“And did you give it?” interrupted I.
“Stop a moment, sir, and you shall hear.
I wrote down the address of that large school at Kensington,
which we pass when we go to Mr Aubrey White’s.”
“What, that tremendous large board with yellow
letters—Mrs Let—what is it?”
“Mrs Lipscombe’s seminary—I
always read the board every time I go up and down.
I gave him the address, Miss Johnson, at Mrs Lipscombe’s
seminary, Kensington. Well—and here’s
the ten-pound note, sir, which I have fairly earned.”
“Fairly earned, Tim?”
“Yes, fairly earned; for it’s all fair
to cheat those who would cheat you.’
“I cannot altogether agree with you on that
point, Tim, but it certainly is no more than they
deserve; but this is matter for reflection. Why
should Melchior wish to find out her address without
my knowledge?—depend upon it, there is
something wrong.”
“That’s what I said to myself coming home;
and I made up my mind, that, for some reason or another,
he wishes to regain possession of her.”
“I entertain the same idea, Timothy, and I am
glad you have disappointed him. I will take care
that they shall not find her out, now that I am upon
my guard.”
“But, sir, I wish to draw one good moral from
this circumstance; which is, that if you had been
served by any common footman, your interest would,
in all probability, have been sacrificed to the ten-pound
note; and that not only in this instance, but in many
others, I did a very wise thing in taking my present
situation.”
“I am but too well aware of that, Tim, my dear
fellow,” said I, extending my hand, “and
depend upon it, that if I rise, you do. You know
me well enough by this time.”
“Yes, I do, Japhet, and had rather serve you
than the first nobleman in the land. I’m
going to purchase a watch with this ten-pound note,
and I never shall look at it without remembering the
advantage of keeping a watch over my tongue.”
I fall very much in
love with honesty because I find that it is
well received in the
world—and to prove my honesty, inform the
whole world that honest
I have never been.
I proved the will of Major Carbonnell, in which there
was no difficulty; and then I sat down to consider
in what way I might best husband my resources.
The house was in good repair, and well furnished.
At the time that I lived with the Major, we had our
drawing-room, and his bedroom, and another room equally
large, used as his dressing-room, on the first floor.
The second floor was appropriated to me, and the sitting-room
was used as a dining-room when we dined at home, which
was but seldom. The basement was let as a shop,
at one hundred pounds per annum, but we had a private
door for entrance, and the kitchens and attics.
I resolved to retain only the first floor, and let
the remainder of the house; and I very soon got a
tenant at sixty pounds per annum. The attics were
appropriated to Timothy and the servants belonging
to the lodger.
