Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit

by Charles Dickens

  Let us inquire into this.

  Mr Pecksniff, as a man without reproach, from whom the breath of slander passed like common breath from any other polished surface, could afford to do what common men could not. He knew the purity of his own motives; and when he had a motive worked at it as only a very good man (or a very bad one) can. Did he set before himself any strong and palpable motives for taking a second wife? Yes; and not one or two of them, but a combination of very many.

  Old Martin Chuzzlewit had gradually undergone an important change. Even upon the night when he made such an ill-timed arrival at Mr Pecksniff's house, he was comparatively subdued and easy to deal with. This Mr Pecksniff attributed, at the time, to the effect his brother's death had had upon him. But from that hour his character seemed to have modified by regular degrees, and to have softened down into a dull indifference for almost every one but Mr Pecksniff. His looks were much the same as ever, but his mind was singularly altered. It was not that this or that passion stood out in brighter or in dimmer hues; but that the colour of the whole man was faded. As one trait disappeared, no other trait sprung up to take its place. His senses dwindled too. He was less keen of sight; was deaf sometimes; took little notice of what passed before him; and would be profoundly taciturn for days together. The process of this alteration was so easy that almost as soon as it began to be observed it was complete. But Mr Pecksniff saw it first, and having Anthony Chuzzlewit fresh in his recollection, saw in his brother Martin the same process of decay.

  To a gentleman of Mr Pecksniff's tenderness, this was a very mournful sight. He could not but foresee the probability of his respected relative being made the victim of designing persons, and of his riches falling into worthless hands. It gave him so much pain that he resolved to secure the property to himself; to keep bad testamentary suitors at a distance; to wall up the old gentleman, as it were, for his own use. By little and little, therefore, he began to try whether Mr Chuzzlewit gave any promise of becoming an instrument in his hands, and finding that he did, and indeed that he was very supple in his plastic fingers, he made it the business of his life—kind soul!—to establish an ascendancy over him; and every little test he durst apply meeting with a success beyond his hopes, he began to think he heard old Martin's cash already chinking in his own unworldly pockets.

  But when Mr Pecksniff pondered on this subject (as, in his zealous way, he often did), and thought with an uplifted heart of the train of circumstances which had delivered the old gentleman into his hands for the confusion of evil-doers and the triumph of a righteous nature, he always felt that Mary Graham was his stumbling-block. Let the old man say what he would, Mr Pecksniff knew he had a strong affection for her. He knew that he showed it in a thousand little ways; that he liked to have her near him, and was never quite at ease when she was absent long. That he had ever really sworn to leave her nothing in his will, Mr Pecksniff greatly doubted. That even if he had, there were many ways by which he could evade the oath and satisfy his conscience, Mr Pecksniff knew. That her unprotected state was no light burden on the old man's mind, he also knew, for Mr Chuzzlewit had plainly told him so. “Then,” said Mr Pecksniff “what if I married her! What,” repeated Mr Pecksniff, sticking up his hair and glancing at his bust by Spoker; “what if, making sure of his approval first—he is nearly imbecile, poor gentleman—I married her!”

  Mr Pecksniff had a lively sense of the Beautiful; especially in women. His manner towards the sex was remarkable for its insinuating character. It is recorded of him in another part of these pages, that he embraced Mrs Todgers on the smallest provocation; and it was a way he had; it was a part of the gentle placidity of his disposition. Before any thought of matrimony was in his mind, he had bestowed on Mary many little tokens of his spiritual admiration. They had been indignantly received, but that was nothing. True, as the idea expanded within him, these had become too ardent to escape the piercing eye of Cherry, who read his scheme at once; but he had always felt the power of Mary's charms. So Interest and Inclination made a pair, and drew the curricle of Mr Pecksniff's plan.

  As to any thought of revenging himself on young Martin for his insolent expressions when they parted, and of shutting him out still more effectually from any hope of reconciliation with his grandfather, Mr Pecksniff was much too meek and forgiving to be suspected of harbouring it. As to being refused by Mary, Mr Pecksniff was quite satisfied that in her position she could never hold out if he and Mr Chuzzlewit were both against her. As to consulting the wishes of her heart in such a case, it formed no part of Mr Pecksniff's moral code; for he knew what a good man he was, and what a blessing he must be to anybody. His daughter having broken the ice, and the murder being out between them, Mr Pecksniff had now only to pursue his design as cleverly as he could, and by the craftiest approaches.

