, and with an outward world diversified by +instructive lectures, to say nothing of literature and highly-developed +fancy-work, who have spun a cocoon of visionary joys and sorrows for +themselves, just as Penny did. Her elder sister Letitia, who had a +prouder style of beauty, and a more worldly ambition, was engaged to a +wool-factor, who came all the way from Cattelton to see her; and +everybody knows that a wool-factor takes a very high rank, sometimes +driving a double-bodied gig. Letty's notions got higher every day, and +Penny never dared to speak of her cherished griefs to her lofty +sister--never dared to propose that they should call at Mr. Freely's to +buy liquorice, though she had prepared for such an incident by mentioning +a slight sore throat. So she had to pass the shop on the other side of +the market-place, and reflect, with a suppressed sigh, that behind those +pink and white jars somebody was thinking of her tenderly, unconscious of +the small space that divided her from him. + +And it was quite true that, when business permitted, Mr. Freely thought a +great deal of Penny. He thought her prettiness comparable to the +loveliest things in confectionery; he judged her to be of submissive +temper--likely to wait upon him as well as if she had been a negress, and +to be silently terrified when his liver made him irritable; and he +considered the Palfrey family quite the best in the parish, possessing +marriageable daughters. On the whole, he thought her worthy to become +Mrs. Edward Freely, and all the more so, because it would probably +require some ingenuity to win her. Mr. Palfrey was capable of +horse-whipping a too rash pretender to his daughter's hand; and, +moreover, he had three tall sons: it was clear that a suitor would be at +a disadvantage with such a family, unless travel and natural acumen had +given him a countervailing power of contrivance. And the first idea that +occurred to him in the matter was, that Mr. Palfrey would object less if +he knew that the Freelys were a much higher family than his own. It had +been foolish modesty in him hitherto to conceal the fact that a branch of +the Freelys held a manor in Yorkshire, and to shut up the portrait of his +great uncle the admiral, instead of hanging it up where a family portrait +should be hung--over the mantelpiece in the parlour. Admiral Freely, +K.C.B., once placed in this conspicuous position, was seen to have had +one arm only, and one eye--in these points resembling the heroic +Nelson--while a certain pallid insignificance of feature confirmed the +relationship between himself and his grand-nephew. + +Next, Mr. Freely was seized with an irrepressible ambition to posses Mrs. +Palfrey's receipt for brawn, hers being pronounced on all hands to be +superior to his own--as he informed her in a very flattering letter +carried by his errand-boy. Now Mrs. Palfrey, like other geniuses, +wrought by instinct rather than by rule, and possessed no +receipts--indeed, despised all people who used them, observing that +people who pickled by book, must pickle by weights and measures, and such +nonsense; as for herself, her weights and measures were the tip of her +finger and the tip of her tongue, and if you went nearer, why, of course, +for dry goods like flour and spice, you went by handfuls and pinches, and +for wet, there was a middle-sized jug--quite the best thing whether for +much or little, because you might know how much a teacupful was if you'd +got any use of your senses, and you might be sure it would take five +middle-sized jugs to make a gallon. Knowledge of this kind is like +Titian's colouring, difficult to communicate; and as Mrs. Palfrey, once +remarkably handsome, had now become rather stout and asthmatical, and +scarcely ever left home, her oral teaching could hardly be given anywhere +except at Long Meadows. Even a matron is not insusceptible to flattery, +and the prospect of a visitor whose great object would be to listen to +her conversation, was not without its charms to Mrs. Palfrey. Since +there was no receipt to be sent in reply to Mr. Freely's humble request, +she called on her more docile daughter, Penny, to write a note, telling +him that her mother would be glad to see him and talk with him on brawn, +any day that he could call at Long Meadows. Penny obeyed with a +trembling hand, thinking how wonderfully things came about in this world. + +In this way, Mr. Freely got himself introduced into the home of the +Palfreys, and notwithstanding a tendency in the male part of the family +to jeer at him a little as "peaky" and bow-legged, he presently +established his position as an accepted and frequent guest. Young Towers +looked at him with increasing disgust when they met at the house on a +Sunday, and secretly longed to try his ferret upon him, as a piece of +vermin which that valuable animal would be likely to tackle with +unhesitating vigour. But--so blind sometimes are parents--neither Mr. +nor Mrs. Palfrey suspected that Penny would have anything to say to a +tradesman of questionable rank whose youthful bloom was much withered. +Young Towers, they thought, had an eye to her, and _that_ was likely +enough to be a match some day; but Penny was a child at present. And all +the while Penny was imagining the circumstances under which Mr. Freely +would make her an offer: perhaps down by the row of damson-trees, when +they were in the garden before tea; perhaps by letter--in which case, how +would the letter begin? "Dearest Penelope?" or "My dear Miss Penelope?" +or straight off, without dear anything, as seemed the most natural when +people were embarrassed? But, however he might make the offer, she would +not accept it without her father's consent: she would always be true to +Mr. Freely, but she would not disobey her father. For Penny was a good +girl, though some of her female friends were afterwards of opinion that +it spoke ill for her not to have felt an instinctive repugnance to Mr. +Freely. + +But he was cautious, and wished to be quite sure of the ground he trod +on. His views on marriage were not entirely sentimental, but were as +duly mingled with considerations of what would be advantageous to a man +in his position, as if he had had a very large amount of money spent on +his education. He was not a man to fall in love in the wrong place; and +so, he applied himself quite as much to conciliate the favour of the +parents, as to secure the attachment of Penny. Mrs. Palfrey had not been +inaccessible to flattery, and her husband, being also of mortal mould, +would not, it might be hoped, be proof against rum--that very fine +Jamaica rum--of which Mr. Freely expected always to have a supply sent +him from Jamaica. It was not easy to get Mr. Palfrey into the parlour +behind the shop, where a mild back-street light fell on the features of +the heroic admiral; but by getting hold of him rather late one evening as +he was about to return home from Grimworth, the aspiring lover succeeded +in persuading him to sup on some collared beef which, after Mrs. +Palfrey's brawn, he would find the very best of cold eating. + +From that hour Mr. Freely felt sure of success: being in privacy with an +estimable man old enough to be his father, and being rather lonely in the +world, it was natural he should unbosom himself a little on subjects +which he could not speak of in a mixed circle--especially concerning his +expectations from his uncle in Jamaica, who had no children, and loved +his nephew Edward better than any one else in the world, though he had +been so hurt at his leaving Jamaica, that he had threatened to cut him +off with a shilling. However, he had since written to state his full +forgiveness, and though he was an eccentric old gentleman and could not +bear to give away money during his life, Mr. Edward Freely could show Mr. +Palfrey the letter which declared, plainly enough, who would be the +affectionate uncle's heir. Mr. Palfrey actually saw the letter, and +could not help admiring the spirit of the nephew who declared that such +brilliant hopes as these made no difference to his conduct; he should +work at his humble business and make his modest fortune at it all the +same. If the Jamaica estate was to come to him--well and good. It was +nothing very surprising for one of the Freely family to have an estate +left him, considering the lands that family had possessed in time gone +by--nay, still possessed in the Northumberland branch. Would not Mr. +Palfrey take another glass of rum? and also look at the last year's +balance of the accounts? Mr. Freely was a man who cared to possess +personal virtues, and did not pique himself on his family, though some +men would. + +We know how easily the great Leviathan may be led, when once there is a +hook in his nose or a bridle in his jaws. Mr. Palfrey was a large man, +but, like Leviathan's, his bulk went against him when once he had taken a +turning. He was not a mercurial man, who easily changed his point of +view. Enough. Before two months were over, he had given his consent to +Mr. Freely's marriage with his daughter Penny, and having hit on a +formula by which he could justify it, fenced off all doubts and +objections, his own included. The formula was this: "I'm not a man to +put my head up an entry before I know where it leads." + +Little Penny was very proud and fluttering, but hardly so happy as she +expected to be in an engagement. She wondered if young Towers cared much +about it, for he had not been to the house lately, and her sister and +brothers were rather inclined to sneer than to sympathize. Grimworth +rang with the news. All men extolled Mr. Freely's good fortune; while +the women, with the tender solicitude characteristic of the sex, wished +the marriage might turn out well. + +While affairs were at this triumphant juncture, Mr. Freely one morning +observed that a stone-carver who had been breakfasting in the eating-room +had left a newspaper behind. It was the _X-shire Gazette_, and X-shire +being a county not unknown to Mr. Freely, he felt some curiosity to +glance over it, and especially over the advertisements. A slight flush +came over his face as he read. It was produced by the following +announcement:--"If David Faux, son of Jonathan Faux, late of Gilsbrook, +will apply at the office of Mr. Strutt, attorney, of Rodham, he will hear +of something to his advantage." + +"Father's dead!" exclaimed Mr. Freely, involuntarily. "Can he have left +me a legacy?" + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Perhaps it was a result quite different from your expectations, that Mr. +David Faux should have returned from the West Indies only a few years +after his arrival there, and have set up in his old business, like any +plain man who has never travelled. But these cases do occur in life. +Since, as we know, men change their skies and see new constellations +without changing their souls, it will follow sometimes that they don't +change their business under those novel circumstances. + +Certainly, this result was contrary to David's own expectations. He had +looked forward, you are aware, to a brilliant career among "the blacks"; +but, either because they had already seen too many white men, or for some +other reason, they did not at once recognize him as a superior order of +human being; besides, there were no princesses among them. Nobody in +Jamaica was anxious to maintain David for the mere pleasure of his +society; and those hidden merits of a man which are so well known to +himself were as little recognized there as they notoriously are in the +effete society of the Old World. So that in the dark hints that David +threw out at the Oyster Club about that life of Sultanic self-indulgence +spent by him in the luxurious Indies, I really think he was doing himself +a wrong; I believe he worked for his bread, and, in fact, took to cooking +as, after all, the only department in which he could offer skilled +labour. He had formed several ingenious plans by which he meant to +circumvent people of large fortune and small faculty; but then he never +met with exactly the right circumstances. David's devices for getting +rich without work had apparently no direct relation with the world +outside him, as his confectionery receipts had. It is possible to pass a +great many bad half pennies and bad half-crowns, but I believe there has +no instance been known of passing a halfpenny or a half-crown as a +sovereign. A sharper can drive a brisk trade in this world: it is +undeniable that there may be a fine career for him, if he will dare +consequences; but David was too timid to be a sharper, or venture in any +way among the mantraps of the law. He dared rob nobody but his mother. +And so he had to fall back on the genuine value there was in him--to be +content to pass as a good halfpenny, or, to speak more accurately, as a +good confectioner. For in spite of some additional reading and +observation, there was nothing else he could make so much money by; nay, +he found in himself even a capability of extending his skill in this +direction, and embracing all forms of cookery; while, in other branches +of human labour, he began to see that it was not possible for him to +shine. Fate was too strong for him; he had thought to master her +inclination and had fled over the seas to that end; but she caught him, +tied an apron round him, and snatching him from all other devices, made +him devise cakes and patties in a kitchen at Kingstown. He was getting +submissive to her, since she paid him with tolerable gains; but fevers +and prickly heat, and other evils incidental to cooks in ardent climates, +made him long for his native land; so he took ship once more, carrying +his six years' savings, and seeing distinctly, this time, what were +Fate's intentions as to his career. If you question me closely as to +whether all the money with which he set up at Grimworth consisted of pure +and simple earnings, I am obliged to confess that he got a sum or two for +charitably abstaining from mentioning some other people's misdemeanours. +Altogether, since no prospects were attached to his family name, and +since a new christening seemed a suitable commencement of a new life, Mr. +David Faux thought it as well to call himself Mr. Edward Freely. + +But lo! now, in opposition to all calculable probability, some benefit +appeared to be attached to the name of David Faux. Should he neglect it, +as beneath the attention of a prosperous tradesman? It might bring him +into contact with his family again, and he felt no yearnings in that +direction: moreover, he had small belief that the "something to his +advantage" could be anything considerable. On the other hand, even a +small gain is pleasant, and the promise of it in this instance was so +surprising, that David felt his curiosity awakened. The scale dipped at +last on the side of writing to the lawyer, and, to be brief, the +correspondence ended in an appointment for a meeting between David and +his eldest brother at Mr. Strutt's, the vague "something" having been +defined as a legacy from his father of eighty-two pounds, three +shillings. + +David, you know, had expected to be disinherited; and so he would have +been, if he had not, like some other indifferent sons, come of excellent +parents, whose conscience made them scrupulous where much more highly- +instructed people often feel themselves warranted in following the bent +of their indignation. Good Mrs. Faux could never forget that she had +brought this ill-conditioned son into the world when he was in that +entirely helpless state which excluded the smallest choice on his part; +and, somehow or other, she felt that his going wrong would be his +father's and mother's fault, if they failed in one tittle of their +parental duty. Her notion of parental duty was not of a high and subtle +kind, but it included giving him his due share of the family property; +for when a man had got a little honest money of his own, was he so likely +to steal? To cut the delinquent son off with a shilling, was like +delivering him over to his evil propensities. No; let the sum of twenty +guineas which he had stolen be deducted from his share, and then let the +sum of three guineas be put back from it, seeing that his mother had +always considered three of the twenty guineas as his; and, though he had +run away, and was, perhaps, gone across the sea, let the money be left to +him all the same, and be kept in reserve for his possible return. Mr. +Faux agreed to his wife's views, and made a codicil to his will +accordingly, in time to die with a clear conscience. But for some time +his family thought it likely that David would never reappear; and the +eldest son, who had the charge of Jacob on his hands, often thought it a +little hard that David might perhaps be dead, and yet, for want of +certitude on that point, his legacy could not fall to his legal heir. But +in this state of things the opposite certitude--namely, that