Next morning, after breakfast, I entered on school life again. I went,accompanied by Mr. Wickfield, to the scene of my future studies--a gravebuilding in a courtyard, with a learned air about it that seemed verywell suited to the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from theCathedral towers to walk with a clerkly bearing on the grass-plot--andwas introduced to my new master, Doctor Strong.

Doctor Strong looked almost as rusty, to my thinking, as the tall ironrails and gates outside the house; and almost as stiff and heavy as thegreat stone urns that flanked them, and were set up, on the top ofthe red-brick wall, at regular distances all round the court, likesublimated skittles, for Time to play at. He was in his library (I meanDoctor Strong was), with his clothes not particularly well brushed, andhis hair not particularly well combed; his knee-smalls unbraced; hislong black gaiters unbuttoned; and his shoes yawning like two caverns onthe hearth-rug. Turning upon me a lustreless eye, that reminded me ofa long-forgotten blind old horse who once used to crop the grass, andtumble over the graves, in Blunderstone churchyard, he said he was gladto see me: and then he gave me his hand; which I didn't know what to dowith, as it did nothing for itself.

But, sitting at work, not far from Doctor Strong, was a very prettyyoung lady--whom he called Annie, and who was his daughter, Isupposed--who got me out of my difficulty by kneeling down to put DoctorStrong's shoes on, and button his gaiters, which she did with greatcheerfulness and quickness. When she had finished, and we were goingout to the schoolroom, I was much surprised to hear Mr. Wickfield,in bidding her good morning, address her as 'Mrs. Strong'; and I waswondering could she be Doctor Strong's son's wife, or could she be Mrs.Doctor Strong, when Doctor Strong himself unconsciously enlightened me.

'By the by, Wickfield,' he said, stopping in a passage with his hand onmy shoulder; 'you have not found any suitable provision for my wife'scousin yet?'

'No,' said Mr. Wickfield. 'No. Not yet.'

'I could wish it done as soon as it can be done, Wickfield,' saidDoctor Strong, 'for Jack Maldon is needy, and idle; and of those twobad things, worse things sometimes come. What does Doctor Watts say,' headded, looking at me, and moving his head to the time of his quotation,'"Satan finds some mischief still, for idle hands to do."'

'Egad, Doctor,' returned Mr. Wickfield, 'if Doctor Watts knew mankind,he might have written, with as much truth, "Satan finds some mischiefstill, for busy hands to do." The busy people achieve their full shareof mischief in the world, you may rely upon it. What have the peoplebeen about, who have been the busiest in getting money, and in gettingpower, this century or two? No mischief?'

'Jack Maldon will never be very busy in getting either, I expect,' saidDoctor Strong, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

'Perhaps not,' said Mr. Wickfield; 'and you bring me back to thequestion, with an apology for digressing. No, I have not been ableto dispose of Mr. Jack Maldon yet. I believe,' he said this with somehesitation, 'I penetrate your motive, and it makes the thing moredifficult.'

'My motive,' returned Doctor Strong, 'is to make some suitable provisionfor a cousin, and an old playfellow, of Annie's.'

'Yes, I know,' said Mr. Wickfield; 'at home or abroad.'

'Aye!' replied the Doctor, apparently wondering why he emphasized thosewords so much. 'At home or abroad.'

'Your own expression, you know,' said Mr. Wickfield. 'Or abroad.'

'Surely,' the Doctor answered. 'Surely. One or other.'

'One or other? Have you no choice?' asked Mr. Wickfield.

'No,' returned the Doctor.

'No?' with astonishment.

'Not the least.'

'No motive,' said Mr. Wickfield, 'for meaning abroad, and not at home?'

'No,' returned the Doctor.

'I am bound to believe you, and of course I do believe you,' said Mr.Wickfield. 'It might have simplified my office very much, if I had knownit before. But I confess I entertained another impression.'

Doctor Strong regarded him with a puzzled and doubting look,which almost immediately subsided into a smile that gave me greatencouragement; for it was full of amiability and sweetness, and therewas a simplicity in it, and indeed in his whole manner, when thestudious, pondering frost upon it was got through, very attractive andhopeful to a young scholar like me. Repeating 'no', and 'not the least',and other short assurances to the same purport, Doctor Strong joggedon before us, at a queer, uneven pace; and we followed: Mr. Wickfield,looking grave, I observed, and shaking his head to himself, withoutknowing that I saw him.

The schoolroom was a pretty large hall, on the quietest side of thehouse, confronted by the stately stare of some half-dozen of the greaturns, and commanding a peep of an old secluded garden belonging to theDoctor, where the peaches were ripening on the sunny south wall. Therewere two great aloes, in tubs, on the turf outside the windows; thebroad hard leaves of which plant (looking as if they were made ofpainted tin) have ever since, by association, been symbolical to meof silence and retirement. About five-and-twenty boys were studiouslyengaged at their books when we went in, but they rose to give the Doctorgood morning, and remained standing when they saw Mr. Wickfield and me.

'A new boy, young gentlemen,' said the Doctor; 'Trotwood Copperfield.'

One Adams, who was the head-boy, then stepped out of his place andwelcomed me. He looked like a young clergyman, in his white cravat, buthe was very affable and good-humoured; and he showed me my place, andpresented me to the masters, in a gentlemanly way that would have put meat my ease, if anything could.