  “Well, my good sir,” said Mr Pecksniff, meeting old Martin in the garden, for it was his habit to walk in and out by that way, as the fancy took him; “and how is my dear friend this delicious morning?”

  “Do you mean me?” asked the old man.

  “Ah!” said Mr Pecksniff, “one of his deaf days, I see. Could I mean any one else, my dear sir?”

  “You might have meant Mary,” said the old man.

  “Indeed I might. Quite true. I might speak of her as a dear, dear friend, I hope?” observed Mr Pecksniff.

  “I hope so,” returned old Martin. “I think she deserves it.”

  “Think!” cried Pecksniff, “think, Mr Chuzzlewit!”

  “You are speaking, I know,” returned Martin, “but I don't catch what you say. Speak up!”

  “He's getting deafer than a flint,” said Pecksniff. “I was saying, my dear sir, that I am afraid I must make up my mind to part with Cherry.”

  “What has SHE been doing?” asked the old man.

  “He puts the most ridiculous questions I ever heard!” muttered Mr Pecksniff. “He's a child to-day.”After which he added, in a mild roar: “She hasn't been doing anything, my dear friend.”

  “What are you going to part with her for?” demanded Martin.

  “She hasn't her health by any means,” said Mr Pecksniff. “She misses her sister, my dear sir; they doted on each other from the cradle. And I think of giving her a run in London for a change. A good long run, sir, if I find she likes it.”

  “Quite right,” cried Martin. “It's judicious.”

  “I am glad to hear you say so. I hope you mean to bear me company in this dull part, while she's away?” said Mr Pecksniff.

  “I have no intention of removing from it,” was Martin's answer.

  “Then why,” said Mr Pecksniff, taking the old man's arm in his, and walking slowly on; “Why, my good sir, can't you come and stay with me? I am sure I could surround you with more comforts—lowly as is my Cot—than you can obtain at a village house of entertainment. And pardon me, Mr Chuzzlewit, pardon me if I say that such a place as the Dragon, however well-conducted (and, as far as I know, Mrs Lupin is one of the worthiest creatures in this county), is hardly a home for Miss Graham.”

  Martin mused a moment; and then said, as he shook him by the hand:

  “No. You're quite right; it is not.”

  “The very sight of skittles,” Mr Pecksniff eloquently pursued, “is far from being congenial to a delicate mind.”

  “It's an amusement of the vulgar,” said old Martin, “certainly.”

  “Of the very vulgar,” Mr Pecksniff answered. “Then why not bring Miss Graham here, sir? Here is the house. Here am I alone in it, for Thomas Pinch I do not count as any one. Our lovely friend shall occupy my daughter's chamber; you shall choose your own; we shall not quarrel, I hope!”

  “We are not likely to do that,” said Martin.

  Mr Pecksniff pressed his hand. “We understand each other, my dear sir, I see!—I can wind him,” he thought, with exultation, “round my little finger.”

  “You leave the recompense to me?” said the old man, after a minute's silence.

  “Oh! do n
ot speak of recompense!” cried Pecksniff.

  “I say,” repeated Martin, with a glimmer of his old obstinacy, “you leave the recompense to me. Do you?”

  “Since you desire it, my good sir.”

  “I always desire it,” said the old man. “You know I always desire it. I wish to pay as I go, even when I buy of you. Not that I do not leave a balance to be settled one day, Pecksniff.”

  The architect was too much overcome to speak. He tried to drop a tear upon his patron's hand, but couldn't find one in his dry distillery.

  “May that day be very distant!” was his pious exclamation. “Ah, sir! If I could say how deep an interest I have in you and yours! I allude to our beautiful young friend.”

  “True,” he answered. “True. She need have some one interested in her. I did her wrong to train her as I did. Orphan though she was, she would have found some one to protect her whom she might have loved again. When she was a child, I pleased myself with the thought that in gratifying my whim of placing her between me and false-hearted knaves, I had done her a kindness. Now she is a woman, I have no such comfort. She has no protector but herself. I have put her at such odds with the world, that any dog may bark or fawn upon her at his pleasure. Indeed she stands in need of delicate consideration. Yes; indeed she does!”