David was +still alive and in England--seemed to be brought by the testimony of a +neighbour, who, having been on a journey to Cattelton, was pretty sure he +had seen David in a gig, with a stout man driving by his side. He could +"swear it was David," though he could "give no account why, for he had no +marks on him; but no more had a white dog, and that didn't hinder folks +from knowing a white dog." It was this incident which had led to the +advertisement. + +The legacy was paid, of course, after a few preliminary disclosures as to +Mr. David's actual position. He begged to send his love to his mother, +and to say that he hoped to pay her a dutiful visit by and by; but, at +present, his business and near prospect of marriage made it difficult for +him to leave home. His brother replied with much frankness. + +"My mother may do as she likes about having you to see her, but, for my +part, I don't want to catch sight of you on the premises again. When +folks have taken a new name, they'd better keep to their new +'quinetance." + +David pocketed the insult along with the eighty-two pounds three, and +travelled home again in some triumph at the ease of a transaction which +had enriched him to this extent. He had no intention of offending his +brother by further claims on his fraternal recognition, and relapsed with +full contentment into the character of Mr. Edward Freely, the orphan, +scion of a great but reduced family, with an eccentric uncle in the West +Indies. (I have already hinted that he had some acquaintance with +imaginative literature; and being of a practical turn, he had, you +perceive, applied even this form of knowledge to practical purposes.) + +It was little more than a week after the return from his fruitful +journey, that the day of his marriage with Penny having been fixed, it +was agreed that Mrs. Palfrey should overcome her reluctance to move from +home, and that she and her husband should bring their two daughters to +inspect little Penny's future abode and decide on the new arrangements to +be made for the reception of the bride. Mr. Freely meant her to have a +house so pretty and comfortable that she need not envy even a +wool-factor's wife. Of course, the upper room over the shop was to be +the best sitting-room; but also the parlour behind the shop was to be +made a suitable bower for the lovely Penny, who would naturally wish to +be near her husband, though Mr. Freely declared his resolution never to +allow _his_ wife to wait in the shop. The decisions about the parlour +furniture were left till last, because the party was to take tea there; +and, about five o'clock, they were all seated there with the best muffins +and buttered buns before them, little Penny blushing and smiling, with +her "crop" in the best order, and a blue frock showing her little white +shoulders, while her opinion was being always asked and never given. She +secretly wished to have a particular sort of chimney ornaments, but she +could not have brought herself to mention it. Seated by the side of her +yellow and rather withered lover, who, though he had not reached his +thirtieth year, had already crow's-feet about his eyes, she was quite +tremulous at the greatness of her lot in being married to a man who had +travelled so much--and before her sister Letty! The handsome Letitia +looked rather proud and contemptuous, thought her nature brother-in-law +an odious person, and was vexed with her father and mother for letting +Penny marry him. Dear little Penny! She certainly did look like a fresh +white-heart cherry going to be bitten off the stem by that lipless mouth. +Would no deliverer come to make a slip between that cherry and that mouth +without a lip? + +"Quite a family likeness between the admiral and you, Mr. Freely," +observed Mrs. Palfrey, who was looking at the family portrait for the +first time. "It's wonderful! and only a grand-uncle. Do you feature the +rest of your family, as you know of?" + +"I can't say," said Mr. Freely, with a sigh. "My family have mostly +thought themselves too high to take any notice of me." + +At this moment an extraordinary disturbance was heard in the shop, as of +a heavy animal stamping about and making angry noises, and then of a +glass vessel falling in shivers, while the voice of the apprentice was +heard calling "Master" in great alarm. + +Mr. Freely rose in anxious astonishment, and hastened into the shop, +followed by the four Palfreys, who made a group at the parlour-door, +transfixed with wonder at seeing a large man in a smock-frock, with a +pitchfork in his hand, rush up to Mr. Freely and hug him, crying +out,--"Zavy, Zavy, b'other Zavy!" + +It was Jacob, and for some moments David lost all presence of mind. He +felt arrested for having stolen his mother's guineas. He turned cold, +and trembled in his brother's grasp. + +"Why, how's this?" said Mr. Palfrey, advancing from the door. "Who is +he?" + +Jacob supplied the answer by saying over and over again-- + +"I'se Zacob, b'other Zacob. Come 'o zee Zavy"--till hunger prompted him +to relax his grasp, and to seize a large raised pie, which he lifted to +his mouth. + +By this time David's power of device had begun to return, but it was a +very hard task for his prudence to master his rage and hatred towards +poor Jacob. + +"I don't know who he is; he must be drunk," he said, in a low tone to Mr. +Palfrey. "But he's dangerous with that pitchfork. He'll never let it +go." Then checking himself on the point of betraying too great an +intimacy with Jacob's habits, he added "You watch him, while I run for +the constable." And he hurried out of the shop. + +"Why, where do you come from, my man?" said Mr. Palfrey, speaking to +Jacob in a conciliatory tone. Jacob was eating his pie by large +mouthfuls, and looking round at the other good things in the shop, while +he embraced his pitchfork with his left arm, and laid his left hand on +some Bath buns. He was in the rare position of a person who recovers a +long absent friend and finds him richer than ever in the characteristics +that won his heart. + +"I's Zacob--b'other Zacob--'t home. I love Zavy--b'other Zavy," he said, +as soon as Mr. Palfrey had drawn his attention. "Zavy come back from z' +Indies--got mother's zinnies. Where's Zavy?" he added, looking round and +then turning to the others with a questioning air, puzzled by David's +disappearance. + +"It's very odd," observed Mr. Palfrey to his wife and daughters. "He +seems to say Freely's his brother come back from th' Indies." + +"What a pleasant relation for us!" said Letitia, sarcastically. "I think +he's a good deal like Mr. Freely. He's got just the same sort of nose, +and his eyes are the same colour." + +Poor Penny was ready to cry. + +But now Mr. Freely re-entered the shop without the constable. During his +walk of a few yards he had had time and calmness enough to widen his view +of consequences, and he saw that to get Jacob taken to the workhouse or +to the lock-up house as an offensive stranger might have awkward effects +if his family took the trouble of inquiring after him. He must resign +himself to more patient measures. + +"On second thoughts," he said, beckoning to Mr. Palfrey and whispering to +him while Jacob's back was turned, "he's a poor half-witted fellow. +Perhaps his friends will come after him. I don't mind giving him +something to eat, and letting him lie down for the night. He's got it +into his head that he knows me--they do get these fancies, idiots do. +He'll perhaps go away again in an hour or two, and make no more ado. I'm +a kind-hearted man _myself_--I shouldn't like to have the poor fellow ill- +used." + +"Why, he'll eat a sovereign's worth in no time," said Mr. Palfrey, +thinking Mr. Freely a little too magnificent in his generosity. + +"Eh, Zavy, come back?" exclaimed Jacob, giving his dear brother another +hug, which crushed Mr. Freely's features inconveniently against the stale +of the pitchfork. + +"Aye, aye," said Mr. Freely, smiling, with every capability of murder in +his mind, except the courage to commit it. He wished the Bath buns might +by chance have arsenic in them. + +"Mother's zinnies?" said Jacob, pointing to a glass jar of yellow +lozenges that stood in the window. "Zive 'em me." + +David dared not do otherwise than reach down the glass jar and give Jacob +a handful. He received them in his smock-frock, which he held out for +more. + +"They'll keep him quiet a bit, at any rate," thought David, and emptied +the jar. Jacob grinned and mowed with delight. + +"You're very good to this stranger, Mr. Freely," said Letitia; and then +spitefully, as David joined the party at the parlour-door, "I think you +could hardly treat him better, if he was really your brother." + +"I've always thought it a duty to be good to idiots," said Mr. Freely, +striving after the most moral view of the subject. "We might have been +idiots ourselves--everybody might have been born idiots, instead of +having their right senses." + +"I don't know where there'd ha' been victual for us all then," observed +Mrs. Palfrey, regarding the matter in a housewifely light. + +"But let us sit down again and finish our tea," said Mr. Freely. "Let us +leave the poor creature to himself." + +They walked into the parlour again; but Jacob, not apparently +appreciating the kindness of leaving him to himself, immediately followed +his brother, and seated himself, pitchfork grounded, at the table. + +"Well," said Miss Letitia, rising, "I don't know whether _you_ mean to +stay, mother; but I shall go home." + +"Oh, me too," said Penny, frightened to death at Jacob, who had begun to +nod and grin at her. + +"Well, I think we _had_ better be going, Mr. Palfrey," said the mother, +rising more slowly. + +Mr. Freely, whose complexion had become decidedly yellower during the +last half-hour, did not resist this proposition. He hoped they should +meet again "under happier circumstances." + +"It's my belief the man is his brother," said Letitia, when they were all +on their way home. + +"Nonsense!" said Mr. Palfrey. "Freely's got no brother--he's said so +many and many a time; he's an orphan; he's got nothing but +uncles--leastwise, one. What's it matter what an idiot says? What call +had Freely to tell lies?" + +Letitia tossed her head and was silent. + +Mr. Freely, left alone with his affectionate brother Jacob, brooded over +the possibility of luring him out of the town early the next morning, and +getting him conveyed to Gilsbrook without further betrayals. But the +thing was difficult. He saw clearly that if he took Jacob himself, his +absence, conjoined with the disappearance of the stranger, would either +cause the conviction that he was really a relative, or would oblige him +to the dangerous course of inventing a story to account for his +disappearance, and his own absence at the same time. David groaned. +There come occasions when falsehood is felt to be inconvenient. It +would, perhaps, have been a longer-headed device, if he had never told +any of those clever fibs about his uncles, grand and otherwise; for the +Palfreys were simple people, and shared the popular prejudice against +lying. Even if he could get Jacob away this time, what security was +there that he would not come again, having once found the way? O +guineas! O lozenges! what enviable people those were who had never +robbed their mothers, and had never told fibs! David spent a sleepless +night, while Jacob was snoring close by. Was this the upshot of +travelling to the Indies, and acquiring experience combined with +anecdote? + +He rose at break of day, as he had once before done when he was in fear +of Jacob, and took all gentle means to rouse this fatal brother from his +deep sleep; he dared not be loud, because his apprentice was in the +house, and would report everything. But Jacob was not to be roused. He +fought out with his fist at the unknown cause of disturbance, turned +over, and snored again. He must be left to wake as he would. David, +with a cold perspiration on his brow, confessed to himself that Jacob +could not be got away that day. + +Mr. Palfrey came over to Grimworth before noon, with a natural curiosity +to see how his future son-in-law got on with the stranger to whom he was +so benevolently inclined. He found a crowd round the shop. All +Grimworth by this time had heard how Freely had been fastened on by an +idiot, who called him "Brother Zavy"; and the younger population seemed +to find the singular stranger an unwearying source of fascination, while +the householders dropped in one by one to inquire into the incident. + +"Why don't you send him to the workhouse?" said Mr. Prettyman. "You'll +have a row with him and the children presently, and he'll eat you up. The +workhouse is the proper place for him; let his kin claim him, if he's got +any." + +"Those may be _your_ feelings, Mr. Prettyman," said David, his mind quite +enfeebled by the torture of his position. + +"What! _is_ he your brother, then?" said Mr. Prettyman, looking at his +neighbour Freely rather sharply. + +"All men are our brothers, and idiots particular so," said Mr. Freely, +who, like many other travelled men, was not master of the English +language. + +"Come, come, if he's your brother, tell the truth, man," said Mr. +Prettyman, with growing suspicion. "Don't be ashamed of your own flesh +and blood." + +Mr. Palfrey was present, and also had his eye on Freely. It is difficult +for a man to believe in the advantage of a truth which will disclose him +to have been a liar. In this critical moment, David shrank from this +immediate disgrace in the eyes of his future father-in-law. + +"Mr. Prettyman," he said, "I take your observations as an insult. I've +no reason to be otherwise than proud of my own flesh and blood. If this +poor man was my brother more than all men are, I should say so." + +A tall figure darkened the door, and David, lifting his eyes in that +direction, saw his eldest brother, Jonathan, on the door-sill. + +"I'll stay wi' Zavy," shouted Jacob, as he, too, caught sight of his +eldest brother; and, running behind the counter, he clutched David hard. + +"What, he _is_ here?" said Jonathan Faux, coming forward. "My mother +would have no nay, as he'd been away so long, but I must see after him. +And it struck me he was very like come after you, because we'd been +talking of you o' late, and where you lived." + +David saw there was no escape; he smiled a ghastly smile. + +"What! is this a relation of yours, sir?" said Mr. Palfrey to Jonathan. + +"Aye, it's my innicent of a brother, sure enough," said honest Jonathan. +"A fine trouble and cost he is to us, in th' eating and other things, but +we must bear what's laid on us." + +"And your name's Freely, is it?" said Mr. Prettyman. + +"Nay, nay, my name's Faux, I know nothing o' Freelys," said Jonathan, +curtly. "Come," he added, turning to David, "I must take some news to +mother about Jacob. Shall I take him with me, or will you undertake to +send him back?" + +"Take him, if you can make him loose his hold of me," said David, feebly. + +"Is this gentleman here in the confectionery line your brother, then, +sir?" said Mr. Prettyman, feeling that it was an occasion on which formal +language must be used. + +"_I_ don't want to own him," said Jonathan, unable to resist a movement +of indignation that had never been allowed to satisfy itself. "He ran +away from home with good reasons in his pocket years ago: he didn't want +to be owned again, I reckon." + +Mr. Palfrey left the shop; he felt his own pride too severely wounded by +the sense that he had let himself be fooled, to feel curiosity for +further details. The most pressing business was to go home and tell his +daughter that Freely was a poor sneak, probably a rascal, and that her +engagement was broken off. + +Mr. Prettyman stayed, with some internal self-gratulation that _he_ had +never given in to Freely, and that Mr. Chaloner would see now what sort +of fellow it was that he had put over the heads of older parishioners. He +considered it due from him (Mr. Prettyman) that, for the interests of the +parish, he should know all that was to be known about this "interloper." +Grimworth would have people coming from Botany Bay to settle in it, if +things went on in this way. + +It soon appeared that Jacob could not be made to quit his dear brother +David except by force. He understood, with a clearness equal to that of +the most intelligent mind, that Jonathan would take him back to skimmed +milk, apple-dumpling, broad beans, and pork. And he had found a paradise +in his brother's shop. It was a difficult matter to use force with +Jacob, for he wore heavy nailed boots; and if his pitchfork had been +mastered, he would have resorted without hesitation to kicks. Nothing +short of using guile to bind him hand and foot would have made all +parties safe. + +"Let him stay," said David, with desperate resignation, frightened above +all things at the idea of further disturbances