It seemed to me so long, however, since I had been among such boys,or among any companions of my own age, except Mick Walker and MealyPotatoes, that I felt as strange as ever I have done in my life. I wasso conscious of having passed through scenes of which they could haveno knowledge, and of having acquired experiences foreign to my age,appearance, and condition as one of them, that I half believed it was animposture to come there as an ordinary little schoolboy. I had become,in the Murdstone and Grinby time, however short or long it may havebeen, so unused to the sports and games of boys, that I knew I wasawkward and inexperienced in the commonest things belonging to them.Whatever I had learnt, had so slipped away from me in the sordid caresof my life from day to night, that now, when I was examined about whatI knew, I knew nothing, and was put into the lowest form of the school.But, troubled as I was, by my want of boyish skill, and of book-learningtoo, I was made infinitely more uncomfortable by the consideration,that, in what I did know, I was much farther removed from my companionsthan in what I did not. My mind ran upon what they would think, if theyknew of my familiar acquaintance with the King's Bench Prison? Was thereanything about me which would reveal my proceedings in connexion withthe Micawber family--all those pawnings, and sellings, and suppers--inspite of myself? Suppose some of the boys had seen me coming throughCanterbury, wayworn and ragged, and should find me out? What would theysay, who made so light of money, if they could know how I had scraped myhalfpence together, for the purchase of my daily saveloy and beer, ormy slices of pudding? How would it affect them, who were so innocent ofLondon life, and London streets, to discover how knowing I was (and wasashamed to be) in some of the meanest phases of both? All this ran inmy head so much, on that first day at Doctor Strong's, that I feltdistrustful of my slightest look and gesture; shrunk within myselfwhensoever I was approached by one of my new schoolfellows; and hurriedoff the minute school was over, afraid of committing myself in myresponse to any friendly notice or advance.

But there was such an influence in Mr. Wickfield's old house, that whenI knocked at it, with my new school-books under my arm, I began to feelmy uneasiness softening away. As I went up to my airy old room, thegrave shadow of the staircase seemed to fall upon my doubts and fears,and to make the past more indistinct. I sat there, sturdily conning mybooks, until dinner-time (we were out of school for good at three); andwent down, hopeful of becoming a passable sort of boy yet.

Agnes was in the drawing-room, waiting for her father, who was detainedby someone in his office. She met me with her pleasant smile, and askedme how I liked the school. I told her I should like it very much, Ihoped; but I was a little strange to it at first.

'You have never been to school,' I said, 'have you?' 'Oh yes! Everyday.'

'Ah, but you mean here, at your own home?'

'Papa couldn't spare me to go anywhere else,' she answered, smiling andshaking her head. 'His housekeeper must be in his house, you know.'

'He is very fond of you, I am sure,' I said.

She nodded 'Yes,' and went to the door to listen for his coming up, thatshe might meet him on the stairs. But, as he was not there, she cameback again.

'Mama has been dead ever since I was born,' she said, in her quiet way.'I only know her picture, downstairs. I saw you looking at it yesterday.Did you think whose it was?'

I told her yes, because it was so like herself.

'Papa says so, too,' said Agnes, pleased. 'Hark! That's papa now!'

Her bright calm face lighted up with pleasure as she went to meet him,and as they came in, hand in hand. He greeted me cordially; and toldme I should certainly be happy under Doctor Strong, who was one of thegentlest of men.

'There may be some, perhaps--I don't know that there are--who abusehis kindness,' said Mr. Wickfield. 'Never be one of those, Trotwood, inanything. He is the least suspicious of mankind; and whether that'sa merit, or whether it's a blemish, it deserves consideration in alldealings with the Doctor, great or small.'

He spoke, I thought, as if he were weary, or dissatisfied withsomething; but I did not pursue the question in my mind, for dinner wasjust then announced, and we went down and took the same seats as before.

We had scarcely done so, when Uriah Heep put in his red head and hislank hand at the door, and said:

'Here's Mr. Maldon begs the favour of a word, sir.'

'I am but this moment quit of Mr. Maldon,' said his master.

'Yes, sir,' returned Uriah; 'but Mr. Maldon has come back, and he begsthe favour of a word.'

As he held the door open with his hand, Uriah looked at me, and lookedat Agnes, and looked at the dishes, and looked at the plates, and lookedat every object in the room, I thought,--yet seemed to look at nothing;he made such an appearance all the while of keeping his red eyesdutifully on his master. 'I beg your pardon. It's only to say, onreflection,' observed a voice behind Uriah, as Uriah's head waspushed away, and the speaker's substituted--'pray excuse me for thisintrusion--that as it seems I have no choice in the matter, the soonerI go abroad the better. My cousin Annie did say, when we talked of it,that she liked to have her friends within reach rather than to have thembanished, and the old Doctor--'

'Doctor Strong, was that?' Mr. Wickfield interposed, gravely.

'Doctor Strong, of course,' returned the other; 'I call him the oldDoctor; it's all the same, you know.'

'I don't know,' returned Mr. Wickfield.

'Well, Doctor Strong,' said the other--'Doctor Strong was of the samemind, I believed. But as it appears from the course you take with me hehas changed his mind, why there's no more to be said, except that thesooner I am off, the better. Therefore, I thought I'd come back and say,that the sooner I am off the better. When a plunge is to be made intothe water, it's of no use lingering on the bank.'

