Ellen Percy; or, The Memoirs of an Actress — page 108: what you’re looking at

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ELLEN PERCY; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF AN ACTRESS. very moment. ‘There was no knocker: but I rang a bell—and for several minutes the summons re- mained unanswered; so that we began to think there was nobody on the premises. I rang again; and then an old woman, emerging from a side- gate, taade her appearance. She was a good- natured-looking dame, with a _ red; wrinkled, weather-beaten face; and bustling forward, she curtsied with the profoundest respect, apologizing for not having come at first, but excusing herself, on the ground “that she had gone out into the garden to fetch some taturs which her old man was digging up.” She then asked what our busi- ness might be. “ We have come to look over the premises,” I said ; “and here is the card of the estate agent in London.” “Oh! it’s all right, ladies, for the. matter of that!” exclaimed the old woman: “but if I looked a bit flabbergasted, it was only because one so seldom sees anybody up here at the Manor.” “Then you have véry few applications on the part of persons thinking to buy the estate?” I said inquiringly. * Lor, no, Miss! very few!” answered the dame. “Sometimes, when my old man goes down to smoke his pipe yonder and take his pint at the Leather Bottle—that’s the public-house down the road there—he hears of persons now and then having come as far as the willage; but when once they have axed & few questions, away they goes, and never wastes no more time in coming to wisit the premises!” * Ah, is it so?” I exclaimed. “But what do persons hear in the village which thus sets them against the Manor so that they take their depar- ture without eyen so much as inspecting the pre- mises P” “Why, Miss, use your own eyes, and see how much the place is out of repair. And then too it’s so lonely—there’s no society in the neighbour- hood—and it would take a power of money to put the old house to rights. So when people hears ali this “ They do as we should have done,” said Juliet, smiling, “if we had paused in the village to make any inquiries.” I was on the point of saying to the old woman that we would not trouble her any further, and that we would take our departure,—when the thought occurred to me that it would be after all a pity to judge of matters so hastily and to depart without casting even so much as a look inside the building after having come all that way for the express purpose. So I said to Juliet, “I begin to think with you that it is not likely anything will come of our visit to Willowbridge: but still, as we are not pressed for time, and we are indeed so completely the mistresses of our own leisure, we may as well linger for a brief hulf-hour to look into the interior of the place.” “ By all means!” said Juliet. “And after all,” she added, “who can tell but that if you really take a fancy to the place you might obtain such a diminution of the price demanded, as will be amply commensurate for an extra outlay i in the repairs of the edifice ?” When I told the old woman that I thought I should like to look over the premises, it struck me that for an instant she seemed somewhat confused, 95 —though if so, she immediately recovered herself, and said, “Oh, certainly, Miss, if you choose! But the place i is in a sad dirty gondition—the ceil- ings have fell in in some parts and kivered the floors with the white muck and dust ‘Never mind,’ I said. “We see that the house is in a dilapidated condition, and we do not therefore expect to find ourselves walking on draw- ing-room carpets.” The dame had emerged from a side-gate in the boundary-wall enclosing the kitchen offices; and we followed her into that part of the premises. She now shrieked out at the top of her voice, “Jan! Jan! here be two ladies, a-come to look over the Manor ’ouse !” Mr, Janson—for such, as we subsequently learnt, was the name of this couple, familiarly abbreviated into, Jam when the wife specially adjured her hus- band—now presented himself fo our view; anda very singular presence it was. He was thin almost to emaciation, with peaked features, a sinister expression of countenance, and a shuffling shambling walk as if his shoes were too large for him and he was compelled to manceuvre to keep them on his feet. The thinness of his legs was most painfully shown by the costume which he wore upon his limbs—namely, knee-breeches and stockings: he stooped in his gait, and seemed alto- gether very infirm, for his age could be scarcely less than seventy. Touching the brim of his old battered hat, he looked as much surprised as his wife had done on beholding Juliet and myself; and shuffling towards us, he said, “ You don’t think, ladies, of purchasing this here property— do ’ee P” ‘It depends upon what we now see of it,” I an- swered. “ Your wife is about to conduct us over the house : *Tt’s of no use, Miss,” said Janson; “you'll never buy it! Why, it’s all to pieces; so that when the wind blows high, me and my old ’ooman here is always afeard lest the ceiling should come tumbling about our ears. Don’t bother about the house; but if so be you'll come and take a walk in the garden and eat some of my strawber- ries 7 “Thank you,” I said; ‘we will look over the house, if you please:’—and I spoke rather de- cisively, for it struck me that the old people had some motive or another for not wishing to show the premises. “Oh, to be sure! to be sure!” mumbled the old man: “to be sure, ladies! Here, Mrs. Jan- son tk | “ Hold your tongue, Jan!—go back and ’tend to your taturs, and I’ll show the ladies over the ’ouse.” The old man shuffled off into the garden again ; while Mrs. Janson slowly conducted Juliet and myself into the house. We passed from room to room, and found that the place was indeed in a most terribly dilapidated condition, The Jansons lived in the kitchen, which accordingly had a few little articles of furniture for their accommoda- tion; but all the other, rooms which we entered were empty. ‘These apartments were certainly spacious and lofty: indeed there were all the evi- dences of a handsome mansion before it was suf- fered to fall into decay. We visited all the rooms on the ground floor: we then began ascending the ee EEE COMMU .OoOK (SO)