in his shop, which would +make his exposure all the more conspicuous. "_You_ go away again, and to- +morrow I can, perhaps, get him to go to Gilsbrook with me. He'll follow +me fast enough, I daresay," he added, with a half-groan. + +"Very well," said Jonathan, gruffly. "I don't see why _you_ shouldn't +have some trouble and expense with him as well as the rest of us. But +mind you bring him back safe and soon, else mother'll never rest." + +On this arrangement being concluded, Mr. Prettyman begged Mr. Jonathan +Faux to go and take a snack with him, an invitation which was quite +acceptable; and as honest Jonathan had nothing to be ashamed of, it is +probable that he was very frank in his communications to the civil +draper, who, pursuing the benefit of the parish, hastened to make all the +information he could gather about Freely common parochial property. You +may imagine that the meeting of the Club at the Woolpack that evening was +unusually lively. Every member was anxious to prove that he had never +liked Freely, as he called himself. Faux was his name, was it? Fox +would have been more suitable. The majority expressed a desire to see +him hooted out of the town. + +Mr. Freely did not venture over his door-sill that day, for he knew Jacob +would keep at his side, and there was every probability that they would +have a train of juvenile followers. He sent to engage the Woolpack gig +for an early hour the next morning; but this order was not kept +religiously a secret by the landlord. Mr. Freely was informed that he +could not have the gig till seven; and the Grimworth people were early +risers. Perhaps they were more alert than usual on this particular +morning; for when Jacob, with a bag of sweets in his hand, was induced to +mount the gig with his brother David, the inhabitants of the market-place +were looking out of their doors and windows, and at the turning of the +street there was even a muster of apprentices and schoolboys, who shouted +as they passed in what Jacob took to be a very merry and friendly way, +nodding and grinning in return. "Huzzay, David Faux! how's your uncle?" +was their morning's greeting. Like other pointed things, it was not +altogether impromptu. + +Even this public derision was not so crushing to David as the horrible +thought that though he might succeed now in getting Jacob home again +there would never be any security against his coming back, like a wasp to +the honey-pot. As long as David lived at Grimworth, Jacob's return would +be hanging over him. But could he go on living at Grimworth--an object +of ridicule, discarded by the Palfreys, after having revelled in the +consciousness that he was an envied and prosperous confectioner? David +liked to be envied; he minded less about being loved. + +His doubts on this point were soon settled. The mind of Grimworth became +obstinately set against him and his viands, and the new school being +finished, the eating-room was closed. If there had been no other reason, +sympathy with the Palfreys, that respectable family who had lived in the +parish time out of mind, would have determined all well-to-do people to +decline Freely's goods. Besides, he had absconded with his mother's +guineas: who knew what else he had done, in Jamaica or elsewhere, before +he came to Grimworth, worming himself into families under false +pretences? Females shuddered. Dreadful suspicions gathered round him: +his green eyes, his bow-legs had a criminal aspect. The rector disliked +the sight of a man who had imposed upon him; and all boys who could not +afford to purchase, hooted "David Faux" as they passed his shop. +Certainly no man now would pay anything for the "goodwill" of Mr. +Freely's business, and he would be obliged to quit it without a peculium +so desirable towards defraying the expense of moving. + +In a few months the shop in the market-place was again to let, and Mr. +David Faux, alias Mr. Edward Freely, had gone--nobody at Grimworth knew +whither. In this way the demoralization of Grimworth women was checked. +Young Mrs. Steene renewed her efforts to make light mince-pies, and +having at last made a batch so excellent that Mr. Steene looked at her +with complacency as he ate them, and said they were the best he had ever +eaten in his life, she thought less of bulbuls and renegades ever after. +The secrets of the finer cookery were revived in the breasts of matronly +house-wives, and daughters were again anxious to be initiated in them. + +You will further, I hope, be glad to hear, that some purchases of drapery +made by pretty Penny, in preparation for her marriage with Mr. Freely, +came in quite as well for her wedding with young Towers as if they had +been made expressly for the latter occasion. For Penny's complexion had +not altered, and blue always became it best. + +Here ends the story of Mr. David Faux, confectioner, and his brother +Jacob. And we see in it, I think, an admirable instance of the +unexpected forms in which the great Nemesis hides herself. + +(1860) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BROTHER JACOB*** + + +******* This file should be named 2171.txt or 2171.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/1/7/2171 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: +https://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/2171.zip b/old/2171.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..342de53 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2171.zip diff --git a/old/brjcb10.txt b/old/brjcb10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e4edf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/brjcb10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1949 @@ +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot* +#5 in our series by George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans] + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +Brother Jacob + +by George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans] + +May, 2000 [Etext #2171] + + +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot* +*****This file should be named brjcb10.txt or brjcb10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, brjcb11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, brjcb10a.txt + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we do usually do NOT! keep +these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp sunsite.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + + +BROTHER JACOB + +by George Eliot [Mary Anne Evans] + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + +Among the many fatalities attending the bloom of young desire, that +of blindly taking to the confectionery line has not, perhaps, been +sufficiently considered. How is the son of a British yeoman, who +has been fed principally on salt pork and yeast dumplings, to know +that there is satiety for the human stomach even in a paradise of +glass jars full of sugared almonds and pink lozenges, and that the +tedium of life can reach a pitch where plum-buns at discretion cease +to offer the slightest excitement? Or how, at the tender age when a +confectioner seems to him a very prince whom all the world must +envy--who breakfasts on macaroons, dines on meringues, sups on +twelfth-cake, and fills up the intermediate hours with sugar-candy +or peppermint--how is he to foresee the day of sad wisdom, when he +will discern that the confectioner's calling is not socially +influential, or favourable to a soaring ambition? I have known a +man who turned out to have a metaphysical genius, incautiously, in +the period of youthful buoyancy, commence his career as a dancing- +master; and you may imagine the use that was made of this initial +mistake by opponents who felt themselves bound to warn the public +against his doctrine of the Inconceivable. He could not give up his +dancing-lessons, because he made his bread by them, and metaphysics +would not have found him in so much as salt to his bread. It was +really the same with Mr. David Faux and the confectionery business. +His uncle, the butler at the great house close by Brigford, had made +a pet of him in his early boyhood, and it was on a visit to this +uncle that the confectioners' shops in that brilliant town had, on a +single day, fired his tender imagination. He carried home the +pleasing illusion that a confectioner must be at once the happiest +and the foremost of men, since the things he made were not only the +most beautiful to behold, but the very best eating, and such as the +Lord Mayor must always order largely for his private recreation; so +that when his father declared he must be put to a trade, David chose +his line without a moment's hesitation; and, with a rashness +inspired by a sweet tooth, wedded himself irrevocably to +confectionery. Soon, however, the tooth lost its relish and fell +into blank indifference; and all the while, his mind expanded, his +ambition took new shapes, which could hardly be satisfied within the +sphere his youthful ardour had chosen. But what was he to do? He +was a young man of much mental activity, and, above all, gifted with +a spirit of contrivance; but then, his faculties would not tell with +great effect in any other medium than that of candied sugars, +conserves, and pastry. Say what you will about the identity of the +reasoning process in all branches of thought, or about the advantage +of coming to subjects with a fresh mind, the adjustment of butter to +flour, and of heat to pastry, is NOT the best preparation for the +office of prime minister; besides, in the present imperfectly- +organized state of society, there are social barriers. David could +invent delightful things in the way of drop-cakes, and he had the +widest views of the sugar department; but in other directions he +certainly felt hampered by the want of knowledge and practical +skill; and the world is so inconveniently constituted, that the +vague consciousness of being a fine fellow is no guarantee of +success in any line of business. + +This difficulty pressed with some severity on Mr. David Faux, even +before his apprenticeship was ended. His soul swelled with an +impatient sense that he ought to become something very remarkable-- +that it was quite out of the question for him to put up with a +narrow lot as other men did: he scorned the idea that he could +accept an average. He was sure there was nothing average about him: +even such a person as Mrs. Tibbits, the washer-woman, perceived it, +and probably had a preference for his linen. At that particular +period he was weighing out gingerbread nuts; but such an anomaly +could not continue. No position could be suited to Mr. David Faux +that was not in the highest degree easy to the flesh and flattering +to the spirit. If he had fallen on the present times, and enjoyed +the advantages of a Mechanic's Institute, he would certainly have +taken to literature and have written reviews; but his education had +not been liberal. He had read some novels from the adjoining +circulating library, and had even bought the story of Inkle and +Yarico, which had made him feel very sorry for poor Mr. Inkle; so +that his ideas might not have been below a certain mark of the +literary calling; but his spelling and diction were too +unconventional. + +When a man is not adequately appreciated or comfortably placed in +his own country, his thoughts naturally turn towards foreign climes; +and David's imagination circled round and round the utmost limits of +his geographical knowledge, in search of a country where a young +gentleman of pasty visage, lipless mouth, and stumpy hair, would be +likely to be received with the hospitable enthusiasm which he had a +right to expect. Having a general idea of America as a country +where the population was chiefly black, it appeared to him the most +propitious destination for an emigrant who, to begin with, had the +broad and easily recognizable merit of whiteness; and this idea +gradually took such strong possession of him that Satan seized the +opportunity of suggesting to him that he might emigrate under easier +circumstances, if he supplied himself with a little money from his +master's till. But that evil spirit, whose understanding, I am +convinced, has been much overrated, quite wasted his time on this +occasion. David would certainly have liked well to have some of his +master's money in his pocket, if he had been sure his master would +have been the only man to suffer for it; but he was a cautious +youth, and quite determined to run no risks on his own account. So +he stayed out his apprenticeship, and committed no act of dishonesty +that was at all likely to be discovered, reserving his plan of +emigration for a future opportunity. And the circumstances under +which he carried it out were in this wise. Having been at home a +week or two partaking of the family beans, he had used his leisure +in ascertaining a fact which was of considerable importance to him, +namely, that his mother had a small sum in guineas painfully saved +from her maiden perquisites, and kept in the corner of a drawer +where her baby-linen had reposed for the last twenty years--ever +since her son David had taken to his feet, with a slight promise of +bow-legs which had not been altogether unfulfilled. Mr. Faux, +senior, had told his son very frankly, that he must not look to +being set up in business by HIM: with seven sons, and one of them a +very healthy and well-developed idiot, who consumed a dumpling about +eight inches in diameter every day, it was pretty well if they got a +hundred apiece at his death. Under these circumstances, what was +David to do? It was certainly hard that he should take his mother's +money; but he saw no other ready means of getting any, and it was +not to be expected that a young man of his merit should put up with +inconveniences that could be avoided. Besides, it is not robbery to +take property belonging to your mother: she doesn't prosecute you. +And David was very well behaved to his mother; he comforted her by +speaking highly of himself to her, and assuring her that he never +fell into the vices he saw practised by other youths of his own age, +and that he was particularly fond of honesty. If his mother would +have given him her twenty guineas as a reward of this noble +disposition, he really would not have stolen them from her, and it +would have been more agreeable to his feelings. Nevertheless, to an +active mind like David's, ingenuity is not without its pleasures: +it was rather an interesting occupation to become stealthily +acquainted with the wards of his mother's simple key (not in the +least like Chubb's patent), and to get one that would do its work +equally well; and also to arrange a little drama by which he would +escape suspicion, and run no risk of forfeiting the prospective +hundred at his father's death, which would be convenient in the +improbable case of his NOT making a large fortune in the "Indies." + +First, he spoke freely of his intention to start shortly for +Liverpool and take ship for America; a resolution which cost his +good mother some pain, for, after Jacob the idiot, there was not one +of her sons to whom her heart clung more than to her youngest-born, +David. Next, it appeared to him that Sunday afternoon, when +everybody was gone to church except Jacob and the cowboy, was so +singularly favourable an opportunity for sons who wanted to +appropriate their mothers' guineas, that he half thought it must +have been kindly intended by Providence for such purposes. +Especially the third Sunday in Lent; because Jacob had been out on +one of his occasional wanderings for the last two days; and David, +being a timid young man, had a considerable dread and hatred of +Jacob, as of a large personage who went about habitually with a +pitchfork in his hand. + +Nothing could be easier, then, than for David on this Sunday +afternoon to decline going to church, on the ground that he was +going to tea at Mr. Lunn's, whose pretty daughter Sally had been an +early flame of his, and, when the church-goers were at a safe +distance, to abstract the guineas from their wooden box and slip +them into a small canvas bag--nothing easier than to call to the +cowboy that he was going, and tell him to keep an eye on the house +for fear of Sunday tramps. David thought it would be easy, too, to +get to a small thicket and bury his bag in a hole he had already +made and covered up under the roots of an old hollow ash, and he +had, in fact, found the hole without a moment's difficulty, had +uncovered it, and was about gently to drop the bag into it, when the +sound of a large body rustling towards him with something like a +bellow was such a surprise to David, who, as a gentleman gifted with +much contrivance, was naturally only prepared for what he expected, +that instead of dropping the bag gently he let it fall so as to make +it untwist and vomit forth the shining guineas. In the same moment +he looked up and saw his dear brother Jacob close upon him, holding +the pitchfork so that the bright smooth prongs were a yard in +advance of his own body, and about a foot off David's. (A learned +friend, to whom I once narrated this history, observed that it was +David's guilt which made these prongs formidable, and that the "mens +nil conscia sibi" strips a pitchfork of all terrors. I thought this +idea so valuable, that I obtained his leave to use it on condition +of suppressing his name.) Nevertheless, David did not entirely lose +his presence of mind; for in that case he would have sunk on the +earth or started backward; whereas he kept his ground and smiled at +Jacob, who nodded his head up and down, and said, "Hoich, Zavy!" in +a painfully equivocal manner. David's heart was beating audibly, +and if he had had any lips they would have been pale; but his mental +activity, instead of being paralysed, was stimulated. While he was +inwardly praying (he always prayed when he was much frightened)-- +"Oh, save me this once, and I'll never get into danger again!"