Beyond devising that very artful and politic measure of leaving a card for Mr Dombey daily, the brain of Mr Toots had not worked much in reference to the subject that held his feelings prisoner. But deep consideration at length assured Mr Toots that an important step to gain, was, the conciliation of Miss Susan Nipper, preparatory to giving her some inkling of his state of mind.
A little light and playful gallantry towards this lady seemed the means to employ in that early chapter of the history, for winning her to his interests. Not being able quite to make up his mind about it, he consulted the Chicken - without taking that gentleman into his confidence; merely informing him that a friend in Yorkshire had written to him (Mr Toots) for his opinion on such a question. The Chicken replying that his opinion always was, 'Go in and win,' and further, 'When your man's before you and your work cut out, go in and do it,' Mr Toots considered this a figurative way of supporting his own view of the case, and heroically resolved to kiss Miss Nipper next day.
Upon the next day, therefore, Mr Toots, putting into requisition some of the greatest marvels that Burgess and Co. had ever turned out, went off to Mr Dotnbey's upon this design. But his heart failed him so much as he approached the scene of action, that, although he arrived on the ground at three o'clock in the afternoon, it was six before he knocked at the door.
Everything happened as usual, down to the point where Susan said her young mistress was well, and Mr Toots said it was ofno consequence. To her amazement, Mr Toots, instead of going off, like a rocket, after that observation, lingered and chuckled.
'Perhaps you'd like to walk upstairs, Sir!' said Susan.
'Well, I think I will come in!' said Mr Toots.
But instead of walking upstairs, the bold Toots made an awkward plunge at Susan when the door was shut, and embracing that fair creature, kissed her on the cheek
'Go along with you!~ cried Susan, 'or Ill tear your eyes out.'
'Just another!' said Mr Toots.
'Go along with you!' exclaimed Susan, giving him a push 'Innocents like you, too! Who'll begin next? Go along, Sir!'
Susan was not in any serious strait, for she could hardly speak for laughing; but Diogenes, on the staircase, hearing a rustling against the wall, and a shuffling of feet, and seeing through the banisters that there was some contention going on, and foreign invasion in the house, formed a different opinion, dashed down to the rescue, and in the twinkling of an eye had Mr Toots by the leg.
Susan screamed, laughed, opened the street-door, and ran downstairs; the bold Toots tumbled staggering out into the street, with Diogenes holding on to one leg of his pantaioons, as if Burgess and Co. were his cooks, and had provided that dainty morsel for his holiday entertainment; Diogenes shaken off, rolled over and over in the dust, got up' again, whirled round the giddy Toots and snapped at him: and all this turmoil Mr Carker, reigning up his horse and sitting a little at a distance, saw to his amazement, issue from the stately house of Mr Dombey.
Mr Carker remained watching the discomfited Toots, when Diogenes was called in, and the door shut: and while that gentleman, taking refuge in a doorway near at hand, bound up the torn leg of his pantaloons with a costly silk handkerchief that had formed part of his expensive outfit for the advent
'I beg your pardon, Sir,' said Mr Carker, riding up, with his most propitiatory smile. 'I hope you are not hurt?'
'Oh no, thank you,' replied Mr Toots, raising his flushed face, 'it's of no consequence' Mr Toots would have signified, if he could, that he liked it very much.
'If the dog's teeth have entered the leg, Sir - ' began Carker, with a display of his own'
'No, thank you,' said Mr Toots, 'it's all quite right. It's very comfortable, thank you.'
'I have the pleasure of knowing Mr Dombey,' observed Carker.
'Have you though?' rejoined the blushing Took
'And you will allow me, perhaps, to apologise, in his absence,' said Mr Carker, taking off his hat, 'for such a misadventure, and to wonder how it can possibly have happened.'
Mr Toots is so much gratified by this politeness, and the lucky chance of making frends with a friend of Mr Dombey, that he pulls out his card-case which he never loses an opportunity of using, and hands his name and address to Mr Carker: who responds to that courtesy by giving him his own, and with that they part.
As Mr Carker picks his way so softly past the house, looking up at the windows, and trying to make out the pensive face behind the curtain looking at the children opposite, the rough head of Diogenes came clambering up close by it, and the dog, regardless of all soothing, barks and growls, and makes at him from that height, as ifhe would spring down and tear him limb from limb.
Well spoken, Di, so near your Mistress! Another, and another with your head up, your eyes flashing, and your vexed mouth worrying itself, for want of him! Another, as he picks his way along! You have a good scent, Di, - cats, boy, cats!