  “If her position could be altered and defined, sir?” Mr Pecksniff hinted.

  “How can that be done? Should I make a seamstress of her, or a governess?”

  “Heaven forbid!” said Mr Pecksniff. “My dear sir, there are other ways. There are indeed. But I am much excited and embarrassed at present, and would rather not pursue the subject. I scarcely know what I mean. Permit me to resume it at another time.”

  “You are not unwell?” asked Martin anxiously.

  “No, no!” cried Pecksniff. “No. Permit me to resume it at another time. I'll walk a little. Bless you!”

  Old Martin blessed him in return, and squeezed his hand. As he turned away, and slowly walked towards the house, Mr Pecksniff stood gazing after him; being pretty well recovered from his late emotion, which, in any other man, one might have thought had been assumed as a machinery for feeling Martin's pulse. The change in the old man found such a slight expression in his figure, that Mr Pecksniff, looking after him, could not help saying to himself:

  “And I can wind him round my little finger! Only think!”

  Old Martin happening to turn his head, saluted him affectionately. Mr Pecksniff returned the gesture.

  “Why, the time was,” said Mr Pecksniff; “and not long ago, when he wouldn't look at me! How soothing is this change. Such is the delicate texture of the human heart; so complicated is the process of its being softened! Externally he looks the same, and I can wind him round my little finger. Only think!”

  In sober truth, there did appear to be nothing on which Mr Pecksniff might not have ventured with Martin Chuzzlewit; for whatever Mr Pecksniff said or did was right, and whatever he advised was done. Martin had escaped so many snares from needy fortune-hunters, and had withered in the shell of his suspicion and distrust for so many years, but to become the good man's tool and plaything. With the happiness of this conviction painted on his face, the architect went forth upon his morning walk.

  The summer weather in his bosom was reflected in the breast of Nature. Through deep green vistas where the boughs arched overhead, and showed the sunlight flashing in the beautiful perspective; through dewy fern from which the startled hares leaped up, and fled at his approach; by mantled pools, and fallen trees, and down in hollow places, rustling among last year's leaves whose scent woke memory of the past; the placid Pecksniff strolled. By meadow gates and hedges fragrant with wild roses; and by thatched-roof cottages whose inmates humbly bowed before him as a man both good and wise; the worthy Pecksniff walked in tranquil meditation. The bee passed onward, humming of the work he had to do; the idle gnats for ever going round and round in one contracting and expanding ring, yet always going on as fast as he, danced merrily before him; the colour of the long grass came and went, as if the light clouds made it timid as they floated through the distant air. The birds, so many Pecksniff consciences, sang gayly upon every branch; and Mr Pecksniff paid HIS homage to the day by ruminating on his projects as he walked along.

  Chancing to trip, in his abstraction, over the spreading root of an old tree, he raised his pious eyes to take a survey of the ground before him. It startled him to see the embodied image of his thoughts not far ahead. Mary herself. And alone.

  At first Mr Pecksniff stopped as if with the intention of avoiding her; but his next impulse was to advance, which he did at a brisk pace; caroling as he went so sweetly and with so much innocence that he only wanted feathers and wings to be a bird.

  Hearing notes behind her, not belonging to the songsters of the grove, she looked round. Mr Pecksniff kissed his hand, and was at her side immediately.

  “Communing with nature?” said Mr Pecksniff. “So am I.”

  She said the morning was so beautiful that she had walked further than she intended, and would return. Mr Pecksniff said it was exactly his case, and he would return with her.

  “Take my arm, sweet girl,” said Mr Pecksniff.

  Mary declined it, and walked so very fast that he remonstrated. “You were loitering when I came upon you,” Mr Pecksniff said. “Why be so cruel as to hurry now? You would not shun me, would you?”

  “Yes, I would,” she answered, turning her glowing cheek indignantly upon him, “you know I would. Release me, Mr Pecksniff. Your touch is disagreeable to me.”