--he +was thrusting his hand into his pocket in search of a box of yellow +lozenges, which he had brought with him from Brigford among other +delicacies of the same portable kind, as a means of conciliating +proud beauty, and more particularly the beauty of Miss Sarah Lunn. +Not one of these delicacies had he ever offered to poor Jacob, for +David was not a young man to waste his jujubes and barley-sugar in +giving pleasure to people from whom he expected nothing. But an +idiot with equivocal intentions and a pitchfork is as well worth +flattering and cajoling as if he were Louis Napoleon. So David, +with a promptitude equal to the occasion, drew out his box of yellow +lozenges, lifted the lid, and performed a pantomime with his mouth +and fingers, which was meant to imply that he was delighted to see +his dear brother Jacob, and seized the opportunity of making him a +small present, which he would find particularly agreeable to the +taste. Jacob, you understand, was not an intense idiot, but within +a certain limited range knew how to choose the good and reject the +evil: he took one lozenge, by way of test, and sucked it as if he +had been a philosopher; then, in as great an ecstacy at its new and +complex savour as Caliban at the taste of Trinculo's wine, chuckled +and stroked this suddenly beneficent brother, and held out his hand +for more; for, except in fits of anger, Jacob was not ferocious or +needlessly predatory. David's courage half returned, and he left +off praying; pouring a dozen lozenges into Jacob's palm, and trying +to look very fond of him. He congratulated himself that he had +formed the plan of going to see Miss Sally Lunn this afternoon, and +that, as a consequence, he had brought with him these propitiatory +delicacies: he was certainly a lucky fellow; indeed, it was always +likely Providence should be fonder of him than of other apprentices, +and since he WAS to be interrupted, why, an idiot was preferable to +any other sort of witness. For the first time in his life, David +thought he saw the advantage of idiots. + +As for Jacob, he had thrust his pitchfork into the ground, and had +thrown himself down beside it, in thorough abandonment to the +unprecedented pleasure of having five lozenges in his mouth at once, +blinking meanwhile, and making inarticulate sounds of gustative +content. He had not yet given any sign of noticing the guineas, but +in seating himself he had laid his broad right hand on them, and +unconsciously kept it in that position, absorbed in the sensations +of his palate. If he could only be kept so occupied with the +lozenges as not to see the guineas before David could manage to +cover them! That was David's best hope of safety; for Jacob knew +his mother's guineas; it had been part of their common experience as +boys to be allowed to look at these handsome coins, and rattle them +in their box on high days and holidays, and among all Jacob's narrow +experiences as to money, this was likely to be the most memorable. + +"Here, Jacob," said David, in an insinuating tone, handing the box +to him, "I'll give 'em all to you. Run!--make haste!--else +somebody'll come and take 'em." + +David, not having studied the psychology of idiots, was not aware +that they are not to be wrought upon by imaginative fears. Jacob +took the box with his left hand, but saw no necessity for running +away. Was ever a promising young man wishing to lay the foundation +of his fortune by appropriating his mother's guineas obstructed by +such a day-mare as this? But the moment must come when Jacob would +move his right hand to draw off the lid of the tin box, and then +David would sweep the guineas into the hole with the utmost address +and swiftness, and immediately seat himself upon them. Ah, no! +It's of no use to have foresight when you are dealing with an idiot: +he is not to be calculated upon. Jacob's right hand was given to +vague clutching and throwing; it suddenly clutched the guineas as if +they had been so many pebbles, and was raised in an attitude which +promised to scatter them like seed over a distant bramble, when, +from some prompting or other--probably of an unwonted sensation--it +paused, descended to Jacob's knee, and opened slowly under the +inspection of Jacob's dull eyes. David began to pray again, but +immediately desisted--another resource having occurred to him. + +"Mother! zinnies!" exclaimed the innocent Jacob. Then, looking at +David, he said, interrogatively, "Box?" + +"Hush! hush!" said David, summoning all his ingenuity in this severe +strait. "See, Jacob!" He took the tin box from his brother's hand, +and emptied it of the lozenges, returning half of them to Jacob, but +secretly keeping the rest in his own hand. Then he held out the +empty box, and said, "Here's the box, Jacob! The box for the +guineas!" gently sweeping them from Jacob's palm into the box. + +This procedure was not objectionable to Jacob; on the contrary, the +guineas clinked so pleasantly as they fell, that he wished for a +repetition of the sound, and seizing the box, began to rattle it +very gleefully. David, seizing the opportunity, deposited his +reserve of lozenges in the ground and hastily swept some earth over +them. "Look, Jacob!" he said, at last. Jacob paused from his +clinking, and looked into the hole, while David began to scratch +away the earth, as if in doubtful expectation. When the lozenges +were laid bare, he took them out one by one, and gave them to Jacob. +"Hush!" he said, in a loud whisper, "Tell nobody--all for Jacob-- +hush--sh--sh! Put guineas in the hole--they'll come out like this!" +To make the lesson more complete, he took a guinea, and lowering it +into the hole, said, "Put in SO." Then, as he took the last lozenge +out, he said, "Come out SO," and put the lozenge into Jacob's +hospitable mouth. + +Jacob turned his head on one side, looked first at his brother and +then at the hole, like a reflective monkey, and, finally, laid the +box of guineas in the hole with much decision. David made haste to +add every one of the stray coins, put on the lid, and covered it +well with earth, saying in his meet coaxing tone - + +"Take 'm out to-morrow, Jacob; all for Jacob! Hush--sh--sh!" + +Jacob, to whom this once indifferent brother had all at once become +a sort of sweet-tasted fetish, stroked David's best coat with his +adhesive fingers, and then hugged him with an accompaniment of that +mingled chuckling and gurgling by which he was accustomed to express +the milder passions. But if he had chosen to bite a small morsel +out of his beneficent brother's cheek, David would have been obliged +to bear it. + +And here I must pause, to point out to you the short-sightedness of +human contrivance. This ingenious young man, Mr. David Faux, +thought he had achieved a triumph of cunning when he had associated +himself in his brother's rudimentary mind with the flavour of yellow +lozenges. But he had yet to learn that it is a dreadful thing to +make an idiot fond of you, when you yourself are not of an +affectionate disposition: especially an idiot with a pitchfork-- +obviously a difficult friend to shake off by rough usage. + +It may seem to you rather a blundering contrivance for a clever +young man to bury the guineas. But, if everything had turned out as +David had calculated, you would have seen that his plan was worthy +of his talents. The guineas would have lain safely in the earth +while the theft was discovered, and David, with the calm of +conscious innocence, would have lingered at home, reluctant to say +good-bye to his dear mother while she was in grief about her +guineas; till at length, on the eve of his departure, he would have +disinterred them in the strictest privacy, and carried them on his +own person without inconvenience. But David, you perceive, had +reckoned without his host, or, to speak more precisely, without his +idiot brother--an item of so uncertain and fluctuating a character, +that I doubt whether he would not have puzzled the astute heroes of +M. de Balzac, whose foresight is so remarkably at home in the +future. + +It was clear to David now that he had only one alternative before +him: he must either renounce the guineas, by quietly putting them +back in his mother's drawer (a course not unattended with +difficulty); or he must leave more than a suspicion behind him, by +departing early the next morning without giving notice, and with the +guineas in his pocket. For if he gave notice that he was going, his +mother, he knew, would insist on fetching from her box of guineas +the three she had always promised him as his share; indeed, in his +original plan, he had counted on this as a means by which the theft +would be discovered under circumstances that would themselves speak +for his innocence; but now, as I need hardly explain, that well- +combined plan was completely frustrated. Even if David could have +bribed Jacob with perpetual lozenges, an idiot's secrecy is itself +betrayal. He dared not even go to tea at Mr. Lunn's, for in that +case he would have lost sight of Jacob, who, in his impatience for +the crop of lozenges, might scratch up the box again while he was +absent, and carry it home--depriving him at once of reputation and +guineas. No! he must think of nothing all the rest of this day, but +of coaxing Jacob and keeping him out of mischief. It was a +fatiguing and anxious evening to David; nevertheless, he dared not +go to sleep without tying a piece of string to his thumb and great +toe, to secure his frequent waking; for he meant to be up with the +first peep of dawn, and be far out of reach before breakfast-time. +His father, he thought, would certainly cut him off with a shilling; +but what then? Such a striking young man as he would be sure to be +well received in the West Indies: in foreign countries there are +always openings--even for cats. It was probable that some Princess +Yarico would want him to marry her, and make him presents of very +large jewels beforehand; after which, he needn't marry her unless he +liked. David had made up his mind not to steal any more, even from +people who were fond of him: it was an unpleasant way of making +your fortune in a world where you were likely to surprised in the +act by brothers. Such alarms did not agree with David's +constitution, and he had felt so much nausea this evening that no +doubt his liver was affected. Besides, he would have been greatly +hurt not to be thought well of in the world: he always meant to +make a figure, and be thought worthy of the best seats and the best +morsels. + +Ruminating to this effect on the brilliant future in reserve for +him, David by the help of his check-string kept himself on the alert +to seize the time of earliest dawn for his rising and departure. +His brothers, of course, were early risers, but he should anticipate +them by at least an hour and a half, and the little room which he +had to himself as only an occasional visitor, had its window over +the horse-block, so that he could slip out through the window +without the least difficulty. Jacob, the horrible Jacob, had an +awkward trick of getting up before everybody else, to stem his +hunger by emptying the milk-bowl that was "duly set" for him; but of +late he had taken to sleeping in the hay-loft, and if he came into +the house, it would be on the opposite side to that from which David +was making his exit. There was no need to think of Jacob; yet David +was liberal enough to bestow a curse on him--it was the only thing +he ever did bestow gratuitously. His small bundle of clothes was +ready packed, and he was soon treading lightly on the steps of the +horse-block, soon walking at a smart pace across the fields towards +the thicket. It would take him no more than two minutes to get out +the box; he could make out the tree it was under by the pale strip +where the bark was off, although the dawning light was rather dimmer +in the thicket. But what, in the name of--burnt pastry--was that +large body with a staff planted beside it, close at the foot of the +ash-tree? David paused, not to make up his mind as to the nature of +the apparition--he had not the happiness of doubting for a moment +that the staff was Jacob's pitchfork--but to gather the self-command +necessary for addressing his brother with a sufficiently honeyed +accent. Jacob was absorbed in scratching up the earth, and had not +heard David's approach. + +"I say, Jacob," said David in a loud whisper, just as the tin box +was lifted out of the hole. + +Jacob looked up, and discerning his sweet-flavoured brother, nodded +and grinned in the dim light in a way that made him seem to David +like a triumphant demon. If he had been of an impetuous +disposition, he would have snatched the pitchfork from the ground +and impaled this fraternal demon. But David was by no means +impetuous; he was a young man greatly given to calculate +consequences, a habit which has been held to be the foundation of +virtue. But somehow it had not precisely that effect in David: he +calculated whether an action would harm himself, or whether it would +only harm other people. In the former case he was very timid about +satisfying his immediate desires, but in the latter he would risk +the result with much courage. + +"Give it me, Jacob," he said, stooping down and patting his brother. +"Let us see." + +Jacob, finding the lid rather tight, gave the box to his brother in +perfect faith. David raised the lids and shook his head, while +Jacob put his finger in and took out a guinea to taste whether the +metamorphosis into lozenges was complete and satisfactory. + +"No, Jacob; too soon, too soon," said David, when the guinea had +been tasted. "Give it me; we'll go and bury it somewhere else; +we'll put it in yonder," he added, pointing vaguely toward the +distance. + +David screwed on the lid, while Jacob, looking grave, rose and +grasped his pitchfork. Then, seeing David's bundle, he snatched it, +like a too officious Newfoundland, stuck his pitchfork into it and +carried it over his shoulder in triumph as he accompanied David and +the box out of the thicket. + +What on earth was David to do? It would have been easy to frown at +Jacob, and kick him, and order him to get away; but David dared as +soon have kicked the bull. Jacob was quiet as long as he was +treated indulgently; but on the slightest show of anger, he became +unmanageable, and was liable to fits of fury which would have made +him formidable even without his pitchfork. There was no mastery to +be obtained over him except by kindness or guile. David tried +guile. + +"Go, Jacob," he said, when they were out of the thicket--pointing +towards the house as he spoke; "go and fetch me a spade--a spade. +But give ME the bundle," he added, trying to reach it from the fork, +where it hung high above Jacob's tall shoulder. + +But Jacob showed as much alacrity in obeying as a wasp shows in +leaving a sugar-basin. Near David, he felt himself in the vicinity +of lozenges: he chuckled and rubbed his brother's back, brandishing +the bundle higher out of reach. David, with an inward groan, +changed his tactics, and walked on as fast as he could. It was not +safe to linger. Jacob would get tired of following him, or, at all +events, could be eluded. If they could once get to the distant +highroad, a coach would overtake them, David would mount it, having +previously by some ingenious means secured his bundle, and then +Jacob might howl and flourish his pitchfork as much as he liked. +Meanwhile he was under the fatal necessity of being very kind to +this ogre, and of providing a large breakfast for him when they +stopped at a roadside inn. It was already three hours since they +had started, and David was tired. Would no coach be coming up soon? +he inquired. No coach for the next two hours. But there was a +carrier's cart to come immediately, on its way to the next town. If +he could slip out, even leaving his bundle behind, and