经理卡克先生坐在办公桌前，像平日一样，脸孔光滑，皮肤柔嫩，正阅读着那些正等待他去拆开的信件，有时还按照信件业务内容的要求写上批注和指示，并把它们区分成几个小堆，以便分送到公司的各个不同部门。这天早上收到大量信件，经理卡克先生有许多工作要做。
从事于这种工作的人的动作——看着手中的一叠公文，把它们分成几个不同的部分，拿起另一叠公文，皱着眉头，噘着嘴唇，研究着它们的内容——轮流不断地处理，分类，思考着——，很容易使人联想到这与玩牌的人有某些奇异的相似之处。经理卡克先生的脸孔完全符合这个想法。这是一个精心研究纸牌的人的脸孔：他使自己成为行家能手，完全懂得怎样打牌是上算，怎样打牌是失策；他把所有在他面前打出来的牌都记在心上，准确无误地知道哪些牌已经打出来了。哪些牌还没有打了，它们能搭配成什么；他巧妙地推算出其他人手上有些什么牌，但却从不泄露他自己手上的牌。
信件是用各种语言写的，但是经理卡克先生把它们全都看过。如果董贝父子公司的办公室中有什么东西他•不•能看的话，那就好像一副牌中缺少了一张似的。他差不多匆匆溜上一眼就把一个信件看过，然后一边看一边把一封信和另一封信分在一起，把一件业务和另一件业务搭配在一起，同时在小堆上增添上新的材料，这很像一个看一眼就能把好多牌认出来的人，在配牌之后，就在心中设想好它们如何组合一样。作为打牌的搭档来说，他是有些太狡猾了；作为打牌的对手来说，他是太老奸巨猾了，经理卡克先生就这样坐在从天窗斜照到他身上的阳光中，独自玩着他的纸牌。
一长条夏日的阳光照射到桌子和地面，桌子和地面仿佛是一个弯曲的日晷仪，坐在阳光中取暖的经理卡克先生本人是这个日晷议上唯一的身形；虽然不论野猫还是家猫都没有玩牌的天性，但这时候的经理卡克先生却从头到脚都很像是只猫。他的头发和连鬓胡子一直缺乏色泽，在明亮的阳光中就比平时更加显得暗淡，更加像那沙色的玳瑁猫身上的毛了；他的长长的指甲削得漂亮、尖利；他生性厌恶任何细小的污点，所以不时停下来注视着正在落下的微尘，把它们从他光滑的手上或光亮的亚麻布衣服上拂去；经理卡克先生态度狡猾，牙齿锐利，脚步柔软，眼睛机警，舌头油滑，心地残酷，服装漂亮，他就这样极为坚定和耐心地坐在那里工作，仿佛他正在一个耗子洞口守候着似的。
终于他把所有的信件都处理完了，只有一封他留着准备仔细阅读。经理卡克先生把比较机密的信件都锁到一个抽屉里以后，按了一下铃。
“为什么是•你应声前来？”他这样接待他的哥哥。
“信差出去了。除了他，就数我的职位最低了，”这是恭顺的回答。
“除了他，就数你的职位最低了？”经理卡克低声说道，“不错！这是我的莫大光荣！那里！”
他指着那一堆拆开的信件，在扶手椅中不屑一顾地转开身子，把手上拿着的那封信的封印撕破。
“对不起，我不打搅你了，詹姆士，”他的哥哥收集着信件，说道，“不过——”
“哦，你想跟我说话，我早知道这点。唔？”
经理卡克先生没有把眼睛抬起来，也没有把它们转向他的哥哥，而是继续停留在那封信上，虽然他还没有把它展开。
“唔？”他尖刻地重复了一声。
“我为哈里特感到不安。”
“哈里特是谁？哪一位哈里特？我不认识叫这名字的人。”
“她身体不好，最近变化很大。”
“她好多年以前就变化很大，”经理回答道，“这就是我所要说的一切。”
“我想如果你肯听我说一说——”
“为什么我要听你说，约翰哥哥？”经理回答道，他在最后四个字上加上讽刺的强调语气，同时把头一仰，但没有抬起眼睛。“我告诉你，哈里特•卡克好多年以前就已在她的两个兄弟之间作出了选择。她可以后悔这一点，但是她必须继续坚持下去。”
“别误会了我的意思。我不是说她真的后悔了。我要是暗示这样的事，我真是极大的忘恩负义了，”那一位回答道，“虽然，请相信我，詹姆士，我和你一样为她作出的牺牲而难过。”
“和我一样？”经理喊道，“和我一样吗？”
“我为她的选择——为你所说的她的选择而难过，就和你为它而发怒一样，”职位低的那一位说道。
“发怒？”另一位露出宽阔的牙齿，重复道。