'There shall be as little lingering as possible, in your case, Mr.Maldon, you may depend upon it,' said Mr. Wickfield.

'Thank'ee,' said the other. 'Much obliged. I don't want to look agift-horse in the mouth, which is not a gracious thing to do; otherwise,I dare say, my cousin Annie could easily arrange it in her own way. Isuppose Annie would only have to say to the old Doctor--'

'Meaning that Mrs. Strong would only have to say to her husband--do Ifollow you?' said Mr. Wickfield.

'Quite so,' returned the other, '--would only have to say, that shewanted such and such a thing to be so and so; and it would be so and so,as a matter of course.'

'And why as a matter of course, Mr. Maldon?' asked Mr. Wickfield,sedately eating his dinner.

'Why, because Annie's a charming young girl, and the old Doctor--DoctorStrong, I mean--is not quite a charming young boy,' said Mr. JackMaldon, laughing. 'No offence to anybody, Mr. Wickfield. I only meanthat I suppose some compensation is fair and reasonable in that sort ofmarriage.'

'Compensation to the lady, sir?' asked Mr. Wickfield gravely.

'To the lady, sir,' Mr. Jack Maldon answered, laughing. But appearingto remark that Mr. Wickfield went on with his dinner in the same sedate,immovable manner, and that there was no hope of making him relax amuscle of his face, he added: 'However, I have said what I came to say,and, with another apology for this intrusion, I may take myself off. Ofcourse I shall observe your directions, in considering the matter as oneto be arranged between you and me solely, and not to be referred to, upat the Doctor's.'

'Have you dined?' asked Mr. Wickfield, with a motion of his hand towardsthe table.

'Thank'ee. I am going to dine,' said Mr. Maldon, 'with my cousin Annie.Good-bye!'

Mr. Wickfield, without rising, looked after him thoughtfully as he wentout. He was rather a shallow sort of young gentleman, I thought, witha handsome face, a rapid utterance, and a confident, bold air. And thiswas the first I ever saw of Mr. Jack Maldon; whom I had not expected tosee so soon, when I heard the Doctor speak of him that morning.

When we had dined, we went upstairs again, where everything went onexactly as on the previous day. Agnes set the glasses and decanters inthe same corner, and Mr. Wickfield sat down to drink, and drank a gooddeal. Agnes played the piano to him, sat by him, and worked and talked,and played some games at dominoes with me. In good time she made tea;and afterwards, when I brought down my books, looked into them, andshowed me what she knew of them (which was no slight matter, though shesaid it was), and what was the best way to learn and understand them.I see her, with her modest, orderly, placid manner, and I hear herbeautiful calm voice, as I write these words. The influence for allgood, which she came to exercise over me at a later time, beginsalready to descend upon my breast. I love little Em'ly, and I don't loveAgnes--no, not at all in that way--but I feel that there are goodness,peace, and truth, wherever Agnes is; and that the soft light of thecoloured window in the church, seen long ago, falls on her always, andon me when I am near her, and on everything around.

The time having come for her withdrawal for the night, and she havingleft us, I gave Mr. Wickfield my hand, preparatory to going away myself.But he checked me and said: 'Should you like to stay with us, Trotwood,or to go elsewhere?'

'To stay,' I answered, quickly.

'You are sure?'

'If you please. If I may!'

'Why, it's but a dull life that we lead here, boy, I am afraid,' hesaid.

'Not more dull for me than Agnes, sir. Not dull at all!'

'Than Agnes,' he repeated, walking slowly to the great chimney-piece,and leaning against it. 'Than Agnes!'

He had drank wine that evening (or I fancied it), until his eyes werebloodshot. Not that I could see them now, for they were cast down, andshaded by his hand; but I had noticed them a little while before.

'Now I wonder,' he muttered, 'whether my Agnes tires of me. When shouldI ever tire of her! But that's different, that's quite different.'

He was musing, not speaking to me; so I remained quiet.

'A dull old house,' he said, 'and a monotonous life; but I must haveher near me. I must keep her near me. If the thought that I may die andleave my darling, or that my darling may die and leave me, comes like aspectre, to distress my happiest hours, and is only to be drowned in--'

He did not supply the word; but pacing slowly to the place where he hadsat, and mechanically going through the action of pouring wine from theempty decanter, set it down and paced back again.

'If it is miserable to bear, when she is here,' he said, 'what would itbe, and she away? No, no, no. I cannot try that.'

He leaned against the chimney-piece, brooding so long that I could notdecide whether to run the risk of disturbing him by going, or to remainquietly where I was, until he should come out of his reverie. At lengthhe aroused himself, and looked about the room until his eyes encounteredmine.

'Stay with us, Trotwood, eh?' he said in his usual manner, and as ifhe were answering something I had just said. 'I am glad of it. You arecompany to us both. It is wholesome to have you here. Wholesome for me,wholesome for Agnes, wholesome perhaps for all of us.'

'I am sure it is for me, sir,' I said. 'I am so glad to be here.'

'That's a fine fellow!' said Mr. Wickfield. 'As long as you are gladto be here, you shall stay here.' He shook hands with me upon it, andclapped me on the back; and told me that when I had anything to doat night after Agnes had left us, or when I wished to read for my ownpleasure, I was free to come down to his room, if he were there and ifI desired it for company's sake, and to sit with him. I thanked him forhis consideration; and, as he went down soon afterwards, and I wasnot tired, went down too, with a book in my hand, to avail myself, forhalf-an-hour, of his permission.