get into the +cart without Jacob! But there was a new obstacle. Jacob had +recently discovered a remnant of sugar-candy in one of his brother's +tail-pockets; and, since then, had cautiously kept his hold on that +limb of the garment, perhaps with an expectation that there would be +a further development of sugar-candy after a longer or shorter +interval. Now every one who has worn a coat will understand the +sensibilities that must keep a man from starting away in a hurry +when there is a grasp on his coat-tail. David looked forward to +being well received among strangers, but it might make a difference +if he had only one tail to his coat. + +He felt himself in a cold perspiration. He could walk no more: he +must get into the cart and let Jacob get in with him. Presently a +cheering idea occurred to him: after so large a breakfast, Jacob +would be sure to go to sleep in the cart; you see at once that David +meant to seize his bundle, jump out, and be free. His expectation +was partly fulfilled: Jacob did go to sleep in the cart, but it was +in a peculiar attitude--it was with his arms tightly fastened round +his dear brother's body; and if ever David attempted to move, the +grasp tightened with the force of an affectionate boa-constrictor. + +"Th' innicent's fond on you," observed the carrier, thinking that +David was probably an amiable brother, and wishing to pay him a +compliment. + +David groaned. The ways of thieving were not ways of pleasantness. +Oh, why had he an idiot brother? Oh, why, in general, was the world +so constituted that a man could not take his mother's guineas +comfortably? David became grimly speculative. + +Copious dinner at noon for Jacob; but little dinner, because little +appetite, for David. Instead of eating, he plied Jacob with beer; +for through this liberality he descried a hope. Jacob fell into a +dead sleep, at last, without having his arms round David, who paid +the reckoning, took his bundle, and walked off. In another half- +hour he was on the coach on his way to Liverpool, smiling the smile +of the triumphant wicked. He was rid of Jacob--he was bound for the +Indies, where a gullible princess awaited him. He would never steal +any more, but there would be no need; he would show himself so +deserving, that people would make him presents freely. He must give +up the notion of his father's legacy; but it was not likely he would +ever want that trifle; and even if he did--why, it was a +compensation to think that in being for ever divided from his family +he was divided from Jacob, more terrible than Gorgon or Demogorgon +to David's timid green eyes. Thank heaven, he should never see +Jacob any more! + + + +CHAPTER II + + + +It was nearly six years after the departure of Mr. David Faux for +the West Indies, that the vacant shop in the marketplace at +Grimworth was understood to have been let to the stranger with a +sallow complexion and a buff cravat, whose first appearance had +caused some excitement in the bar of the Woolpack, where he had +called to wait for the coach. + +Grimworth, to a discerning eye, was a good place to set up +shopkeeping in. There was no competition in it at present; the +Church-people had their own grocer and draper; the Dissenters had +theirs; and the two or three butchers found a ready market for their +joints without strict reference to religious persuasion--except that +the rector's wife had given a general order for the veal sweet- +breads and the mutton kidneys, while Mr. Rodd, the Baptist minister, +had requested that, so far as was compatible with the fair +accommodation of other customers, the sheep's trotters might be +reserved for him. And it was likely to be a growing place, for the +trustees of Mr. Zephaniah Crypt's Charity, under the stimulus of a +late visitation by commissioners, were beginning to apply long- +accumulating funds to the rebuilding of the Yellow Coat School, +which was henceforth to be carried forward on a greatly-extended +scale, the testator having left no restrictions concerning the +curriculum, but only concerning the coat. + +The shopkeepers at Grimworth were by no means unanimous as to the +advantages promised by this prospect of increased population and +trading, being substantial men, who liked doing a quiet business in +which they were sure of their customers, and could calculate their +returns to a nicety. Hitherto, it had been held a point of honour +by the families in Grimworth parish, to buy their sugar and their +flannel at the shop where their fathers and mothers had bought +before them; but, if newcomers were to bring in the system of neck- +and-neck trading, and solicit feminine eyes by gown-pieces laid in +fan-like folds, and surmounted by artificial flowers, giving them a +factitious charm (for on what human figure would a gown sit like a +fan, or what female head was like a bunch of China-asters?), or, if +new grocers were to fill their windows with mountains of currants +and sugar, made seductive by contrast and tickets,--what security +was there for Grimworth, that a vagrant spirit in shopping, once +introduced, would not in the end carry the most important families +to the larger market town of Cattleton, where, business being done +on a system of small profits and quick returns, the fashions were of +the freshest, and goods of all kinds might be bought at an +advantage? + +With this view of the times predominant among the tradespeople at +Grimworth, their uncertainty concerning the nature of the business +which the sallow-complexioned stranger was about to set up in the +vacant shop, naturally gave some additional strength to the fears of +the less sanguine. If he was going to sell drapery, it was probable +that a pale-faced fellow like that would deal in showy and inferior +articles--printed cottons and muslins which would leave their dye in +the wash-tub, jobbed linen full of knots, and flannel that would +soon look like gauze. If grocery, then it was to be hoped that no +mother of a family would trust the teas of an untried grocer. Such +things had been known in some parishes as tradesmen going about +canvassing for custom with cards in their pockets: when people came +from nobody knew where, there was no knowing what they might do. It +was a thousand pities that Mr. Moffat, the auctioneer and broker, +had died without leaving anybody to follow him in the business, and +Mrs. Cleve's trustee ought to have known better than to let a shop +to a stranger. Even the discovery that ovens were being put up on +the premises, and that the shop was, in fact, being fitted up for a +confectioner and pastry-cook's business, hitherto unknown in +Grimworth, did not quite suffice to turn the scale in the newcomer's +favour, though the landlady at the Woolpack defended him warmly, +said he seemed to be a very clever young man, and from what she +could make out, came of a very good family; indeed, was most likely +a good many people's betters. + +It certainly made a blaze of light and colour, almost as if a +rainbow had suddenly descended into the marketplace, when, one fine +morning, the shutters were taken down from the new shop, and the two +windows displayed their decorations. On one side, there were the +variegated tints of collared and marbled meats, set off by bright +green leaves, the pale brown of glazed pies, the rich tones of +sauces and bottled fruits enclosed in their veil of glass-- +altogether a sight to bring tears into the eyes of a Dutch painter; +and on the other, there was a predominance of the more delicate hues +of pink, and white, and yellow, and buff, in the abundant lozenges, +candies, sweet biscuits and icings, which to the eyes of a bilious +person might easily have been blended into a faery landscape in +Turner's latest style. What a sight to dawn upon the eyes of +Grimworth children! They almost forgot to go to their dinner that +day, their appetites being preoccupied with imaginary sugar-plums; +and I think even Punch, setting up his tabernacle in the market- +place, would not have succeeded in drawing them away from those +shop-windows, where they stood according to gradations of size and +strength, the biggest and strongest being nearest the window, and +the little ones in the outermost rows lifting wide-open eyes and +mouths towards the upper tier of jars, like small birds at meal- +time. + +The elder inhabitants pished and pshawed a little at the folly of +the new shopkeeper in venturing on such an outlay in goods that +would not keep; to be sure, Christmas was coming, but what housewife +in Grimworth would not think shame to furnish forth her table with +articles that were not home-cooked? No, no. Mr. Edward Freely, as +he called himself, was deceived, if he thought Grimworth money was +to flow into his pockets on such terms. + +Edward Freely was the name that shone in gilt letters on a mazarine +ground over the doorplace of the new shop--a generous-sounding name, +that might have belonged to the open-hearted, improvident hero of an +old comedy, who would have delighted in raining sugared almonds, +like a new manna-gift, among that small generation outside the +windows. But Mr. Edward Freely was a man whose impulses were kept +in due subordination: he held that the desire for sweets and pastry +must only be satisfied in a direct ratio with the power of paying +for them. If the smallest child in Grimworth would go to him with a +halfpenny in its tiny fist, he would, after ringing the halfpenny, +deliver a just equivalent in "rock." He was not a man to cheat even +the smallest child--he often said so, observing at the same time +that he loved honesty, and also that he was very tender-hearted, +though he didn't show his feelings as some people did. + +Either in reward of such virtue, or according to some more hidden +law of sequence, Mr. Freely's business, in spite of prejudice, +started under favourable auspices. For Mrs. Chaloner, the rector's +wife, was among the earliest customers at the shop, thinking it only +right to encourage a new parishioner who had made a decorous +appearance at church; and she found Mr. Freely a most civil, +obliging young man, and intelligent to a surprising degree for a +confectioner; well-principled, too, for in giving her useful hints +about choosing sugars he had thrown much light on the dishonesty of +other tradesmen. Moreover, he had been in the West Indies, and had +seen the very estate which had been her poor grandfather's property; +and he said the missionaries were the only cause of the negro's +discontent--an observing young man, evidently. Mrs. Chaloner +ordered wine-biscuits and olives, and gave Mr. Freely to understand +that she should find his shop a great convenience. So did the +doctor's wife, and so did Mrs. Gate, at the large carding-mill, who, +having high connexions frequently visiting her, might be expected to +have a large consumption of ratafias and macaroons. + +The less aristocratic matrons of Grimworth seemed likely at first to +justify their husbands' confidence that they would never pay a +percentage of profits on drop-cakes, instead of making their own, or +get up a hollow show of liberal housekeeping by purchasing slices of +collared meat when a neighbour came in for supper. But it is my +task to narrate the gradual corruption of Grimworth manners from +their primitive simplicity--a melancholy task, if it were not +cheered by the prospect of the fine peripateia or downfall by which +the progress of the corruption was ultimately checked. + +It was young Mrs. Steene, the veterinary surgeons wife, who first +gave way to temptation. I fear she had been rather over-educated +for her station in life, for she knew by heart many passages in +Lalla Rookh, the Corsair, and the Siege of Corinth, which had given +her a distaste for domestic occupations, and caused her a withering +disappointment at the discovery that Mr. Steene, since his marriage, +had lost all interest in the "bulbul," openly preferred discussing +the nature of spavin with a coarse neighbour, and was angry if the +pudding turned out watery--indeed, was simply a top-booted "vet.", +who came in hungry at dinner-time; and not in the least like a +nobleman turned Corsair out of pure scorn for his race, or like a +renegade with a turban and crescent, unless it were in the +irritability of his temper. And scorn is such a very different +thing in top-boots! + +This brutal man had invited a supper-party for Christmas eve, when +he would expect to see mince-pies on the table. Mrs. Steene had +prepared her mince-meat, and had devoted much butter, fine flour, +and labour, to the making of a batch of pies in the morning; but +they proved to be so very heavy when they came out of the oven, that +she could only think with trembling of the moment when her husband +should catch sight of them on the supper-table. He would storm at +her, she was certain; and before all the company; and then she +should never help crying: it was so dreadful to think she had come +to that, after the bulbul and everything! Suddenly the thought +darted through her mind that THIS ONCE she might send for a dish of +mince-pies from Freely's: she knew he had some. But what was to +become of the eighteen heavy mince-pies? Oh, it was of no use +thinking about that; it was very expensive--indeed, making mince- +pies at all was a great expense, when they were not sure to turn out +well: it would be much better to buy them ready-made. You paid a +little more for them, but there was no risk of waste. + +Such was the sophistry with which this misguided young woman-- +enough. Mrs. Steene sent for the mince-pies, and, I am grieved to +add, garbled her household accounts in order to conceal the fact +from her husband. This was the second step in a downward course, +all owing to a young woman's being out of harmony with her +circumstances, yearning after renegades and bulbuls, and being +subject to claims from a veterinary surgeon fond of mince-pies. The +third step was to harden herself by telling the fact of the bought +mince-pies to her intimate friend Mrs. Mole, who had already guessed +it, and who subsequently encouraged herself in buying a mould of +jelly, instead of exerting her own skill, by the reflection that +"other people" did the same sort of thing. The infection spread; +soon there was a party or clique in Grimworth on the side of "buying +at Freely's"; and many husbands, kept for some time in the dark on +this point, innocently swallowed at two mouthfuls a tart on which +they were paying a profit of a hundred per cent., and as innocently +encouraged a fatal disingenuousness in the partners of their bosoms +by praising the pastry. Others, more keen-sighted, winked at the +too frequent presentation on washing-days, and at impromptu suppers, +of superior spiced-beef, which flattered their palates more than the +cold remnants they had formerly been contented with. Every +housewife who had once "bought at Freely's" felt a secret joy when +she detected a similar perversion in her neighbour's practice, and +soon only two or three old-fashioned mistresses of families held out +in the protest against the growing demoralization, saying to their +neighbours who came to sup with them, "I can't offer you Freely's +beef, or Freely's cheesecakes; everything in our house is home-made; +I'm afraid you'll hardly have any appetite for our plain pastry." +The doctor, whose cook was not satisfactory, the curate, who kept no +cook, and the mining agent, who was a great bon vivant, even began +to rely on Freely for the greater part of their dinner, when they +wished to give an entertainment of some brilliancy. In short, the +business of manufacturing the more fanciful viands was fast passing +out of the hinds of maids and matrons in private families, and was +becoming the work of a special commercial organ. + +I am not ignorant that this sort of thing is called the inevitable +course of civilization, division of labour, and so forth, and that +the maids and matrons may be said to have had their hands set free +from cookery to add to the wealth of society in some other way. +Only it happened at Grimworth, which, to be sure, was a low place, +that the maids and matrons could do nothing with their hands at all +better than cooking: not even those who had always made heavy cakes +and leathery pastry. And so it came to pass, that the progress of +civilization at Grimworth was not otherwise apparent than in the +impoverishment of men, the gossiping idleness of women, and the +heightening prosperity of Mr. Edward Freely. + +The Yellow Coat School was a double source of profit to the +calculating confectioner; for he opened an eating-room for the +superior workmen employed on the new school, and he accommodated the +pupils at the old school by giving great attention to the fancy- +sugar department. When I think of the sweet-tasted swans and other +ingenious white shapes crunched by the small teeth of that rising +generation, I am glad to remember that a