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Rome. The ruins of the vast old Amphitheatre, of the old Temples, of the

old commemorative Arches, of the old trodden highways, of the old

tombs, besides being what they were, to her were ruins of the old

Marshalsea--ruins of her own old life--ruins of the faces and forms

that of old peopled it--ruins of its loves, hopes, cares, and joys. Two

ruined spheres of action and suffering were before the solitary girl

often sitting on some broken fragment; and in the lonely places, under

the blue sky, she saw them both together.

Up, then, would come Mrs General; taking all the colour out of

everything, as Nature and Art had taken it out of herself; writing

Prunes and Prism, in Mr Eustace's text, wherever she could lay a hand;

looking everywhere for Mr Eustace and company, and seeing nothing else;

scratching up the driest little bones of antiquity, and bolting them

whole without any human visitings--like a Ghoule in gloves.

CHAPTER 16. Getting on

The newly married pair, on their arrival in Harley Street, Cavendish

Square, London, were received by the Chief Butler. That great man was

not interested in them, but on the whole endured them. People must

continue to be married and given in marriage, or Chief Butlers would not

be wanted. As nations are made to be taxed, so families are made to

be butlered. The Chief Butler, no doubt, reflected that the course of

nature required the wealthy population to be kept up, on his account.

He therefore condescended to look at the carriage from the Hall-door

without frowning at it, and said, in a very handsome way, to one of

his men, 'Thomas, help with the luggage.' He even escorted the Bride

up-stairs into Mr Merdle's presence; but this must be considered as an

act of homage to the sex (of which he was an admirer, being notoriously

captivated by the charms of a certain Duchess), and not as a committal

of himself with the family.

Mr Merdle was slinking about the hearthrug, waiting to welcome Mrs

Sparkler. His hand seemed to retreat up his sleeve as he advanced to

do so, and he gave her such a superfluity of coat-cuff that it was like

being received by the popular conception of Guy Fawkes. When he put his

lips to hers, besides, he took himself into custody by the wrists, and

backed himself among the ottomans and chairs and tables as if he were

his own Police officer, saying to himself, 'Now, none of that! Come!

I've got you, you know, and you go quietly along with me!'

Mrs Sparkler, installed in the rooms of state--the innermost sanctuary

of down, silk, chintz, and fine linen--felt that so far her triumph was

good, and her way made, step by step. On the day before her marriage,

she had bestowed on Mrs Merdle's maid with an air of gracious

indifference, in Mrs Merdle's presence, a trifling little keepsake

(bracelet, bonnet, and two dresses, all new) about four times as

valuable as the present formerly made by Mrs Merdle to her. She was now

established in Mrs Merdle's own rooms, to which some extra touches had

been given to render them more worthy of her occupation. In her mind's

eye, as she lounged there, surrounded by every luxurious accessory that

wealth could obtain or invention devise, she saw the fair bosom that

beat in unison with the exultation of her thoughts, competing with the

bosom that had been famous so long, outshining it, and deposing it.

Happy? Fanny must have been happy. No more wishing one's self dead now.

The Courier had not approved of Mr Dorrit's staying in the house of

a friend, and had preferred to take him to an hotel in Brook Street,

Grosvenor Square. Mr Merdle ordered his carriage to be ready early

in the morning that he might wait upon Mr Dorrit immediately after

breakfast. Bright the carriage looked, sleek the horses looked, gleaming

the harness looked, luscious and lasting the liveries looked. A rich,

responsible turn-out. An equipage for a Merdle. Early people looked

after it as it rattled along the streets, and said, with awe in their

breath, 'There he goes!'

There he went, until Brook Street stopped him. Then, forth from its

magnificent case came the jewel; not lustrous in itself, but quite the

contrary.

Commotion in the office of the hotel. Merdle! The landlord, though

a gentleman of a haughty spirit who had just driven a pair of

thorough-bred horses into town, turned out to show him up-stairs.

The clerks and servants cut him off by back-passages, and were found

accidentally hovering in doorways and angles, that they might look upon

him. Merdle! O ye sun, moon, and stars, the great man! The rich man, who

had in a manner revised the New Testament, and already entered into the

kingdom of Heaven. The man who could have any one he chose to dine with

him, and who had made the money!

