The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 49: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ae TEESE 82 Gunthorpe, with a most imperturbable coolness. “J asked the landlord of the Bell and Crown what your fare was, and he told me sixteen- “ence: but I should have given you the eighteen {f you were notinsolent about it. So now I take your number.” ‘And pull me up afore the beak, eh ?” vocife- rated the cabman. “ Well, so do; and I’m snig- gered if I don’t have the ground measured at your expense too, old boy! Look at that hoss! d’ye think he wor made to go all this distance for sixteen-pence ?” “ No—certainly not—nor any distance at all,” answered Mr. Gunthorpe, still cool as a cucumber. ‘‘His next drive should be to the knackers’ yard :” and thus speaking, the old gentleman entered the house, the door of which Alfred, who had stood the while aghast as the two nobles up-stairs, im- mediately shut in the face of the enraged cabman. Mr. Gunthorpe, duly escorted by Alfred, was ushered into the drawing-room, where Lord Harold received him with as good a face as he could possibly put on; but Lord Saxondale ecarcely attempted to conceal his own feelings of horror and disgust at the visitor’s conduct. “T am sorry now that I did not take the omnibus, as I first intended to do,” remarked Mr. Guuthorpe, when he had paid his respects to the two noblemen. ‘“ The insolence of your London cabmen is perfectly intolerable—has not your lordship found it so?” ‘‘T never patronize street cabs, Mr. Gunthorpe,” replied Harold Staunton. “For my part I understand they swarm with vermin,” said Lord Saxondale. ‘‘In which case they must be catching,” said Mr. Gunthorpe coolly: “so your lordship had better not come near me.” There was now a pause; for neither of the two young men knew exactly what next to say. They were immeasurably disgusted with their visitor; but as their aim and hope were to make him useful, they dared not give too maniiest a display of their feelings. Lord Saxondale there- fore adjusted his neckcloth before the looking- glass; and Lord Harold hummed an opera-air, while contemplating the spotless polish of his patent-leather boots as he sat lazily lolling back in his chair. “You see I was punctual,” said Mr. Gunthorpe, drawing forth a huge old-fashioned gold watch about the size of a turnip, and having a massive chain with at least a dozen large seals and keys by way of appendages. ‘I have also brought a pretty good appetite with me. I took a chop in the City at one, and have had nothing since.” “ Dinner willbe served up almost immediately, Mr. Gunthorpe,” said Lord Harold, conquering his aversion as much as he was able, so as to behave civilly towards the old gentleman. ‘ Have you been very busy in the City to-day?” “ Very busy indeed,” wasthe response. “I and Snuffley—that’s my attorney—have had a great deal to do together. If I had notthought it would havo been too great a liberty, I should have brought Snuffley with me! but——” ‘‘T should have been charmed to have enter- tained Mr. Snuffley on your account,” said Lord Harold: but he could not prevent himself from speaking in a cold and reserved tone. “ Whatafunny name,” tittered Lord Saxondale. “Snuffley!—he! he! he! But I have noticed a ame i ee ee eeeeeeeeeeE——eEE———E—————eeeee | | OE THE MYSTERIES OF THE COURT. that many City men and middle-class people have very queer names.” ‘“One name is as good as another, for anything I know,” observed Mr. Gunthorpe curtly: “and I am sure that Snuffley’s name is better at the bottom of a cheque than many a name which has descended to its West-End bearer fromthe Norman Conquest.” “Ah! I date myfamily back to the time of the Tudors,” said Lord Saxondale, drawing himself up with an air of the most consummate conceit. ‘‘ And mine is derived from acellar in Clerken- well,” said Mr. Gunthorpe. ‘‘My father, God rest his soul! was a poor shoemaker: and my mother used to take in washing, go out charing, and do little odd jobs of that kind. Such as you see me, my lords, I was educated at a charity- school, and have fought my way upin the world from being a muffin-boy to what I am now :” and Mr. Gunthorpe looked complacently round upon the two young aristocrats. They were agbast. Mingled horror and dis- may were depicted upon their countenances, no consideration of any ulterior objects having the power at the moment to cause them to master those feelings. Indeed, they could not; it was the natural expression of haughty aristocratic prejudices terribly shocked by the plain un- varnished tale of Mr. Gunthorpe’s earlier history. He did not however seem to notice the conster- nation wbich his narrative had excited, but looked as if he felt far more proud of the position which by his industry, as he represented, he had carved out for himself, than the two young aristocrats could possibly be of their lengthened genealogy and ancestral honours. The folding doors at the extremity of the drawing-room were now pompously thrown open, and the dinner table appeared in the midst of the apartment thus revealed. The noblemen and Mr. Gunthorpe took their seats. The former, having somewhat recovered from their shock, were rather curious to observe how the old gentle- man would conduct himself at table, and were terribly afraid that he would be guilty of some awful solecism in etiquette so as to horrify the fastidiousness of Alfred and the footman. They were therefore most agreeably surprised and con- siderably reitieved when they found that he at once appeared as well versed as themselves in all the refinements and niceties of the dinner-table, —not tucking his napkin up to his chin, nor eating fish with his knife, nor biting instead of breaking his bread, nor asking for malt liquor, nor falling into any of the little errors which they had expected. .lie took witie with them, too, in the approved manner; and though he spoke but little, yet so long as the domestics were in the room, he did not give utterance to a single syllable at all calculated to shock the aristocratic pride of Lord Harold Staunton or Lord Saxon- dale. Thus the dinner passed off agreeably enough : the dessert was placed upon the table, the valet and the footman withdrew, and the decanters began to circulate. “Do you propose to make a long stay in Eng- land, Mr. Gunthorpe ?” asked Lord Harold, as he sipped his claret. “I think of settling here altogether now,” was the reply. “I believe your noble uncle the Marquis of Eagledeaninformed youin the letter of introduc- eee eee — COMMICLO® CS (E©)