certain amount of +calcareous food has been held good for young creatures whose bones +are not quite formed; for I have observed these delicacies to have +an inorganic flavour which would have recommended them greatly to +that young lady of the Spectator's acquaintance who habitually made +her dessert on the stems of tobacco-pipes. + +As for the confectioner himself, he made his way gradually into +Grimworth homes, as his commodities did, in spite of some initial +repugnance. Somehow or other, his reception as a guest seemed a +thing that required justifying, like the purchasing of his pastry. +In the first place, he was a stranger, and therefore open to +suspicion; secondly, the confectionery business was so entirely new +at Grimworth, that its place in the scale of rank had not been +distinctly ascertained. There was no doubt about drapers and +grocers, when they came of good old Grimworth families, like Mr. +Luff and Mr. Prettyman: they visited with the Palfreys, who farmed +their own land, played many a game at whist with the doctor, and +condescended a little towards the timber-merchant, who had lately +taken to the coal-trade also, and had got new furniture; but whether +a confectioner should be admitted to this higher level of +respectability, or should be understood to find his associates among +butchers and bakers, was a new question on which tradition threw no +light. His being a bachelor was in his favour, and would perhaps +have been enough to turn the scale, even if Mr. Edward Freely's +other personal pretensions had been of an entirely insignificant +cast. But so far from this, it very soon appeared that he was a +remarkable young man, who had been in the West Indies, and had seen +many wonders by sea and land, so that he could charm the ears of +Grimworth Desdemonas with stories of strange fishes, especially +sharks, which he had stabbed in the nick of time by bravely plunging +overboard just as the monster was turning on his side to devour the +cook's mate; of terrible fevers which he had undergone in a land +where the wind blows from all quarters at once; of rounds of toast +cut straight from the breadfruit trees; of toes bitten off by land- +crabs; of large honours that had been offered to him as a man who +knew what was what, and was therefore particularly needed in a +tropical climate; and of a Creole heiress who had wept bitterly at +his departure. Such conversational talents as these, we know, will +overcome disadvantages of complexion; and young Towers, whose cheeks +were of the finest pink, set off by a fringe of dark whisker, was +quite eclipsed by the presence of the sallow Mr. Freely. So +exceptional a confectioner elevated the business, and might well +begin to make disengaged hearts flutter a little. + +Fathers and mothers were naturally more slow and cautious in their +recognition of the new-comer's merits. + +"He's an amusing fellow," said Mr. Prettyman, the highly respectable +grocer. (Mrs. Prettyman was a Miss Fothergill, and her sister had +married a London mercer.) "He's an amusing fellow; and I've no +objection to his making one at the Oyster Club; but he's a bit too +fond of riding the high horse. He's uncommonly knowing, I'll allow; +but how came he to go to the Indies? I should like that answered. +It's unnatural in a confectioner. I'm not fond of people that have +been beyond seas, if they can't give a good account how they +happened to go. When folks go so far off, it's because they've got +little credit nearer home--that's my opinion. However, he's got +some good rum; but I don't want to be hand and glove with him, for +all that." + +It was this kind of dim suspicion which beclouded the view of Mr. +Freely's qualities in the maturer minds of Grimworth through the +early months of his residence there. But when the confectioner +ceased to be a novelty, the suspicions also ceased to be novel, and +people got tired of hinting at them, especially as they seemed to be +refuted by his advancing prosperity and importance. Mr. Freely was +becoming a person of influence in the parish; he was found useful as +an overseer of the poor, having great firmness in enduring other +people's pain, which firmness, he said, was due to his great +benevolence; he always did what was good for people in the end. Mr. +Chaloner had even selected him as clergyman's churchwarden, for he +was a very handy man, and much more of Mr. Chaloner's opinion in +everything about church business than the older parishioners. Mr. +Freely was a very regular churchman, but at the Oyster Club he was +sometimes a little free in his conversation, more than hinting at a +life of Sultanic self-indulgence which he had passed in the West +Indies, shaking his head now and then and smiling rather bitterly, +as men are wont to do when they intimate that they have become a +little too wise to be instructed about a world which has long been +flat and stale to them. + +For some time he was quite general in his attentions to the fair +sex, combining the gallantries of a lady's man with a severity of +criticism on the person and manners of absent belles, which tended +rather to stimulate in the feminine breast the desire to conquer the +approval of so fastidious a judge. Nothing short of the very best +in the department of female charms and virtues could suffice to +kindle the ardour of Mr. Edward Freely, who had become familiar with +the most luxuriant and dazzling beauty in the West Indies. It may +seem incredible that a confectioner should have ideas and +conversation so much resembling those to be met with in a higher +walk of life, but it must be remembered that he had not merely +travelled, he had also bow-legs and a sallow, small-featured visage, +so that nature herself had stamped him for a fastidious connoisseur +of the fair sex. + +At last, however, it seemed clear that Cupid had found a sharper +arrow than usual, and that Mr. Freely's heart was pierced. It was +the general talk among the young people at Grimworth. But was it +really love, and not rather ambition? Miss Fullilove, the timber- +merchant's daughter, was quite sure that if SHE were Miss Penny +Palfrey, she would be cautious; it was not a good sign when men +looked so much above themselves for a wife. For it was no less a +person than Miss Penelope Palfrey, second daughter of the Mr. +Palfrey who farmed his own land, that had attracted Mr. Freely's +peculiar regard, and conquered his fastidiousness; and no wonder, +for the Ideal, as exhibited in the finest waxwork, was perhaps never +so closely approached by the Real as in the person of the pretty +Penelope. Her yellowish flaxen hair did not curl naturally, I +admit, but its bright crisp ringlets were such smooth, perfect +miniature tubes, that you would have longed to pass your little +finger through them, and feel their soft elasticity. She wore them +in a crop, for in those days, when society was in a healthier state, +young ladies wore crops long after they were twenty, and Penelope +was not yet nineteen. Like the waxen ideal, she had round blue +eyes, and round nostrils in her little nose, and teeth such as the +ideal would be seen to have, if it ever showed them. Altogether, +she was a small, round thing, as neat as a pink and white double +daisy, and as guileless; for I hope it does not argue guile in a +pretty damsel of nineteen, to think that she should like to have a +beau and be "engaged," when her elder sister had already been in +that position a year and a half. To be sure, there was young Towers +always coming to the house; but Penny felt convinced he only came to +see her brother, for he never had anything to say to her, and never +offered her his arm, and was as awkward and silent as possible. + +It is not unlikely that Mr. Freely had early been smitten by Penny's +charms, as brought under his observation at church, but he had to +make his way in society a little before he could come into nearer +contact with them; and even after he was well received in Grimworth +families, it was a long while before he could converse with Penny +otherwise than in an incidental meeting at Mr. Luff's. It was not +so easy to get invited to Long Meadows, the residence of the +Palfreys; for though Mr. Palfrey had been losing money of late +years, not being able quite to recover his feet after the terrible +murrain which forced him to borrow, his family were far from +considering themselves on the same level even as the old-established +tradespeople with whom they visited. The greatest people, even +kings and queens, must visit with somebody, and the equals of the +great are scarce. They were especially scarce at Grimworth, which, +as I have before observed, was a low parish, mentioned with the most +scornful brevity in gazetteers. Even the great people there were +far behind those of their own standing in other parts of this realm. +Mr. Palfrey's farmyard doors had the paint all worn off them, and +the front garden walks had long been merged in a general weediness. +Still, his father had been called Squire Palfrey, and had been +respected by the last Grimworth generation as a man who could afford +to drink too much in his own house. + +Pretty Penny was not blind to the fact that Mr. Freely admired her, +and she felt sure that it was he who had sent her a beautiful +valentine; but her sister seemed to think so lightly of him (all +young ladies think lightly of the gentlemen to whom they are not +engaged), that Penny never dared mention him, and trembled and +blushed whenever they met him, thinking of the valentine, which was +very strong in its expressions, and which she felt guilty of knowing +by heart. A man who had been to the Indies, and knew the sea so +well, seemed to her a sort of public character, almost like Robinson +Crusoe or Captain Cook; and Penny had always wished her husband to +be a remarkable personage, likely to be put in Mangnall's Questions, +with which register of the immortals she had become acquainted +during her one year at a boarding-school. Only it seemed strange +that a remarkable man should be a confectioner and pastry-cook, and +this anomaly quite disturbed Penny's dreams. Her brothers, she +knew, laughed at men who couldn't sit on horseback well, and called +them tailors; but her brothers were very rough, and were quite +without that power of anecdote which made Mr. Freely such a +delightful companion. He was a very good man, she thought, for she +had heard him say at Mr. Luff's, one day, that he always wished to +do his duty in whatever state of life he might be placed; and he +knew a great deal of poetry, for one day he had repeated a verse of +a song. She wondered if he had made the words of the valentine!--it +ended in this way:- + + +"Without thee, it is pain to live, +But with thee, it were sweet to die." + + +Poor Mr. Freely! her father would very likely object--she felt sure +he would, for he always called Mr. Freely "that sugar-plum fellow." +Oh, it was very cruel, when true love was crossed in that way, and +all because Mr. Freely was a confectioner: well, Penny would be +true to him, for all that, and since his being a confectioner gave +her an opportunity of showing her faithfulness, she was glad of it. +Edward Freely was a pretty name, much better than John Towers. +Young Towers had offered her a rose out of his button-hole the other +day, blushing very much; but she refused it, and thought with +delight how much Mr. Freely would be comforted if he knew her +firmness of mind. + +Poor little Penny! the days were so very long among the daisies on a +grazing farm, and thought is so active--how was it possible that the +inward drama should not get the start of the outward? I have known +young ladies, much better educated, and with an outward world +diversified by instructive lectures, to say nothing of literature +and highly-developed fancy-work, who have spun a cocoon of visionary +joys and sorrows for themselves, just as Penny did. Her elder +sister Letitia, who had a prouder style of beauty, and a more +worldly ambition, was engaged to a wool-factor, who came all the way +from Cattelton to see her; and everybody knows that a wool-factor +takes a very high rank, sometimes driving a double-bodied gig. +Letty's notions got higher every day, and Penny never dared to speak +of her cherished griefs to her lofty sister--never dared to propose +that they should call at Mr. Freely's to buy liquorice, though she +had prepared for such an incident by mentioning a slight sore +throat. So she had to pass the shop on the other side of the +market-place, and reflect, with a suppressed sigh, that behind those +pink and white jars somebody was thinking of her tenderly, +unconscious of the small space that divided her from him. + +And it was quite true that, when business permitted, Mr. Freely +thought a great deal of Penny. He thought her prettiness comparable +to the loveliest things in confectionery; he judged her to be of +submissive temper--likely to wait upon him as well as if she had +been a negress, and to be silently terrified when his liver made him +irritable; and he considered the Palfrey family quite the best in +the parish, possessing marriageable daughters. On the whole, he +thought her worthy to become Mrs. Edward Freely, and all the more +so, because it would probably require some ingenuity to win her. +Mr. Palfrey was capable of horse-whipping a too rash pretender to +his daughter's hand; and, moreover, he had three tall sons: it was +clear that a suitor would be at a disadvantage with such a family, +unless travel and natural acumen had given him a countervailing +power of contrivance. And the first idea that occurred to him in +the matter was, that Mr. Palfrey would object less if he knew that +the Freelys were a much higher family than his own. It had been +foolish modesty in him hitherto to conceal the fact that a branch of +the Freelys held a manor in Yorkshire, and to shut up the portrait +of his great uncle the admiral, instead of hanging it up where a +family portrait should be hung--over the mantelpiece in the parlour. +Admiral Freely, K.C.B., once placed in this conspicuous position, +was seen to have had one arm only, and one eye--in these points +resembling the heroic Nelson--while a certain pallid insignificance +of feature confirmed the relationship between himself and his grand- +nephew. + +Next, Mr. Freely was seized with an irrepressible ambition to posses +Mrs. Palfrey's receipt for brawn, hers being pronounced on all hands +to be superior to his own--as he informed her in a very flattering +letter carried by his errand-boy. Now Mrs. Palfrey, like other +geniuses, wrought by instinct rather than by rule, and possessed no +receipts--indeed, despised all people who used them, observing that +people who pickled by book, must pickle by weights and measures, and +such nonsense; as for herself, her weights and measures were the tip +of her finger and the tip of her tongue, and if you went nearer, +why, of course, for dry goods like flour and spice, you went by +handfuls and pinches, and for wet, there was a middle-sized jug-- +quite the best thing whether for much or little, because you might +know how much a teacupful was if you'd got any use of your senses, +and you might be sure it would take five middle-sized jugs to make a +gallon. Knowledge of this kind is like Titian's colouring, +difficult to communicate; and as Mrs. Palfrey, once remarkably +handsome, had now become rather stout and asthmatical, and scarcely +ever left home, her oral teaching could hardly be given anywhere +except at Long Meadows. Even a matron is not insusceptible to +flattery, and the prospect of a visitor whose great object would be +to listen to her conversation, was not without its charms to Mrs. +Palfrey. Since there was no receipt to be sent in reply to Mr. +Freely's humble request, she called on her more docile daughter, +Penny, to write a note, telling him that her mother would be glad to +see him and talk with him on brawn, any day that he could call at +Long Meadows. Penny obeyed with a trembling hand, thinking how +wonderfully things came about in this world. + +In this way, Mr. Freely got himself introduced into the home of the +Palfreys, and notwithstanding a tendency in the male part of the +family to jeer at him a little as "peaky" and bow-legged, he +presently established his position as an accepted and frequent +guest. Young Towers looked at him with increasing disgust when they +met at the house on a Sunday, and secretly longed to try his ferret +upon him, as a piece of vermin which that valuable animal would be +likely to tackle with unhesitating vigour. But--so blind sometimes +are parents--neither Mr. nor Mrs. Palfrey suspected that Penny would +have anything to say to a tradesman of questionable rank whose +youthful bloom was much withered. Young Towers, they thought, had +an eye to her, and THAT was likely enough to be a match some day; +but Penny was a child at present. And all the