But, seeing a light in the little round office, and immediately feelingmyself attracted towards Uriah Heep, who had a sort of fascination forme, I went in there instead. I found Uriah reading a great fat book,with such demonstrative attention, that his lank forefinger followed upevery line as he read, and made clammy tracks along the page (or so Ifully believed) like a snail.

'You are working late tonight, Uriah,' says I.

'Yes, Master Copperfield,' says Uriah.

As I was getting on the stool opposite, to talk to him moreconveniently, I observed that he had not such a thing as a smile abouthim, and that he could only widen his mouth and make two hard creasesdown his cheeks, one on each side, to stand for one.

'I am not doing office-work, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah.

'What work, then?' I asked.

'I am improving my legal knowledge, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah. 'Iam going through Tidd's Practice. Oh, what a writer Mr. Tidd is, MasterCopperfield!'

My stool was such a tower of observation, that as I watched him readingon again, after this rapturous exclamation, and following up the lineswith his forefinger, I observed that his nostrils, which were thin andpointed, with sharp dints in them, had a singular and most uncomfortableway of expanding and contracting themselves--that they seemed to twinkleinstead of his eyes, which hardly ever twinkled at all.

'I suppose you are quite a great lawyer?' I said, after looking at himfor some time.

'Me, Master Copperfield?' said Uriah. 'Oh, no! I'm a very umble person.'

It was no fancy of mine about his hands, I observed; for he frequentlyground the palms against each other as if to squeeze them dry andwarm, besides often wiping them, in a stealthy way, on hispocket-handkerchief.

'I am well aware that I am the umblest person going,' said Uriah Heep,modestly; 'let the other be where he may. My mother is likewise a veryumble person. We live in a numble abode, Master Copperfield, but havemuch to be thankful for. My father's former calling was umble. He was asexton.'

'What is he now?' I asked.

'He is a partaker of glory at present, Master Copperfield,' said UriahHeep. 'But we have much to be thankful for. How much have I to bethankful for in living with Mr. Wickfield!'

I asked Uriah if he had been with Mr. Wickfield long?

'I have been with him, going on four year, Master Copperfield,' saidUriah; shutting up his book, after carefully marking the place where hehad left off. 'Since a year after my father's death. How much have Ito be thankful for, in that! How much have I to be thankful for, in Mr.Wickfield's kind intention to give me my articles, which would otherwisenot lay within the umble means of mother and self!'

'Then, when your articled time is over, you'll be a regular lawyer, Isuppose?' said I.

'With the blessing of Providence, Master Copperfield,' returned Uriah.

'Perhaps you'll be a partner in Mr. Wickfield's business, one of thesedays,' I said, to make myself agreeable; 'and it will be Wickfield andHeep, or Heep late Wickfield.'

'Oh no, Master Copperfield,' returned Uriah, shaking his head, 'I ammuch too umble for that!'

He certainly did look uncommonly like the carved face on the beamoutside my window, as he sat, in his humility, eyeing me sideways, withhis mouth widened, and the creases in his cheeks.

'Mr. Wickfield is a most excellent man, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah.'If you have known him long, you know it, I am sure, much better than Ican inform you.'

I replied that I was certain he was; but that I had not known him longmyself, though he was a friend of my aunt's.

'Oh, indeed, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah. 'Your aunt is a sweetlady, Master Copperfield!'

He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which wasvery ugly; and which diverted my attention from the compliment he hadpaid my relation, to the snaky twistings of his throat and body.

'A sweet lady, Master Copperfield!' said Uriah Heep. 'She has a greatadmiration for Miss Agnes, Master Copperfield, I believe?'

I said, 'Yes,' boldly; not that I knew anything about it, Heaven forgiveme!

'I hope you have, too, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah. 'But I am sureyou must have.'

'Everybody must have,' I returned.

'Oh, thank you, Master Copperfield,' said Uriah Heep, 'for that remark!It is so true! Umble as I am, I know it is so true! Oh, thank you,Master Copperfield!' He writhed himself quite off his stool in theexcitement of his feelings, and, being off, began to make arrangementsfor going home.

'Mother will be expecting me,' he said, referring to a pale,inexpressive-faced watch in his pocket, 'and getting uneasy; for thoughwe are very umble, Master Copperfield, we are much attached to oneanother. If you would come and see us, any afternoon, and take a cup oftea at our lowly dwelling, mother would be as proud of your company as Ishould be.'

I said I should be glad to come.

'Thank you, Master Copperfield,' returned Uriah, putting his bookaway upon the shelf--'I suppose you stop here, some time, MasterCopperfield?'

I said I was going to be brought up there, I believed, as long as Iremained at school.

'Oh, indeed!' exclaimed Uriah. 'I should think YOU would come into thebusiness at last, Master Copperfield!'

