Pickwick Abroad; or, The Tour in France — page 394: what you’re looking at

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

PICKWICK ABROAD. 381 reminded Mr. Scuttle that the hour was already past at which the bishop had promised to be in attendance at the Ambassador’s chapel. Mr. Scuttle then, for the first time, recollected that he had not seen his niece since breakfast; he accordingly summoned a female domestic and despatched her to Mrs. Weston’s apartment with a message to intimate that the bridegroom and his friends were waiting. And be it also remarked that the bride’s friends were also waiting in an adjacent chamber. There were the two Misses Chizzlewizzle— oung ladies of five-and-forty and seven-and-forty respectively ; Mrs. Colonel Sutcliffe; Lady Ptolemy Binks; the Honourable Mrs. and the five Misses Dashwood Pooke; and a pleasing variety of cousins of all ages. And when they had felicitated, or pretended to felicitate each other upon the eligible match their friend or relative (as the case might be) was about to make, they divided themselves into little groups, and began privately to discuss the merit of that connexion which they had publicly so much extolled. “Well, I never!’’ whispered Lady Ptolemy Binks to the Honour- able Mrs. Dashwood Pooke. “Did you ever?’ added the last-named lady in the same sotto voce. “¢ What next ?” demanded her ladyship with a most mysterious shake of the head. ‘* After this I shall be surprised at nothing,” observed Mrs. Pooke, pursing up her mouth. ‘I’m sure people are all going mad now-a-days,’ tion expressed by Lady Binks. ‘Or else they never could make such fools of themselves,” said Mrs. Pooke. And having thus made up their minds that Mr. Pickwick and Mrs. Weston were certainly out of their own, the two ladies turned their attention to the discussion of the last fashions. ‘¢ What do you think of this match, dear ?’”’ enquired Mrs. Colonel Sutcliffe, of one of the Misses Chizzlewizzle. ‘* Why—between ourselves,” answered Miss Chizzlewizzle, ‘‘ I’m thoroughly disgusted.”’ “Exactly what I said to the Colonel this morning, my dear,” re- turned Mrs. Sutcliffe. ‘“‘ For my part, I really don’t know what people can be about !” ‘“‘Ts it not preposterous ?” demanded Miss Chizzlewizzle, with an air of the most unmitigated contempt. ‘¢ Worse—worse!” rejoined Mrs. Sutcliffe, with a mysterious shake of the head: ‘‘ absolutely indecent—at his age!” “6 That’s the worst of living in Paris,” observed Miss Chizzlewizzle, who had resided there since the peace ; ‘‘ the English abroad are such a queer set !” “You are right, dear,” assented Mrs. Sutcliffe, who had herself been domiciled in the French metropolis for the ten previous years, and whose honesty at cards was, to say the least, problematical. “What a regular mull that affair was the night before last,” said Miss Chizzlewizzle, alluding to some ball at which she and Mrs. Sut. cliffe had been present. ? was the convic- EoOmMmIichbooks (ECO) =)