while Penny was +imagining the circumstances under which Mr. Freely would make her an +offer: perhaps down by the row of damson-trees, when they were in +the garden before tea; perhaps by letter--in which case, how would +the letter begin? "Dearest Penelope?" or "My dear Miss Penelope?" +or straight off, without dear anything, as seemed the most natural +when people were embarrassed? But, however he might make the offer, +she would not accept it without her father's consent: she would +always be true to Mr. Freely, but she would not disobey her father. +For Penny was a good girl, though some of her female friends were +afterwards of opinion that it spoke ill for her not to have felt an +instinctive repugnance to Mr. Freely. + +But he was cautious, and wished to be quite sure of the ground he +trod on. His views on marriage were not entirely sentimental, but +were as duly mingled with considerations of what would be +advantageous to a man in his position, as if he had had a very large +amount of money spent on his education. He was not a man to fall in +love in the wrong place; and so, he applied himself quite as much to +conciliate the favour of the parents, as to secure the attachment of +Penny. Mrs. Palfrey had not been inaccessible to flattery, and her +husband, being also of mortal mould, would not, it might be hoped, +be proof against rum--that very fine Jamaica rum--of which Mr. +Freely expected always to have a supply sent him from Jamaica. It +was not easy to get Mr. Palfrey into the parlour behind the shop, +where a mild back-street light fell on the features of the heroic +admiral; but by getting hold of him rather late one evening as he +was about to return home from Grimworth, the aspiring lover +succeeded in persuading him to sup on some collared beef which, +after Mrs. Palfrey's brawn, he would find the very best of cold +eating. + +From that hour Mr. Freely felt sure of success: being in privacy +with an estimable man old enough to be his father, and being rather +lonely in the world, it was natural he should unbosom himself a +little on subjects which he could not speak of in a mixed circle-- +especially concerning his expectations from his uncle in Jamaica, +who had no children, and loved his nephew Edward better than any one +else in the world, though he had been so hurt at his leaving +Jamaica, that he had threatened to cut him off with a shilling. +However, he had since written to state his full forgiveness, and +though he was an eccentric old gentleman and could not bear to give +away money during his life, Mr. Edward Freely could show Mr. Palfrey +the letter which declared, plainly enough, who would be the +affectionate uncle's heir. Mr. Palfrey actually saw the letter, and +could not help admiring the spirit of the nephew who declared that +such brilliant hopes as these made no difference to his conduct; he +should work at his humble business and make his modest fortune at it +all the same. If the Jamaica estate was to come to him--well and +good. It was nothing very surprising for one of the Freely family +to have an estate left him, considering the lands that family had +possessed in time gone by--nay, still possessed in the +Northumberland branch. Would not Mr. Palfrey take another glass of +rum? and also look at the last year's balance of the accounts? Mr. +Freely was a man who cared to possess personal virtues, and did not +pique himself on his family, though some men would. + +We know how easily the great Leviathan may be led, when once there +is a hook in his nose or a bridle in his jaws. Mr. Palfrey was a +large man, but, like Leviathan's, his bulk went against him when +once he had taken a turning. He was not a mercurial man, who easily +changed his point of view. Enough. Before two months were over, he +had given his consent to Mr. Freely's marriage with his daughter +Penny, and having hit on a formula by which he could justify it, +fenced off all doubts and objections, his own included. The formula +was this: "I'm not a man to put my head up an entry before I know +where it leads." + +Little Penny was very proud and fluttering, but hardly so happy as +she expected to be in an engagement. She wondered if young Towers +cared much about it, for he had not been to the house lately, and +her sister and brothers were rather inclined to sneer than to +sympathize. Grimworth rang with the news. All men extolled Mr. +Freely's good fortune; while the women, with the tender solicitude +characteristic of the sex, wished the marriage might turn out well. + +While affairs were at this triumphant juncture, Mr. Freely one +morning observed that a stone-carver who had been breakfasting in +the eating-room had left a newspaper behind. It was the X-shire +Gazette, and X-shire being a county not unknown to Mr. Freely, he +felt some curiosity to glance over it, and especially over the +advertisements. A slight flush came over his face as he read. It +was produced by the following announcement:- "If David Faux, son of +Jonathan Faux, late of Gilsbrook, will apply at the office of Mr. +Strutt, attorney, of Rodham, he will hear of something to his +advantage." + +"Father's dead!" exclaimed Mr. Freely, involuntarily. "Can he have +left me a legacy?" + + + +CHAPTER III + + + +Perhaps it was a result quite different from your expectations, that +Mr. David Faux should have returned from the West Indies only a few +years after his arrival there, and have set up in his old business, +like any plain man who has never travelled. But these cases do +occur in life. Since, as we know, men change their skies and see +new constellations without changing their souls, it will follow +sometimes that they don't change their business under those novel +circumstances. + +Certainly, this result was contrary to David's own expectations. He +had looked forward, you are aware, to a brilliant career among "the +blacks"; but, either because they had already seen too many white +men, or for some other reason, they did not at once recognize him as +a superior order of human being; besides, there were no princesses +among them. Nobody in Jamaica was anxious to maintain David for the +mere pleasure of his society; and those hidden merits of a man which +are so well known to himself were as little recognized there as they +notoriously are in the effete society of the Old World. So that in +the dark hints that David threw out at the Oyster Club about that +life of Sultanic self-indulgence spent by him in the luxurious +Indies, I really think he was doing himself a wrong; I believe he +worked for his bread, and, in fact, took to cooking as, after all, +the only department in which he could offer skilled labour. He had +formed several ingenious plans by which he meant to circumvent +people of large fortune and small faculty; but then he never met +with exactly the right circumstances. David's devices for getting +rich without work had apparently no direct relation with the world +outside him, as his confectionery receipts had. It is possible to +pass a great many bad half pennies and bad half-crowns, but I +believe there has no instance been known of passing a halfpenny or a +half-crown as a sovereign. A sharper can drive a brisk trade in +this world: it is undeniable that there may be a fine career for +him, if he will dare consequences; but David was too timid to be a +sharper, or venture in any way among the mantraps of the law. He +dared rob nobody but his mother. And so he had to fall back on the +genuine value there was in him--to be content to pass as a good +halfpenny, or, to speak more accurately, as a good confectioner. +For in spite of some additional reading and observation, there was +nothing else he could make so much money by; nay, he found in +himself even a capability of extending his skill in this direction, +and embracing all forms of cookery; while, in other branches of +human labour, he began to see that it was not possible for him to +shine. Fate was too strong for him; he had thought to master her +inclination and had fled over the seas to that end; but she caught +him, tied an apron round him, and snatching him from all other +devices, made him devise cakes and patties in a kitchen at +Kingstown. He was getting submissive to her, since she paid him +with tolerable gains; but fevers and prickly heat, and other evils +incidental to cooks in ardent climates, made him long for his native +land; so he took ship once more, carrying his six years' savings, +and seeing distinctly, this time, what were Fate's intentions as to +his career. If you question me closely as to whether all the money +with which he set up at Grimworth consisted of pure and simple +earnings, I am obliged to confess that he got a sum or two for +charitably abstaining from mentioning some other people's +misdemeanours. Altogether, since no prospects were attached to his +family name, and since a new christening seemed a suitable +commencement of a new life, Mr. David Faux thought it as well to +call himself Mr. Edward Freely. + +But lo! now, in opposition to all calculable probability, some +benefit appeared to be attached to the name of David Faux. Should +he neglect it, as beneath the attention of a prosperous tradesman? +It might bring him into contact with his family again, and he felt +no yearnings in that direction: moreover, he had small belief that +the "something to his advantage" could be anything considerable. On +the other hand, even a small gain is pleasant, and the promise of it +in this instance was so surprising, that David felt his curiosity +awakened. The scale dipped at last on the side of writing to the +lawyer, and, to be brief, the correspondence ended in an appointment +for a meeting between David and his eldest brother at Mr. Strutt's, +the vague "something" having been defined as a legacy from his +father of eighty-two pounds, three shillings. + +David, you know, had expected to be disinherited; and so he would +have been, if he had not, like some other indifferent sons, come of +excellent parents, whose conscience made them scrupulous where much +more highly-instructed people often feel themselves warranted in +following the bent of their indignation. Good Mrs. Faux could never +forget that she had brought this ill-conditioned son into the world +when he was in that entirely helpless state which excluded the +smallest choice on his part; and, somehow or other, she felt that +his going wrong would be his father's and mother's fault, if they +failed in one tittle of their parental duty. Her notion of parental +duty was not of a high and subtle kind, but it included giving him +his due share of the family property; for when a man had got a +little honest money of his own, was he so likely to steal? To cut +the delinquent son off with a shilling, was like delivering him over +to his evil propensities. No; let the sum of twenty guineas which +he had stolen be deducted from his share, and then let the sum of +three guineas be put back from it, seeing that his mother had always +considered three of the twenty guineas as his; and, though he had +run away, and was, perhaps, gone across the sea, let the money be +left to him all the same, and be kept in reserve for his possible +return. Mr. Faux agreed to his wife's views, and made a codicil to +his will accordingly, in time to die with a clear conscience. But +for some time his family thought it likely that David would never +reappear; and the eldest son, who had the charge of Jacob on his +hands, often thought it a little hard that David might perhaps be +dead, and yet, for want of certitude on that point, his legacy could +not fall to his legal heir. But in this state of things the +opposite certitude--namely, that David was still alive and in +England--seemed to be brought by the testimony of a neighbour, who, +having been on a journey to Cattelton, was pretty sure he had seen +David in a gig, with a stout man driving by his side. He could +"swear it was David," though he could "give no account why, for he +had no marks on him; but no more had a white dog, and that didn't +hinder folks from knowing a white dog." It was this incident which +had led to the advertisement. + +The legacy was paid, of course, after a few preliminary disclosures +as to Mr. David's actual position. He begged to send his love to +his mother, and to say that he hoped to pay her a dutiful visit by +and by; but, at present, his business and near prospect of marriage +made it difficult for him to leave home. His brother replied with +much frankness. + +"My mother may do as she likes about having you to see her, but, for +my part, I don't want to catch sight of you on the premises again. +When folks have taken a new name, they'd better keep to their new +'quinetance." + +David pocketed the insult along with the eighty-two pounds three, +and travelled home again in some triumph at the ease of a +transaction which had enriched him to this extent. He had no +intention of offending his brother by further claims on his +fraternal recognition, and relapsed with full contentment into the +character of Mr. Edward Freely, the orphan, scion of a great but +reduced family, with an eccentric uncle in the West Indies. (I have +already hinted that he had some acquaintance with imaginative +literature; and being of a practical turn, he had, you perceive, +applied even this form of knowledge to practical purposes.) + +It was little more than a week after the return from his fruitful +journey, that the day of his marriage with Penny having been fixed, +it was agreed that Mrs. Palfrey should overcome her reluctance to +move from home, and that she and her husband should bring their two +daughters to inspect little Penny's future abode and decide on the +new arrangements to be made for the reception of the bride. Mr. +Freely meant her to have a house so pretty and comfortable that she +need not envy even a wool-factor's wife. Of course, the upper room +over the shop was to be the best sitting-room; but also the parlour +behind the shop was to be made a suitable bower for the lovely +Penny, who would naturally wish to be near her husband, though Mr. +Freely declared his resolution never to allow HIS wife to wait in +the shop. The decisions about the parlour furniture were left till +last, because the party was to take tea there; and, about five +o'clock, they were all seated there with the best muffins and +buttered buns before them, little Penny blushing and smiling, with +her "crop" in the best order, and a blue frock showing her little +white shoulders, while her opinion was being always asked and never +given. She secretly wished to have a particular sort of chimney +ornaments, but she could not have brought herself to mention it. +Seated by the side of her yellow and rather withered lover, who, +though he had not reached his thirtieth year, had already crow's- +feet about his eyes, she was quite tremulous at the greatness of her +lot in being married to a man who had travelled so much--and before +her sister Letty! The handsome Letitia looked rather proud and +contemptuous, thought her nature brother-in-law an odious person, +and was vexed with her father and mother for letting Penny marry +him. Dear little Penny! She certainly did look like a fresh white- +heart cherry going to be bitten off the stem by that lipless mouth. +Would no deliverer come to make a slip between that cherry and that +mouth without a lip? + +"Quite a family likeness between the admiral and you, Mr. Freely," +observed Mrs. Palfrey, who was looking at the family portrait for +the first time. "It's wonderful! and only a grand-uncle. Do you +feature the rest of your family, as you know of?" + +"I can't say," said Mr. Freely, with a sigh. "My family have mostly +thought themselves too high to take any notice of me." + +At this moment an extraordinary disturbance was heard in the shop, +as of a heavy animal stamping about and making angry noises, and +then of a glass vessel falling in shivers, while the voice of the +apprentice was heard calling "Master" in great alarm. + +Mr. Freely rose in anxious astonishment, and hastened into the shop, +followed by the four Palfreys, who made a group at the parlour-door, +transfixed with wonder at seeing a large man in a smock-frock, with +a pitchfork in his hand, rush up to Mr. Freely and hug him, crying +out,--"Zavy, Zavy, b'other Zavy!" + +It was Jacob, and for some moments David lost all presence of mind. +He felt arrested for having stolen his mother's guineas. He turned +cold, and trembled in his brother's grasp. + +"Why, how's this?" said Mr. Palfrey, advancing from the door. "Who +is he?" + +Jacob supplied the answer by saying over and over again - + +"I'se Zacob, b'other Zacob. Come 'o zee Zavy"--till hunger prompted +him to relax his grasp, and to seize a large raised pie, which he +lifted to his mouth. + +By this time David's power of device had begun to return, but it was +a very hard task for his prudence to master his rage