I protested that I had no views of that sort, and that no such schemewas entertained in my behalf by anybody; but Uriah insisted on blandlyreplying to all my assurances, 'Oh, yes, Master Copperfield, I shouldthink you would, indeed!' and, 'Oh, indeed, Master Copperfield, I shouldthink you would, certainly!' over and over again. Being, at last, readyto leave the office for the night, he asked me if it would suit myconvenience to have the light put out; and on my answering 'Yes,'instantly extinguished it. After shaking hands with me--his hand feltlike a fish, in the dark--he opened the door into the street a verylittle, and crept out, and shut it, leaving me to grope my way back intothe house: which cost me some trouble and a fall over his stool. Thiswas the proximate cause, I suppose, of my dreaming about him, for whatappeared to me to be half the night; and dreaming, among other things,that he had launched Mr. Peggotty's house on a piratical expedition,with a black flag at the masthead, bearing the inscription 'Tidd'sPractice', under which diabolical ensign he was carrying me and littleEm'ly to the Spanish Main, to be drowned.

I got a little the better of my uneasiness when I went to schoolnext day, and a good deal the better next day, and so shook it off bydegrees, that in less than a fortnight I was quite at home, and happy,among my new companions. I was awkward enough in their games, andbackward enough in their studies; but custom would improve me in thefirst respect, I hoped, and hard work in the second. Accordingly, Iwent to work very hard, both in play and in earnest, and gained greatcommendation. And, in a very little while, the Murdstone and Grinby lifebecame so strange to me that I hardly believed in it, while my presentlife grew so familiar, that I seemed to have been leading it a longtime.

Doctor Strong's was an excellent school; as different from Mr. Creakle'sas good is from evil. It was very gravely and decorously ordered, andon a sound system; with an appeal, in everything, to the honour and goodfaith of the boys, and an avowed intention to rely on their possessionof those qualities unless they proved themselves unworthy of it, whichworked wonders. We all felt that we had a part in the management ofthe place, and in sustaining its character and dignity. Hence, we soonbecame warmly attached to it--I am sure I did for one, and I never knew,in all my time, of any other boy being otherwise--and learnt with a goodwill, desiring to do it credit. We had noble games out of hours, andplenty of liberty; but even then, as I remember, we were well spoken ofin the town, and rarely did any disgrace, by our appearance or manner,to the reputation of Doctor Strong and Doctor Strong's boys.

Some of the higher scholars boarded in the Doctor's house, and throughthem I learned, at second hand, some particulars of the Doctor'shistory--as, how he had not yet been married twelve months to thebeautiful young lady I had seen in the study, whom he had married forlove; for she had not a sixpence, and had a world of poor relations (soour fellows said) ready to swarm the Doctor out of house and home. Also,how the Doctor's cogitating manner was attributable to his being alwaysengaged in looking out for Greek roots; which, in my innocence andignorance, I supposed to be a botanical furor on the Doctor's part,especially as he always looked at the ground when he walked about,until I understood that they were roots of words, with a view to a newDictionary which he had in contemplation. Adams, our head-boy, who hada turn for mathematics, had made a calculation, I was informed, of thetime this Dictionary would take in completing, on the Doctor's plan, andat the Doctor's rate of going. He considered that it might be donein one thousand six hundred and forty-nine years, counting from theDoctor's last, or sixty-second, birthday.

But the Doctor himself was the idol of the whole school: and it musthave been a badly composed school if he had been anything else, forhe was the kindest of men; with a simple faith in him that might havetouched the stone hearts of the very urns upon the wall. As he walked upand down that part of the courtyard which was at the side of the house,with the stray rooks and jackdaws looking after him with their headscocked slyly, as if they knew how much more knowing they were in worldlyaffairs than he, if any sort of vagabond could only get near enough tohis creaking shoes to attract his attention to one sentence of a taleof distress, that vagabond was made for the next two days. It was sonotorious in the house, that the masters and head-boys took pains to cutthese marauders off at angles, and to get out of windows, and turn themout of the courtyard, before they could make the Doctor aware of theirpresence; which was sometimes happily effected within a few yards ofhim, without his knowing anything of the matter, as he jogged to andfro. Outside his own domain, and unprotected, he was a very sheep forthe shearers. He would have taken his gaiters off his legs, to giveaway. In fact, there was a story current among us (I have no idea, andnever had, on what authority, but I have believed it for so manyyears that I feel quite certain it is true), that on a frosty day, onewinter-time, he actually did bestow his gaiters on a beggar-woman, whooccasioned some scandal in the neighbourhood by exhibiting a fine infantfrom door to door, wrapped in those garments, which were universallyrecognized, being as well known in the vicinity as the Cathedral. Thelegend added that the only person who did not identify them was theDoctor himself, who, when they were shortly afterwards displayed at thedoor of a little second-hand shop of no very good repute, where suchthings were taken in exchange for gin, was more than once observed tohandle them approvingly, as if admiring some curious novelty in thepattern, and considering them an improvement on his own.

It was very pleasant to see the Doctor with his pretty young wife. Hehad a fatherly, benignant way of showing his fondness for her, whichseemed in itself to express a good man. I often saw them walking in thegarden where the peaches were, and I sometimes had a nearer observationof them in the study or the parlour. She appeared to me to take greatcare of the Doctor, and to like him very much, though I never thoughther vitally interested in the Dictionary: some cumbrous fragments ofwhich work the Doctor always carried in his pockets, and in the liningof his hat, and generally seemed to be expounding to her as they walkedabout.