As he went up the stairs, people were already posted on the lower

stairs, that his shadow might fall upon them when he came down. So were

the sick brought out and laid in the track of the Apostle--who had NOT

got into the good society, and had NOT made the money.

Mr Dorrit, dressing-gowned and newspapered, was at his breakfast. The

Courier, with agitation in his voice, announced 'Miss Mairdale!' Mr

Dorrit's overwrought heart bounded as he leaped up.

'Mr Merdle, this is--ha--indeed an honour. Permit me to express

the--hum--sense, the high sense, I entertain of this--ha hum--highly

gratifying act of attention. I am well aware, sir, of the many demands

upon your time, and its--ha--enormous value,' Mr Dorrit could not

say enormous roundly enough for his own satisfaction. 'That you

should--ha--at this early hour, bestow any of your priceless time upon

me, is--ha--a compliment that I acknowledge with the greatest esteem.'

Mr Dorrit positively trembled in addressing the great man.

Mr Merdle uttered, in his subdued, inward, hesitating voice, a few

sounds that were to no purpose whatever; and finally said, 'I am glad to

see you, sir.'

'You are very kind,' said Mr Dorrit. 'Truly kind.' By this time the

visitor was seated, and was passing his great hand over his exhausted

forehead. 'You are well, I hope, Mr Merdle?'

'I am as well as I--yes, I am as well as I usually am,' said Mr Merdle.

'Your occupations must be immense.'

'Tolerably so. But--Oh dear no, there's not much the matter with me,'

said Mr Merdle, looking round the room.

'A little dyspeptic?' Mr Dorrit hinted.

'Very likely. But I--Oh, I am well enough,' said Mr Merdle.

There were black traces on his lips where they met, as if a little train

of gunpowder had been fired there; and he looked like a man who, if his

natural temperament had been quicker, would have been very feverish that

morning. This, and his heavy way of passing his hand over his forehead,

had prompted Mr Dorrit's solicitous inquiries.

'Mrs Merdle,' Mr Dorrit insinuatingly pursued, 'I left, as you will be

prepared to hear, the--ha--observed of all observers, the--hum--admired

of all admirers, the leading fascination and charm of Society in Rome.

She was looking wonderfully well when I quitted it.'

'Mrs Merdle,' said Mr Merdle, 'is generally considered a very attractive

woman. And she is, no doubt. I am sensible of her being SO.'

'Who can be otherwise?' responded Mr Dorrit.

Mr Merdle turned his tongue in his closed mouth--it seemed rather a

stiff and unmanageable tongue--moistened his lips, passed his hand over

his forehead again, and looked all round the room again, principally

under the chairs.

'But,' he said, looking Mr Dorrit in the face for the first time, and

immediately afterwards dropping his eyes to the buttons of Mr Dorrit's

waistcoat; 'if we speak of attractions, your daughter ought to be the

subject of our conversation. She is extremely beautiful. Both in face

and figure, she is quite uncommon. When the young people arrived last

night, I was really surprised to see such charms.'

Mr Dorrit's gratification was such that he said--ha--he could not

refrain from telling Mr Merdle verbally, as he had already done by

letter, what honour and happiness he felt in this union of their

families. And he offered his hand. Mr Merdle looked at the hand for a

little while, took it on his for a moment as if his were a yellow salver

or fish-slice, and then returned it to Mr Dorrit.

'I thought I would drive round the first thing,' said Mr Merdle, 'to

offer my services, in case I can do anything for you; and to say that

I hope you will at least do me the honour of dining with me to-day, and

every day when you are not better engaged during your stay in town.'

Mr Dorrit was enraptured by these attentions.

'Do you stay long, sir?'

'I have not at present the intention,' said Mr Dorrit,

'of--ha--exceeding a fortnight.'

'That's a very short stay, after so long a journey,' returned Mr Merdle.

'Hum. Yes,' said Mr Dorrit. 'But the truth is--ha--my dear Mr Merdle,

that I find a foreign life so well suited to my health and taste, that

I--hum--have but two objects in my present visit to London. First,

the--ha--the distinguished happiness and--ha--privilege which I now

enjoy and appreciate; secondly, the arrangement--hum--the laying out,

that is to say, in the best way, of--ha, hum--my money.'