and hatred +towards poor Jacob. + +"I don't know who he is; he must be drunk," he said, in a low tone +to Mr. Palfrey. "But he's dangerous with that pitchfork. He'll +never let it go." Then checking himself on the point of betraying +too great an intimacy with Jacob's habits, he added "You watch him, +while I run for the constable." And he hurried out of the shop. + +"Why, where do you come from, my man?" said Mr. Palfrey, speaking to +Jacob in a conciliatory tone. Jacob was eating his pie by large +mouthfuls, and looking round at the other good things in the shop, +while he embraced his pitchfork with his left arm, and laid his left +hand on some Bath buns. He was in the rare position of a person who +recovers a long absent friend and finds him richer than ever in the +characteristics that won his heart. + +"I's Zacob--b'other Zacob--'t home. I love Zavy--b'other Zavy," he +said, as soon as Mr. Palfrey had drawn his attention. "Zavy come +back from z' Indies--got mother's zinnies. Where's Zavy?" he added, +looking round and then turning to the others with a questioning air, +puzzled by David's disappearance. + +"It's very odd," observed Mr. Palfrey to his wife and daughters. +"He seems to say Freely's his brother come back from th' Indies." + +"What a pleasant relation for us!" said Letitia, sarcastically. "I +think he's a good deal like Mr. Freely. He's got just the same sort +of nose, and his eyes are the same colour." + +Poor Penny was ready to cry. + +But now Mr. Freely re-entered the shop without the constable. +During his walk of a few yards he had had time and calmness enough +to widen his view of consequences, and he saw that to get Jacob +taken to the workhouse or to the lock-up house as an offensive +stranger might have awkward effects if his family took the trouble +of inquiring after him. He must resign himself to more patient +measures. + +"On second thoughts," he said, beckoning to Mr. Palfrey and +whispering to him while Jacob's back was turned, "he's a poor half- +witted fellow. Perhaps his friends will come after him. I don't +mind giving him something to eat, and letting him lie down for the +night. He's got it into his head that he knows me--they do get +these fancies, idiots do. He'll perhaps go away again in an hour or +two, and make no more ado. I'm a kind-hearted man MYSELF--I +shouldn't like to have the poor fellow ill-used." + +"Why, he'll eat a sovereign's worth in no time," said Mr. Palfrey, +thinking Mr. Freely a little too magnificent in his generosity. + +"Eh, Zavy, come back?" exclaimed Jacob, giving his dear brother +another hug, which crushed Mr. Freely's features inconveniently +against the stale of the pitchfork. + +"Aye, aye," said Mr. Freely, smiling, with every capability of +murder in his mind, except the courage to commit it. He wished the +Bath buns might by chance have arsenic in them. + +"Mother's zinnies?" said Jacob, pointing to a glass jar of yellow +lozenges that stood in the window. "Zive 'em me." + +David dared not do otherwise than reach down the glass jar and give +Jacob a handful. He received them in his smock-frock, which he held +out for more. + +"They'll keep him quiet a bit, at any rate," thought David, and +emptied the jar. Jacob grinned and mowed with delight. + +"You're very good to this stranger, Mr. Freely," said Letitia; and +then spitefully, as David joined the party at the parlour-door, "I +think you could hardly treat him better, if he was really your +brother." + +"I've always thought it a duty to be good to idiots," said Mr. +Freely, striving after the most moral view of the subject. "We +might have been idiots ourselves--everybody might have been born +idiots, instead of having their right senses." + +"I don't know where there'd ha' been victual for us all then," +observed Mrs. Palfrey, regarding the matter in a housewifely light. + +"But let us sit down again and finish our tea," said Mr. Freely. +"Let us leave the poor creature to himself." + +They walked into the parlour again; but Jacob, not apparently +appreciating the kindness of leaving him to himself, immediately +followed his brother, and seated himself, pitchfork grounded, at the +table. + +"Well," said Miss Letitia, rising, "I don't know whether YOU mean to +stay, mother; but I shall go home." + +"Oh, me too," said Penny, frightened to death at Jacob, who had +begun to nod and grin at her. + +"Well, I think we HAD better be going, Mr. Palfrey," said the +mother, rising more slowly. + +Mr. Freely, whose complexion had become decidedly yellower during +the last half-hour, did not resist this proposition. He hoped they +should meet again "under happier circumstances." + +"It's my belief the man is his brother," said Letitia, when they +were all on their way home. + +"Nonsense!" said Mr. Palfrey. "Freely's got no brother--he's said +so many and many a time; he's an orphan; he's got nothing but +uncles--leastwise, one. What's it matter what an idiot says? What +call had Freely to tell lies?" + +Letitia tossed her head and was silent. + +Mr. Freely, left alone with his affectionate brother Jacob, brooded +over the possibility of luring him out of the town early the next +morning, and getting him conveyed to Gilsbrook without further +betrayals. But the thing was difficult. He saw clearly that if he +took Jacob himself, his absence, conjoined with the disappearance of +the stranger, would either cause the conviction that he was really a +relative, or would oblige him to the dangerous course of inventing a +story to account for his disappearance, and his own absence at the +same time. David groaned. There come occasions when falsehood is +felt to be inconvenient. It would, perhaps, have been a longer- +headed device, if he had never told any of those clever fibs about +his uncles, grand and otherwise; for the Palfreys were simple +people, and shared the popular prejudice against lying. Even if he +could get Jacob away this time, what security was there that he +would not come again, having once found the way? O guineas! O +lozenges! what enviable people those were who had never robbed their +mothers, and had never told fibs! David spent a sleepless night, +while Jacob was snoring close by. Was this the upshot of travelling +to the Indies, and acquiring experience combined with anecdote? + +He rose at break of day, as he had once before done when he was in +fear of Jacob, and took all gentle means to rouse this fatal brother +from his deep sleep; he dared not be loud, because his apprentice +was in the house, and would report everything. But Jacob was not to +be roused. He fought out with his fist at the unknown cause of +disturbance, turned over, and snored again. He must be left to wake +as he would. David, with a cold perspiration on his brow, confessed +to himself that Jacob could not be got away that day. + +Mr. Palfrey came over to Grimworth before noon, with a natural +curiosity to see how his future son-in-law got on with the stranger +to whom he was so benevolently inclined. He found a crowd round the +shop. All Grimworth by this time had heard how Freely had been +fastened on by an idiot, who called him "Brother Zavy"; and the +younger population seemed to find the singular stranger an +unwearying source of fascination, while the householders dropped in +one by one to inquire into the incident. + +"Why don't you send him to the workhouse?" said Mr. Prettyman. +"You'll have a row with him and the children presently, and he'll +eat you up. The workhouse is the proper place for him; let his kin +claim him, if he's got any." + +"Those may be YOUR feelings, Mr. Prettyman," said David, his mind +quite enfeebled by the torture of his position. + +"What! IS he your brother, then?" said Mr. Prettyman, looking at his +neighbour Freely rather sharply. + +"All men are our brothers, and idiots particular so," said Mr. +Freely, who, like many other travelled men, was not master of the +English language. + +"Come, come, if he's your brother, tell the truth, man," said Mr. +Prettyman, with growing suspicion. "Don't be ashamed of your own +flesh and blood." + +Mr. Palfrey was present, and also had his eye on Freely. It is +difficult for a man to believe in the advantage of a truth which +will disclose him to have been a liar. In this critical moment, +David shrank from this immediate disgrace in the eyes of his future +father-in-law. + +"Mr. Prettyman," he said, "I take your observations as an insult. +I've no reason to be otherwise than proud of my own flesh and blood. +If this poor man was my brother more than all men are, I should say +so." + +A tall figure darkened the door, and David, lifting his eyes in that +direction, saw his eldest brother, Jonathan, on the door-sill. + +"I'll stay wi' Zavy," shouted Jacob, as he, too, caught sight of his +eldest brother; and, running behind the counter, he clutched David +hard. + +"What, he IS here?" said Jonathan Faux, coming forward. "My mother +would have no nay, as he'd been away so long, but I must see after +him. And it struck me he was very like come after you, because we'd +been talking of you o' late, and where you lived." + +David saw there was no escape; he smiled a ghastly smile. + +"What! is this a relation of yours, sir?" said Mr. Palfrey to +Jonathan. + +"Aye, it's my innicent of a brother, sure enough," said honest +Jonathan. "A fine trouble and cost he is to us, in th' eating and +other things, but we must bear what's laid on us." + +"And your name's Freely, is it?" said Mr. Prettyman. + +"Nay, nay, my name's Faux, I know nothing o' Freelys," said +Jonathan, curtly. "Come," he added, turning to David, "I must take +some news to mother about Jacob. Shall I take him with me, or will +you undertake to send him back?" + +"Take him, if you can make him loose his hold of me," said David, +feebly. + +"Is this gentleman here in the confectionery line your brother, +then, sir?" said Mr. Prettyman, feeling that it was an occasion on +which format language must be used. + +"I don't want to own him," said Jonathan, unable to resist a +movement of indignation that had never been allowed to satisfy +itself. "He ran away from home with good reasons in his pocket +years ago: he didn't want to be owned again, I reckon." + +Mr. Palfrey left the shop; he felt his own pride too severely +wounded by the sense that he had let himself be fooled, to feel +curiosity for further details. The most pressing business was to go +home and tell his daughter that Freely was a poor sneak, probably a +rascal, and that her engagement was broken off. + +Mr. Prettyman stayed, with some internal self-gratulation that HE +had never given in to Freely, and that Mr. Chaloner would see now +what sort of fellow it was that he had put over the heads of older +parishioners. He considered it due from him (Mr. Prettyman) that, +for the interests of the parish, he should know all that was to be +known about this "interloper." Grimworth would have people coming +from Botany Bay to settle in it, if things went on in this way. + +It soon appeared that Jacob could not be made to quit his dear +brother David except by force. He understood, with a clearness +equal to that of the most intelligent mind, that Jonathan would take +him back to skimmed milk, apple-dumpling, broad beans, and pork. +And he had found a paradise in his brother's shop. It was a +difficult matter to use force with Jacob, for he wore heavy nailed +boots; and if his pitchfork had been mastered, he would have +resorted without hesitation to kicks. Nothing short of using guile +to bind him hand and foot would have made all parties safe. + +"Let him stay," said David, with desperate resignation, frightened +above all things at the idea of further disturbances in his shop, +which would make his exposure all the more conspicuous. "YOU go +away again, and to-morrow I can, perhaps, get him to go to Gilsbrook +with me. He'll follow me fast enough, I daresay," he added, with a +half-groan. + +"Very well," said Jonathan, gruffly. "I don't see why YOU shouldn't +have some trouble and expense with him as well as the rest of us. +But mind you bring him back safe and soon, else mother'll never +rest." + +On this arrangement being concluded, Mr. Prettyman begged Mr. +Jonathan Faux to go and take a snack with him, an invitation which +was quite acceptable; and as honest Jonathan had nothing to be +ashamed of, it is probable that he was very frank in his +communications to the civil draper, who, pursuing the benefit of the +parish, hastened to make all the information he could gather about +Freely common parochial property. You may imagine that the meeting +of the Club at the Woolpack that evening was unusually lively. +Every member was anxious to prove that he had never liked Freely, as +he called himself. Faux was his name, was it? Fox would have been +more suitable. The majority expressed a desire to see him hooted +out of the town. + +Mr. Freely did not venture over his door-sill that day, for he knew +Jacob would keep at his side, and there was every probability that +they would have a train of juvenile followers. He sent to engage +the Woolpack gig for an early hour the next morning; but this order +was not kept religiously a secret by the landlord. Mr. Freely was +informed that he could not have the gig till seven; and the +Grimworth people were early risers. Perhaps they were more alert +than usual on this particular morning; for when Jacob, with a bag of +sweets in his hand, was induced to mount the gig with his brother +David, the inhabitants of the market-place were looking out of their +doors and windows, and at the turning of the street there was even a +muster of apprentices and schoolboys, who shouted as they passed in +what Jacob took to be a very merry and friendly way, nodding and +grinning in return. "Huzzay, David Faux! how's your uncle?" was +their morning's greeting. Like other pointed things, it was not +altogether impromptu. + +Even this public derision was not so crushing to David as the +horrible thought that though he might succeed now in getting Jacob +home again there would never be any security against his coming +back, like a wasp to the honey-pot. As long as David lived at +Grimworth, Jacob's return would be hanging over him. But could he +go on living at Grimworth--an object of ridicule, discarded by the +Palfreys, after having revelled in the consciousness that he was an +envied and prosperous confectioner? David liked to be envied; he +minded less about being loved. + +His doubts on this point were soon settled. The mind of Grimworth +became obstinately set against him and his viands, and the new +school being finished, the eating-room was closed. If there had +been no other reason, sympathy with the Palfreys, that respectable +family who had lived in the parish time out of mind, would have +determined all well-to-do people to decline Freely's goods. +Besides, he had absconded with his mother's guineas: who knew what +else he had done, in Jamaica or elsewhere, before he came to +Grimworth, worming himself into families under false pretences? +Females shuddered. Dreadful suspicions gathered round him: his +green eyes, his bow-legs had a criminal aspect. The rector disliked +the sight of a man who had imposed upon him; and all boys who could +not afford to purchase, hooted "David Faux" as they passed his shop. +Certainly no man now would pay anything for the "goodwill" of Mr. +Freely's business, and he would be obliged to quit it without a +peculium so desirable towards defraying the expense of moving. + +In a few months the shop in the marketplace was again to let, and +Mr. David Faux, alias Mr. Edward Freely, had gone--nobody at +Grimworth knew whither. In this way the demoralization of Grimworth +women was checked. Young Mrs. Steene renewed her efforts to make +light mince-pies, and having at last made a batch so excellent that +Mr. Steene looked at her with complacency as he ate them, and said +they were the best he had ever eaten in his life, she thought less +of bulbuls and renegades ever after. The secrets of the finer +cookery were revived in the breasts of matronly house-wives, and +daughters were again anxious to be initiated in them. + +You will further, I hope, be glad to bear, that some purchases of +drapery made by pretty Penny, in preparation for her marriage with +Mr. Freely, came in quite as well for her wedding with young Towers +as if they had been made expressly for the latter occasion. For +Penny's complexion had not altered, and blue always became it best. + +Here ends the story of Mr. David Faux, confectioner, and his brother +Jacob. And we see in it, I think, an admirable instance of the +unexpected forms in which the great Nemesis hides herself. + +(1860) + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Brother Jacob, by George Eliot + diff --git a/old/brjcb10.zip b/old/brjcb10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ed14e2d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/brjcb10.zip |