Cecilia now began to repent she had made known the
purport of her visit, for she found it would be utterly
impossible to accommodate either her mind or her person
to a residence such as was here to be obtained and
she only wished Mr Monckton had been present, that
he might himself be convinced of the impracticability
of his scheme. Her whole business, therefore,
now, was to retract her offer, and escape from the
house.
“I see, Sir,” said she, when he turned
from his servant, “that I cannot be received
here without inconvenience, and therefore I will make
some new arrangement in my plan.”
“No, no,” cried he, “like to have
you, ’tis but fair, all in our turn; won’t
be chorused; Master Harrel’s had his share.
Sorry could not get you that sweetheart! would not
bite; soon find out another; never fret.”
“But there are so many things with which I cannot
possibly dispense,” said Cecilia, “that
I am certain my removing hither would occasion you
far more trouble than you at present foresee.”
“No, no; get all in order soon: go about
myself; know how to bid; understand trap; always go
shabby; no making a bargain in a good coat. Look
sharp at the goods; say they won’t do; come away;
send somebody else for ’em. Never go twice
myself; nothing got cheap if one seems to have a hankering.”
“But I am sure it is not possible,” said
Cecilia, hurrying down stairs, “that my room,
and one for each of my servants, should be ready in
time.”
“Yes, yes,” cried he, following her, “ready
in a trice. Make a little shift at first; double
the blanket till we get another; lie with the maid
a night or two; never stand for a trifle.”
And, when she was seated in her chair, the whole time
disclaiming her intention of returning, he only pinched
her cheek with a facetious smirk, and said, “By,
by, little duck; come again soon. Warrant I’ll
have the room ready. Sha’n’t half
know it again; make it as smart as a carrot.”
And then she left the house; fully satisfied that
no one could blame her refusing to inhabit it, and
much less chagrined than she was willing to suppose
herself, in finding she had now no resource but in
the Delviles.
Yet, in her serious reflections, she could not but
think herself strangely unfortunate that the guardian
with whom alone it seemed proper for her to reside,
should by parsimony, vulgarity, and meanness, render
riches contemptible, prosperity unavailing, and economy
odious: and that the choice of her uncle should
thus unhappily have fallen upon the lowest and most
wretched of misers, in a city abounding with opulence,
hospitality, and splendour, and of which the principal
inhabitants, long eminent for their wealth and their
probity, were now almost universally rising in elegance
and liberality.
A DECLARATION.
Cecilia’s next progress, therefore, was to St
James’s-square, whither she went in the utmost
anxiety, from her uncertainty of the reception with
which her proposal would meet.