“不高兴。你爱用什么字眼都可以。你明白我的意思。我没有冒犯你的意图。”
“你不论做什么事情都在冒犯我。”他的弟弟突然绷着脸、皱着眉头向他怒目而视，回答道；片刻之后又露出了比先前更宽阔的微笑。“劳驾你，把这些公文拿走吧。我忙着。”
他的礼貌比愤怒尖刻得多，所以职位低的那一位就向门口走去。但是他在门口停住，向四周看了一下，说道：
“当你第一次正当地表示愤怒和我第一次蒙受耻辱的时候，哈里特曾经徒劳地试图在你面前为我求情；后来她离开了你，詹姆士，来分担我的不幸的命运；在她用错了的感情的影响下，她把她自己献身给一位身败名裂的弟弟，因为没有她他就没有什么人了，他就会死去；那时候她年轻，漂亮。我想如果你现在看到她——如果你肯去看她的话，她会引起你的钦佩和怜悯的。”
经理低着头，露出牙齿，似乎想要回答无足轻重的什么闲聊似地说一句，“哎呀，这是真的吗？”可是他却一句话也没有说。
“我们在那些日子里，你和我都这么想，她将在年轻的时候出嫁，过幸福的、无忧无虑的生活，”另一位继续说道，“啊，如果你知道她是多么愉快地抛弃了这些希望，她是多么愉快地在她所走上的道路上前进，一次也没有往后回顾的话，那么你就决不会再说她的名字在你的耳朵里是陌生的了。决不会的！”
经理又低下头，露出牙齿，似乎要说，“这确实了不起！
你真使我大吃一惊！”可是他又一句话也没有说。
“我可以继续说下去吗？”约翰•卡克温和地问道。
“说你要走了吗？”笑嘻嘻的弟弟回答道，“如果你肯行个好，那就请吧。”
约翰•卡克叹了一口气，正慢吞吞地走出门口，这时他弟弟的声音又把他在门槛上留住了片刻。
“如果她已经愉快地走过并正在继续走着她自己的道路的话，”他把那封仍然没有展开的信扔到办公桌上，把手坚决地伸进衣袋里，说，“那么你可以告诉她，我也同样愉快地走着我自己的道路。如果她一次也没有往后回顾的话，那么你可以告诉她，我有时却往后回顾，以便回忆她是怎样走到你那边去的；你可以告诉她，要改变我的决心，不比搬走大理石容易。”这时他很快乐地微笑着。
“你的任何事情我都不告诉她。我们从来不谈论你。每年一次，在你的生日，哈里特老是这样说，‘让我们记得詹姆士，祝愿他幸福吧。’但是我们就不再说别的了。”
“那就请告诉你自己吧，”另一位回答道，“你跟我谈话的时候务必避开这个话题。你可以把这作为一个教训，不断地重复地记住它。我不知道哈里特•卡克。世界上没有这样一个人。你可以有一个姐姐，对她赞不绝口。我没有。”
经理卡克又拿起那封信，带者嘲弄性的礼貌微笑了一下，挥着它，指向门口。他的哥哥开始往外走的时候，他把它展开；当他恶狠狠地目送着他离开房间以后，他在扶手椅子中又转回了身子，开始专心地阅读这封信。
这是他的伟大的老板董贝先生的亲笔信，从莱明顿寄出的。虽然卡克先生看其他的信都看得很快，但这封信他却慢慢读着，琢磨着每一个字，所有的牙齿都对着它们。他读完一遍以后，又重新读了一遍，特别注意以下这些段落：“我觉得这次变换环境对我有益，我现在还不打算确定回来的日期。”“我希望，卡克，您能设法到这里来一趟看看我，让我亲自了解业务的进展情况。”“我忘了跟您谈起年轻人盖伊。如果他还没有乘‘儿子和继承人’出发，或者如果‘儿子和继承人’还停泊在码头，那就指派另外的年轻人去，把他暂时留在城里。我还没有打定主意。”
“现在可真不幸！”经理卡克先生说，一边把嘴张开得大大的，仿佛它是由橡皮做成似的；“因为他已经离开得远远的了。”
仍旧是这作为附言的一段再一次吸引了他的注意和他的牙齿。
“我想，”他说，“我的好朋友卡特尔船长那天曾说过，盖伊今后会被绳子拖着前进。真可惜，他已经离开得远远的了。”
他把这封信重新折叠好，坐在那里玩弄着它，使它纵立和横立在桌子上，又把它这样那样地转来转去，这时信差珀奇先生轻轻地敲了敲门，踮着脚走了进来，每走一步都要弯一下身子，仿佛鞠躬是他生活中最大的乐事似的；他把几页公文放在桌子上。
“您还在忙着，是不是，先生？”珀奇先生问道，一边搓着手，毕恭毕敬地把头歪向一侧，仿佛他觉得，在这样一位人物面前他是没有权利竖着头似的，他真愿意把它往一侧尽量歪过去。