'Well, sir,' said Mr Merdle, after turning his tongue again, 'if I can

be of any use to you in that respect, you may command me.'

Mr Dorrit's speech had had more hesitation in it than usual, as he

approached the ticklish topic, for he was not perfectly clear how so

exalted a potentate might take it. He had doubts whether reference to

any individual capital, or fortune, might not seem a wretchedly retail

affair to so wholesale a dealer. Greatly relieved by Mr Merdle's

affable offer of assistance, he caught at it directly, and heaped

acknowledgments upon him.

'I scarcely--ha--dared,' said Mr Dorrit, 'I assure you, to hope for

so--hum--vast an advantage as your direct advice and assistance. Though

of course I should, under any circumstances, like the--ha, hum--rest of

the civilised world, have followed in Mr Merdle's train.'

'You know we may almost say we are related, sir,' said Mr Merdle,

curiously interested in the pattern of the carpet, 'and, therefore, you

may consider me at your service.'

'Ha. Very handsome, indeed!' cried Mr Dorrit. 'Ha. Most handsome!'

'It would not,' said Mr Merdle, 'be at the present moment easy for

what I may call a mere outsider to come into any of the good things--of

course I speak of my own good things--'

'Of course, of course!' cried Mr Dorrit, in a tone implying that there

were no other good things.

'--Unless at a high price. At what we are accustomed to term a very long

figure.'

Mr Dorrit laughed in the buoyancy of his spirit. Ha, ha, ha! Long

figure. Good. Ha. Very expressive to be sure!

'However,' said Mr Merdle, 'I do generally retain in my own hands the

power of exercising some preference--people in general would be pleased

to call it favour--as a sort of compliment for my care and trouble.'

'And public spirit and genius,' Mr Dorrit suggested.

Mr Merdle, with a dry, swallowing action, seemed to dispose of those

qualities like a bolus; then added, 'As a sort of return for it. I will

see, if you please, how I can exert this limited power (for people are

jealous, and it is limited), to your advantage.' 'You are very good,'

replied Mr Dorrit. 'You are very good.'

'Of course,' said Mr Merdle, 'there must be the strictest integrity

and uprightness in these transactions; there must be the purest faith

between man and man; there must be unimpeached and unimpeachable

confidence; or business could not be carried on.'

Mr Dorrit hailed these generous sentiments with fervour.

'Therefore,' said Mr Merdle, 'I can only give you a preference to a

certain extent.'

'I perceive. To a defined extent,' observed Mr Dorrit.

'Defined extent. And perfectly above-board. As to my advice, however,'

said Mr Merdle, 'that is another matter. That, such as it is--'

Oh! Such as it was! (Mr Dorrit could not bear the faintest appearance of

its being depreciated, even by Mr Merdle himself.)

'--That, there is nothing in the bonds of spotless honour between myself

and my fellow-man to prevent my parting with, if I choose. And that,'

said Mr Merdle, now deeply intent upon a dust-cart that was passing the

windows, 'shall be at your command whenever you think proper.'

New acknowledgments from Mr Dorrit. New passages of Mr Merdle's hand

over his forehead. Calm and silence. Contemplation of Mr Dorrit's

waistcoat buttons by Mr Merdle.

'My time being rather precious,' said Mr Merdle, suddenly getting up,

as if he had been waiting in the interval for his legs and they had just

come, 'I must be moving towards the City. Can I take you anywhere, sir?

I shall be happy to set you down, or send you on. My carriage is at your

disposal.'

Mr Dorrit bethought himself that he had business at his banker's. His

banker's was in the City. That was fortunate; Mr Merdle would take

him into the City. But, surely, he might not detain Mr Merdle while he

assumed his coat? Yes, he might and must; Mr Merdle insisted on it. So

Mr Dorrit, retiring into the next room, put himself under the hands of

his valet, and in five minutes came back glorious.

Then said Mr Merdle, 'Allow me, sir. Take my arm!' Then leaning on

Mr Merdle's arm, did Mr Dorrit descend the staircase, seeing the

worshippers on the steps, and feeling that the light of Mr Merdle shone

by reflection in himself. Then the carriage, and the ride into the

City; and the people who looked at them; and the hats that flew off grey