CHAPTER LXVII.
MR. LARKIN IS VIS-A-VIS WITH A CONCEALED COMPANION.
The time had now arrived when our friend Jos. Larkin was to refresh thevillage of Gylingden with his presence. He had pushed matters forwardwith wonderful despatch. The deeds, with their blue and silver stamps,were handsomely engrossed--having been approved in draft by Crompton S.Kewes, the eminent Queen's Counsel, on a case furnished by Jos. Larkin,Esq., The Lodge, Brandon Manor, Gylingden, on behalf of his client, theReverend William Wylder; and in like manner on behalf of Stanley WilliamsBrandon Lake, of Brandon Hall, in the county of ----, Esq.
In neither draft did Jos. Larkin figure as the purchaser by name. He didnot care for advice on any difficulty depending on his special relationsto the vendors in both these cases. He wished, as was his custom,everything above-board, and such 'an opinion' as might be published byeither client in the 'Times' next day if he pleased it. Besides thesematters of Wylder and of Lake, he had also a clause to insert in aprivate Act, on behalf of the trustees of the Baptist Chapel, at NauntonFriars; a short deed to be consulted upon on behalf of his client, PudderSwynfen, Esq., of Swynfen Grange, in the same county; and a deed to beexecuted at Shillingsworth, which he would take _en route_ for Gylingden,stopping there for that night, and going on by next morning's train.
Those little trips to town paid very fairly.
In this particular case his entire expenses reached exactly L5 3_s._, andwhat do you suppose was the good man's profit upon that small item?Precisely L62 7_s._! The process is simple, Jos. Larkin made his ownhandsome estimate of his expenses, and the value of his time to and fromLondon, and then he charged this in its entirety--shall we sayintegrity--to each client separately. In this little excursion he wasconcerned for no less than _five_.
His expenses, I say, reached exactly L5 3_s_. But he had a right to go toDondale's if he pleased, instead of that cheap hostelry near CoventGarden. He had a right to a handsome lunch and a handsome dinner, insteadof that economical fusion of both meals into one, at a cheapeating-house, in an out-of-the-way quarter. He had a right to his pint ofhigh-priced wine, and to accomplish his wanderings in a cab, instead of,as the Italians say, 'partly on foot, and partly walking.' Therefore, andon this principle, Mr. Jos. Larkin had 'no difficulty' in acting. Hissavings, if the good man chose to practise self-denial, were his own--andit was a sort of problem while he stayed, and interested himcuriously--keeping down his bill in matters which he would not havedreamed of denying himself at home.
The only client among his wealthy supporters, who ever went in a grudgingspirit into one of these little bills of Jos. Larkin's, was old SirMulgrave Bracton--the defunct parent of the Sir Harry, with whom we areacquainted.
'Don't you think, Mr. Larkin, you could perhaps reduce _this_, just alittle?'
'Ah, the expenses?'
'Well, yes.'
Mr. Jos. Larkin smiled--the smile said plainly, 'what would he have melive upon, and where?' We do meet persons of this sort, who would fain'fill our bellies with the husks' that swine digest; what of that--wemust remember who we are--_gentlemen_--and answer this sort ofshabbiness, and every other endurable annoyance, as Lord Chesterfielddid--with a bow and a smile.
'I think so,' said the baronet, in a bluff, firm way.
'Well, the fact is, when I represent a client, Sir Mulgrave Bracton, of acertain rank and position, I make it a principle--and, as a man ofbusiness, I find it tells--to present myself in a style that is suitablyhandsome.'
'Oh! an expensive house--_where_ was this, now?'
'Oh, Sir Mulgrave, pray don't think of it--I'm only too happy--pray, drawyour pen across the entire thing.'
'I think so,' said the baronet unexpectedly. 'Don't you think if we saida pound a-day, and your travelling expenses?'
'Certainly--_any_thing--what_ever_ you please, Sir.'
And the attorney waved his long hand a little, and smiled almostcompassionately; and the little alteration was made, and henceforward hespoke of Sir Mulgrave as not quite a pleasant man to deal with in moneymatters; and his confidential friends knew that in a transaction in whichhe had paid money out of his own pocket for Sir Mulgrave he had never gotback more than seven and sixpence in the pound; and, what made it worse,it was a matter connected with the death of poor Lady Bracton! And henever lost an opportunity of conveying his opinion of Sir Mulgrave,sometimes in distinct and confidential sentences, and sometimes only by asad shake of his head, or by awfully declining to speak upon the subject.
In the present instance Jos. Larkin was returning in a heavenly frame ofmind to the Lodge, Brandon Manor, Gylingden. Whenever he was away heinterpolated 'Brandon Manor,' and stuck it on his valise and hat-case;and liked to call aloud to the porters tumbling among the luggage--'Jos.Larkin, Esquire, _Brandon Manor, if_ you please;' and to see the peopleread the inscription in the hall of his dingy hostelry. Well might thegood man glow with a happy consciousness of a blessing. In small thingsas in great he was prosperous.