  His touch! What? That chaste patriarchal touch which Mrs Todgers— surely a discreet lady—had endured, not only without complaint, but with apparent satisfaction! This was positively wrong. Mr Pecksniff was sorry to hear her say it.

  “If you have not observed,” said Mary, “that it is so, pray take assurance from my lips, and do not, as you are a gentleman, continue to offend me.”

  “Well, well!” said Mr Pecksniff, mildly, “I feel that I might consider this becoming in a daughter of my own, and why should I object to it in one so beautiful! It's harsh. It cuts me to the soul,” said Mr Pecksniff; “but I cannot quarrel with you, Mary.”

  She tried to say she was sorry to hear it, but burst into tears. Mr Pecksniff now repeated the Todgers performance on a comfortable scale, as if he intended it to last some time; and in his disengaged hand, catching hers, employed himself in separating the fingers with his own, and sometimes kissing them, as he pursued the conversation thus:

  “I am glad we met. I am very glad we met. I am able now to ease my bosom of a heavy load, and speak to you in confidence. Mary,” said Mr Pecksniff in his tenderest tones, indeed they were so very tender that he almost squeaked: “My soul! I love you!”

  A fantastic thing, that maiden affectation! She made believe to shudder.

  “I love you,” said Mr Pecksniff, “my gentle life, with a devotion which is quite surprising, even to myself. I did suppose that the sensation was buried in the silent tomb of a lady, only second to you in qualities of the mind and form; but I find I am mistaken.”

  She tried to disengage her hand, but might as well have tried to free herself from the embrace of an affectionate boa-constrictor; if anything so wily may be brought into comparison with Pecksniff.

  “Although I am a widower,” said Mr Pecksniff, examining the rings upon her fingers, and tracing the course of one delicate blue vein with his fat thumb, “a widower with two daughters, still I am not encumbered, my love. One of them, as you know, is married. The other, by her own desire, but with a view, I will confess—why not? —to my altering my condition, is about to leave her father's house. I have a character, I hope. People are pleased to speak well of me, I think. My person and manner are not absolutely those of a monster, I trust. Ah! naughty Hand!” said Mr Pecksniff, apostrophizing the reluctant prize, “why did you take me prisoner? Go, go!”

  He slapped the hand to punish it; but relenting, folded it in his
waistcoat to comfort it again.

  “Blessed in each other, and in the society of our venerable friend, my darling,” said Mr Pecksniff, “we shall be happy. When he is wafted to a haven of rest, we will console each other. My pretty primrose, what do you say?”

  “It is possible,” Mary answered, in a hurried manner, “that I ought to feel grateful for this mark of your confidence. I cannot say that I do, but I am willing to suppose you may deserve my thanks. Take them; and pray leave me, Mr Pecksniff.”

  The good man smiled a greasy smile; and drew her closer to him.

  “Pray, pray release me, Mr Pecksniff. I cannot listen to your proposal. I cannot receive it. There are many to whom it may be acceptable, but it is not so to me. As an act of kindness and an act of pity, leave me!”

  Mr Pecksniff walked on with his arm round her waist, and her hand in his, as contentedly as if they had been all in all to each other, and were joined in the bonds of truest love.

  “If you force me by your superior strength,” said Mary, who finding that good words had not the least effect upon him, made no further effort to suppress her indignation; “if you force me by your superior strength to accompany you back, and to be the subject of your insolence upon the way, you cannot constrain the expression of my thoughts. I hold you in the deepest abhorrence. I know your real nature and despise it.”

  “No, no,” said Mr Pecksniff, sweetly. “No, no, no!”

  “By what arts or unhappy chances you have gained your influence over Mr Chuzzlewit, I do not know,” said Mary; “it may be strong enough to soften even this, but he shall know of this, trust me, sir.”

  Mr Pecksniff raised his heavy eyelids languidly, and let them fall again. It was saying with perfect coolness, “Aye, aye! Indeed!”

  “Is it not enough,” said Mary, “that you warp and change his nature, adapt his every prejudice to your bad ends, and harden a heart naturally kind by shutting out the truth and allowing none but false and distorted views to reach it; is it not enough that you have the power of doing this, and that you exercise it, but must you also be so coarse, so cruel, and so cowardly to me?”