I saw a good deal of Mrs. Strong, both because she had taken a likingfor me on the morning of my introduction to the Doctor, and was alwaysafterwards kind to me, and interested in me; and because she was veryfond of Agnes, and was often backwards and forwards at our house. Therewas a curious constraint between her and Mr. Wickfield, I thought (ofwhom she seemed to be afraid), that never wore off. When she came thereof an evening, she always shrunk from accepting his escort home, and ranaway with me instead. And sometimes, as we were running gaily acrossthe Cathedral yard together, expecting to meet nobody, we would meet Mr.Jack Maldon, who was always surprised to see us.

Mrs. Strong's mama was a lady I took great delight in. Her name was Mrs.Markleham; but our boys used to call her the Old Soldier, on account ofher generalship, and the skill with which she marshalled great forcesof relations against the Doctor. She was a little, sharp-eyed woman,who used to wear, when she was dressed, one unchangeable cap, ornamentedwith some artificial flowers, and two artificial butterflies supposedto be hovering above the flowers. There was a superstition among usthat this cap had come from France, and could only originate in theworkmanship of that ingenious nation: but all I certainly know about it,is, that it always made its appearance of an evening, wheresoever Mrs.Markleham made HER appearance; that it was carried about to friendlymeetings in a Hindoo basket; that the butterflies had the gift oftrembling constantly; and that they improved the shining hours at DoctorStrong's expense, like busy bees.

I observed the Old Soldier--not to adopt the name disrespectfully--topretty good advantage, on a night which is made memorable to me bysomething else I shall relate. It was the night of a little party at theDoctor's, which was given on the occasion of Mr. Jack Maldon's departurefor India, whither he was going as a cadet, or something of that kind:Mr. Wickfield having at length arranged the business. It happened to bethe Doctor's birthday, too. We had had a holiday, had made presents tohim in the morning, had made a speech to him through the head-boy, andhad cheered him until we were hoarse, and until he had shed tears. Andnow, in the evening, Mr. Wickfield, Agnes, and I, went to have tea withhim in his private capacity.

Mr. Jack Maldon was there, before us. Mrs. Strong, dressed in white,with cherry-coloured ribbons, was playing the piano, when we went in;and he was leaning over her to turn the leaves. The clear red andwhite of her complexion was not so blooming and flower-like as usual, Ithought, when she turned round; but she looked very pretty, Wonderfullypretty.

'I have forgotten, Doctor,' said Mrs. Strong's mama, when we wereseated, 'to pay you the compliments of the day--though they are, as youmay suppose, very far from being mere compliments in my case. Allow meto wish you many happy returns.'

'I thank you, ma'am,' replied the Doctor.

'Many, many, many, happy returns,' said the Old Soldier. 'Not onlyfor your own sake, but for Annie's, and John Maldon's, and many otherpeople's. It seems but yesterday to me, John, when you were a littlecreature, a head shorter than Master Copperfield, making baby love toAnnie behind the gooseberry bushes in the back-garden.'

'My dear mama,' said Mrs. Strong, 'never mind that now.'

'Annie, don't be absurd,' returned her mother. 'If you are to blush tohear of such things now you are an old married woman, when are you notto blush to hear of them?'

'Old?' exclaimed Mr. Jack Maldon. 'Annie? Come!'

'Yes, John,' returned the Soldier. 'Virtually, an old married woman.Although not old by years--for when did you ever hear me say, or who hasever heard me say, that a girl of twenty was old by years!--your cousinis the wife of the Doctor, and, as such, what I have described her. Itis well for you, John, that your cousin is the wife of the Doctor. Youhave found in him an influential and kind friend, who will be kinderyet, I venture to predict, if you deserve it. I have no false pride.I never hesitate to admit, frankly, that there are some members of ourfamily who want a friend. You were one yourself, before your cousin'sinfluence raised up one for you.'

The Doctor, in the goodness of his heart, waved his hand as if to makelight of it, and save Mr. Jack Maldon from any further reminder. ButMrs. Markleham changed her chair for one next the Doctor's, and puttingher fan on his coat-sleeve, said:

'No, really, my dear Doctor, you must excuse me if I appear to dwellon this rather, because I feel so very strongly. I call it quite mymonomania, it is such a subject of mine. You are a blessing to us. Youreally are a Boon, you know.'

'Nonsense, nonsense,' said the Doctor.

'No, no, I beg your pardon,' retorted the Old Soldier. 'With nobodypresent, but our dear and confidential friend Mr. Wickfield, I cannotconsent to be put down. I shall begin to assert the privileges of amother-in-law, if you go on like that, and scold you. I am perfectlyhonest and outspoken. What I am saying, is what I said when you firstoverpowered me with surprise--you remember how surprised I was?--byproposing for Annie. Not that there was anything so very much out ofthe way, in the mere fact of the proposal--it would be ridiculous to saythat!--but because, you having known her poor father, and having knownher from a baby six months old, I hadn't thought of you in such a lightat all, or indeed as a marrying man in any way,--simply that, you know.'

'Aye, aye,' returned the Doctor, good-humouredly. 'Never mind.'