This little excursion to London would cost him, as I said, exactly L53_s._ It might have cost him L13 10_s._ and at that sum his expensesfigured in his ledger; and as he had five clients on this occasion, thetotal reached L67 10_s._, leaving a clear profit, as I have mentioned, ofL62 7_s._ on this item.
But what was this little tip from fortune, compared with the splendidpieces of scrivenery in his despatch box. The white parchment--the blueand silver stamps in the corner--the German text and flourishes at thetop, and those broad, horizontal lines of recital, `habendum,' and soforth--marshalled like an army in procession behind his march of triumphinto Five Oaks, to take the place of its deposed prince? From thecaptain's deed to the vicar's his mind glanced fondly.
He would yet stand the highest man in his county. He had found time for avisit to the King-at-Arms and the Heralds' Office. He would have hispictures and his pedigree. His grandmother had been a Howard. Her branch,indeed, was a little under a cloud, keeping a small provision-shop in thetown of Dwiddleston. But this circumstance need not be in prominence. Shewas a Howard--_that_ was the fact he relied on--no mortal could gainsayit; and he would be, first, J. Howard Larkin, then Howard Larkin, simply;then Howard Larkin Howard, and the Five Gaks' Howards would come to bevery great people indeed. And the Brandons had intermarried with otherHowards, and Five Oaks would naturally, therefore, go to Howards; and sohe and his, with clever management, would be anything but _novi homines_in the county.
'He shall be like a tree planted by the water-side, that will bring forthhis fruit in due season. His leaf also shall not wither. So thought thisgood man complacently. He liked these fine consolations of the Jewishdispensation--actual milk and honey, and a land of promise on which hecould set his foot. Jos. Larkin, Esq., was as punctual as the clock atthe terminus. He did not come a minute too soon or too late, butprecisely at the moment which enabled him, without fuss, and without atiresome wait, to proceed to the details of ticket, luggage, selection ofplace, and ultimate ascension thereto.
So now having taken all measures, gliding among the portmanteaus,hand-barrows, and porters, and the clangorous bell ringing, he mounted,lithe and lank, into his place.
There was a pleasant evening light still, and the gas-lamps made apurplish glow against it. The little butter-cooler of a glass lampglimmered from the roof. Mr. Larkin established himself, and adjusted hisrug and mufflers about him, for, notwithstanding the season, there hadbeen some cold, rainy weather, and the evening was sharp; and he set histwo newspapers, his shilling book, and other triumphs of cheap literaturein sundry shapes, in the vacant seat at his left hand, and madeeverything handsome about him. He glanced to the other end of thecarriage, where sat his solitary fellow-passenger. This gentleman wassimply a mass of cloaks and capes, culminating in a queer battered felthat; his shoulders were nestled into the corner, and his face buriedamong his loose mufflers. They sat at corners diagonally opposed, andwere, therefore, as far apart as was practicable--an arrangement, notsociable, to be sure, but on the whole, very
comfortable, and whichneither seemed disposed to disturb.
Mr. Larkin had a word to say to the porter from the window, and boughtone more newspaper; and then looked out on the lamplit platform, and sawthe officials loitering off to the clang of the carriage doors; then camethe whistle, and then the clank and jerk of the start. And so the brickwalls and lamps began to glide backward, and the train was off.
Jos. Larkin tried his newspaper, and read for ten minutes, or so, prettydiligently; and then looked for a while from the window, upon recedinghedgerows and farmsteads, and the level and spacious landscape; and thenhe leaned back luxuriously, his newspaper listlessly on his knees, andbegan to read, instead, at his ease, the shapeless, wrapt-up figurediagonally opposite.
The quietude of the gentleman in the far corner was quite singular. Heproduced neither tract, nor newspaper, nor volume--not even a pocket-bookor a letter. He brought forth no cigar-case, with the stereotyped, 'Haveyou any objection to my smoking a cigar?' He did not even change hisattitude ever so little. A burly roll of cloaks, rugs, capes, and loosewrappers, placed in the corner, and _tanquam cadaver_, passive andmotionless.
I have sometimes in my travels lighted on a strangely shaped mountain,whose huge curves, and sombre colouring have interested me indefinably.In the rude mass at the far angle, Mr. Jos. Larkin, I fancy, found somesuch subject of contemplation. And the more he looked, the more he feltdisposed to look.
As they got on there was more night fog, and the little lamp at top shonethrough a halo. The fellow-passenger at the opposite angle lay back, allcloaks and mufflers, with nothing distinct emerging but the felt hat attop, and the tip--it was only the tip now--of the shining shoe on thefloor.
The gentleman was absolutely motionless and silent. And Mr. Larkin,though his mind was pretty universally of the inquisitive order, began inthis particular case to feel a special curiosity. It was partly themonotony and their occupying the carriage all to themselves--as the twouncommunicative seamen did the Eddystone Lighthouse--but there was,beside, an indistinct feeling, that, in spite of all these wrappers andswathings, he knew the outlines of that figure; and yet the likeness musthave been of the rudest possible sort.
He could not say that he recognised anything distinctly--only he fanciedthat some one he knew was sitting there, unrevealed, inside that mass ofclothing. And he felt, moreover, as if he ought to be able to guess whohe was.
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