'But I DO mind,' said the Old Soldier, laying her fan upon his lips. 'Imind very much. I recall these things that I may be contradicted if I amwrong. Well! Then I spoke to Annie, and I told her what had happened.I said, "My dear, here's Doctor Strong has positively been and made youthe subject of a handsome declaration and an offer." Did I press it inthe least? No. I said, "Now, Annie, tell me the truth this moment; isyour heart free?" "Mama," she said crying, "I am extremely young"--whichwas perfectly true--"and I hardly know if I have a heart at all." "Then,my dear," I said, "you may rely upon it, it's free. At all events, mylove," said I, "Doctor Strong is in an agitated state of mind, andmust be answered. He cannot be kept in his present state of suspense.""Mama," said Annie, still crying, "would he be unhappy without me? If hewould, I honour and respect him so much, that I think I will have him."So it was settled. And then, and not till then, I said to Annie, "Annie,Doctor Strong will not only be your husband, but he will represent yourlate father: he will represent the head of our family, he will representthe wisdom and station, and I may say the means, of our family; and willbe, in short, a Boon to it." I used the word at the time, and I haveused it again, today. If I have any merit it is consistency.'

The daughter had sat quite silent and still during this speech, with hereyes fixed on the ground; her cousin standing near her, and looking onthe ground too. She now said very softly, in a trembling voice:

'Mama, I hope you have finished?' 'No, my dear Annie,' returned the OldSoldier, 'I have not quite finished. Since you ask me, my love, I replythat I have not. I complain that you really are a little unnaturaltowards your own family; and, as it is of no use complaining to you. Imean to complain to your husband. Now, my dear Doctor, do look at thatsilly wife of yours.'

As the Doctor turned his kind face, with its smile of simplicity andgentleness, towards her, she drooped her head more. I noticed that Mr.Wickfield looked at her steadily.

'When I happened to say to that naughty thing, the other day,' pursuedher mother, shaking her head and her fan at her, playfully, 'that therewas a family circumstance she might mention to you--indeed, I think, wasbound to mention--she said, that to mention it was to ask a favour;and that, as you were too generous, and as for her to ask was always tohave, she wouldn't.'

'Annie, my dear,' said the Doctor. 'That was wrong. It robbed me of apleasure.'

'Almost the very words I said to her!' exclaimed her mother. 'Nowreally, another time, when I know what she would tell you but for thisreason, and won't, I have a great mind, my dear Doctor, to tell youmyself.'

'I shall be glad if you will,' returned the Doctor.

'Shall I?'

'Certainly.'

'Well, then, I will!' said the Old Soldier. 'That's a bargain.' Andhaving, I suppose, carried her point, she tapped the Doctor's handseveral times with her fan (which she kissed first), and returnedtriumphantly to her former station.

Some more company coming in, among whom were the two masters and Adams,the talk became general; and it naturally turned on Mr. Jack Maldon, andhis voyage, and the country he was going to, and his various plans andprospects. He was to leave that night, after supper, in a post-chaise,for Gravesend; where the ship, in which he was to make the voyage, lay;and was to be gone--unless he came home on leave, or for his health--Idon't know how many years. I recollect it was settled by generalconsent that India was quite a misrepresented country, and had nothingobjectionable in it, but a tiger or two, and a little heat in the warmpart of the day. For my own part, I looked on Mr. Jack Maldon as amodern Sindbad, and pictured him the bosom friend of all the Rajahs inthe East, sitting under canopies, smoking curly golden pipes--a milelong, if they could be straightened out.

Mrs. Strong was a very pretty singer: as I knew, who often heard hersinging by herself. But, whether she was afraid of singing beforepeople, or was out of voice that evening, it was certain that shecouldn't sing at all. She tried a duet, once, with her cousin Maldon,but could not so much as begin; and afterwards, when she tried to singby herself, although she began sweetly, her voice died away on a sudden,and left her quite distressed, with her head hanging down over the keys.The good Doctor said she was nervous, and, to relieve her, proposed around game at cards; of which he knew as much as of the art of playingthe trombone. But I remarked that the Old Soldier took him into custodydirectly, for her partner; and instructed him, as the first preliminaryof initiation, to give her all the silver he had in his pocket.

We had a merry game, not made the less merry by the Doctor's mistakes,of which he committed an innumerable quantity, in spite of thewatchfulness of the butterflies, and to their great aggravation. Mrs.Strong had declined to play, on the ground of not feeling very well; andher cousin Maldon had excused himself because he had some packing todo. When he had done it, however, he returned, and they sat together,talking, on the sofa. From time to time she came and looked over theDoctor's hand, and told him what to play. She was very pale, as shebent over him, and I thought her finger trembled as she pointed outthe cards; but the Doctor was quite happy in her attention, and took nonotice of this, if it were so.

At supper, we were hardly so gay. Everyone appeared to feel that aparting of that sort was an awkward thing, and that the nearer itapproached, the more awkward it was. Mr. Jack Maldon tried to be verytalkative, but was not at his ease, and made matters worse. And theywere not improved, as it appeared to me, by the Old Soldier: whocontinually recalled passages of Mr. Jack Maldon's youth.

The Doctor, however, who felt, I am sure, that he was making everybodyhappy, was well pleased, and had no suspicion but that we were all atthe utmost height of enjoyment.

'Annie, my dear,' said he, looking at his watch, and filling his glass,'it is past your cousin jack's time, and we must not detain him, sincetime and tide--both concerned in this case--wait for no man. Mr. JackMaldon, you have a long voyage, and a strange country, before you; butmany men have had both, and many men will have both, to the end of time.The winds you are going to tempt, have wafted thousands upon thousandsto fortune, and brought thousands upon thousands happily back.'

'It's an affecting thing,' said Mrs. Markleham--'however it's viewed,it's affecting, to see a fine young man one has known from an infant,going away to the other end of the world, leaving all he knows behind,and not knowing what's before him. A young man really well deservesconstant support and patronage,' looking at the Doctor, 'who makes suchsacrifices.'

'Time will go fast with you, Mr. Jack Maldon,' pursued the Doctor,'and fast with all of us. Some of us can hardly expect, perhaps, in thenatural course of things, to greet you on your return. The next bestthing is to hope to do it, and that's my case. I shall not weary youwith good advice. You have long had a good model before you, in yourcousin Annie. Imitate her virtues as nearly as you can.'

Mrs. Markleham fanned herself, and shook her head.

'Farewell, Mr. Jack,' said the Doctor, standing up; on which we allstood up. 'A prosperous voyage out, a thriving career abroad, and ahappy return home!'

We all drank the toast, and all shook hands with Mr. Jack Maldon; afterwhich he hastily took leave of the ladies who were there, and hurriedto the door, where he was received, as he got into the chaise, with atremendous broadside of cheers discharged by our boys, who had assembledon the lawn for the purpose. Running in among them to swell the ranks,I was very near the chaise when it rolled away; and I had a livelyimpression made upon me, in the midst of the noise and dust, of havingseen Mr. Jack Maldon rattle past with an agitated face, and somethingcherry-coloured in his hand.

After another broadside for the Doctor, and another for the Doctor'swife, the boys dispersed, and I went back into the house, where I foundthe guests all standing in a group about the Doctor, discussing how Mr.Jack Maldon had gone away, and how he had borne it, and how he hadfelt it, and all the rest of it. In the midst of these remarks, Mrs.Markleham cried: 'Where's Annie?'

No Annie was there; and when they called to her, no Annie replied. Butall pressing out of the room, in a crowd, to see what was the matter, wefound her lying on the hall floor. There was great alarm at first, untilit was found that she was in a swoon, and that the swoon was yieldingto the usual means of recovery; when the Doctor, who had lifted herhead upon his knee, put her curls aside with his hand, and said, lookingaround:

'Poor Annie! She's so faithful and tender-hearted! It's the parting fromher old playfellow and friend--her favourite cousin--that has done this.Ah! It's a pity! I am very sorry!'

When she opened her eyes, and saw where she was, and that we were allstanding about her, she arose with assistance: turning her head, as shedid so, to lay it on the Doctor's shoulder--or to hide it, I don't knowwhich. We went into the drawing-room, to leave her with the Doctor andher mother; but she said, it seemed, that she was better than she hadbeen since morning, and that she would rather be brought among us; sothey brought her in, looking very white and weak, I thought, and sat heron a sofa.

'Annie, my dear,' said her mother, doing something to her dress. 'Seehere! You have lost a bow. Will anybody be so good as find a ribbon; acherry-coloured ribbon?'

It was the one she had worn at her bosom. We all looked for it; I myselflooked everywhere, I am certain--but nobody could find it.

'Do you recollect where you had it last, Annie?' said her mother.

I wondered how I could have thought she looked white, or anything butburning red, when she answered that she had had it safe, a little whileago, she thought, but it was not worth looking for.

Nevertheless, it was looked for again, and still not found. Sheentreated that there might be no more searching; but it was still soughtfor, in a desultory way, until she was quite well, and the company tooktheir departure.

We walked very slowly home, Mr. Wickfield, Agnes, and I--Agnes and Iadmiring the moonlight, and Mr. Wickfield scarcely raising his eyes fromthe ground. When we, at last, reached our own door, Agnes discoveredthat she had left her little reticule behind. Delighted to be of anyservice to her, I ran back to fetch it.

I went into the supper-room where it had been left, which was desertedand dark. But a door of communication between that and the Doctor'sstudy, where there was a light, being open, I passed on there, to saywhat I wanted, and to get a candle.

The Doctor was sitting in his easy-chair by the fireside, and his youngwife was on a stool at his feet. The Doctor, with a complacent smile,was reading aloud some manuscript explanation or statement of a theoryout of that interminable Dictionary, and she was looking up at him. Butwith such a face as I never saw. It was so beautiful in its form, it wasso ashy pale, it was so fixed in its abstraction, it was so full of awild, sleep-walking, dreamy horror of I don't know what. The eyeswere wide open, and her brown hair fell in two rich clusters on hershoulders, and on her white dress, disordered by the want of the lostribbon. Distinctly as I recollect her look, I cannot say of what it wasexpressive, I cannot even say of what it is expressive to me now, risingagain before my older judgement. Penitence, humiliation, shame, pride,love, and trustfulness--I see them all; and in them all, I see thathorror of I don't know what.

My entrance, and my saying what I wanted, roused her. It disturbed theDoctor too, for when I went back to replace the candle I had taken fromthe table, he was patting her head, in his fatherly way, and saying hewas a merciless drone to let her tempt him into reading on; and he wouldhave her go to bed.

But she asked him, in a rapid, urgent manner, to let her stay--to lether feel assured (I heard her murmur some broken words to this effect)that she was in his confidence that night. And, as she turned againtowards him, after glancing at me as I left the room and went out at thedoor, I saw her cross her hands upon his knee, and look up at him withthe same face, something quieted, as he resumed his reading.

It made a great impression on me, and I remembered it a long timeafterwards; as I shall have occasion to narrate when the time comes.