“谁想见我？”
“唔，先生，”珀奇先生低声说道，“现在，先生，实际上并没有值得一提的人。船舶仪器制造商吉尔斯先生到这里来谈到付款方面的一点事情，可是我对他说，先生，您非常忙，非常忙。”
珀奇先生用手遮着嘴巴咳嗽了一次，等待着进一步的指示。
“还有别的人吗？”
“唔，先生，”珀奇先生说道，“我不敢冒昧地向您报告，先生，还有什么别的人；不过昨天和上星期曾经到这里来的那个年轻小伙子，先生，还一直在附近闲荡；先生，”珀奇先生停了一下去关上门，然后继续说道，“看他在庭院里向麻雀吹口哨，并叫它们回答他，这实在是十分不得体的。”
“你说他想找工作做，是不是，珀奇？”卡克先生仰靠在椅子上，望着这位办事员，问道。
“唔，先生，”珀奇先生说道，一边用手遮着嘴巴咳嗽，“他确实直率地说过他需要找一个工作，他认为可以在码头上给他找个事做做，因为他过去经常用钓竿钓鱼，不过——”珀奇先生十分怀疑地摇着头。
“他来的时候说了些什么话？”卡克先生问道。
“确实，先生，”珀奇先生说道，一边又用手遮着嘴巴咳嗽；当他想不出别的法子的时候，就经常用这来表示他的谦恭，“他的意见总的来说，就是他低声下气地请求见一见这里的一位先生，而且还想挣点钱维持生活。可是，您瞧，先生，”珀奇先生把他的声音压低成私语，补充说道；为了使他的秘密万无一失起见，他又转过身子，用手和膝盖把门推了一推；虽然门早已关上了，但这样推一下仿佛会使它关得更严实一些似的；“这实在难以令人容忍，先生，像他那样普普通通的一个小伙子竟居然敢窜到这里来，说他的母亲曾经给我们公司的少爷当过奶妈，他希望我们公司因为这个缘故能给他一个机会。说实在的，先生，”珀奇先生说，“虽然珀奇太太那时候曾经用奶把一个小女孩子喂得十分健壮，先生，我们曾经冒昧地把她也算作我们家里的一个成员，可是那时我还不敢放肆地暗示，她能够给我们公司的少爷喂奶，这样的口气我从来没有透露过！”
卡克先生像鲨鱼一样向他咧着嘴笑，但露出心不在焉、若有所思的神情。
“是不是，”珀奇先生在短短的沉默和再咳嗽了一次以后，恭恭敬敬地说道，“最好由我对他说，如果他再到这里来的话，就要把他监禁起来，永远不放出来！至于说对他施行暴力恐吓，”珀奇先生说道，“就我本人来说，我生性是个胆小的人，先生，珀奇太太的状况又把我的神经弄得十分混乱，因此我是很容易屈服招供的。”
“让我看一看这个家伙，珀奇，”卡克先生说，“把他领进来！”
“遵命，先生。请原谅，先生，”珀奇先生在门口迟疑地说道，“他的外貌是粗野的，先生。”
“没关系。如果他在这里的话，那么就把他领进来吧。我过一会儿就接见吉尔斯先生，请他等一下。”
珀奇先生鞠了个躬，严严实实、小小心心地把门关好，仿佛他准备一个星期也不再回到这里来似的，然后他走到庭院里往麻雀中间去寻找。他走了以后，卡克先生在壁炉前面采取了他所喜爱的姿势，站在那里看着门；他收缩下唇，露出微笑，显露出上面的整排牙齿，奇怪地戒备着，就像猫蹲在那里等待耗子似的。
信差不久就回来了，跟随着他的是笨重的长统皮靴在走廊里咯噔咯噔的响声，就像击拳的声音一样。珀奇先生很不客气地喊了一声：“你过来！”——这是从他嘴里说出的很不寻常的引见方式——然后领进了一个体格强壮、十五岁的小伙子；他脸孔圆圆的、红红的，头圆圆的、光光的，眼睛圆圆的、黑黑的，手和脚圆圆的，身体圆圆的，手里还拿着一顶圆圆的、完全没有帽檐的帽子，这使他整个身姿的圆形达到了完备无缺的地步。
珀奇先生刚把这位来访的人领到卡克先生面前，看到卡克先生向他点了一下头，就立刻顺从地退下去了。等到他们两人开始单独面对面的时候，卡克先生预先没有说一句话，就抓住他的喉咙，摇晃着他的身子，直到他的头似乎就要离开肩膀为止。
那孩子在万分惊讶之中，不由自主疯狂似地凝视着这位露出这么多白牙、把他卡得不能透气的先生和办公室的墙壁，仿佛他已下定了决心，如果他真被窒息死去的话，那么他最后一眼也得把他由于闯到这里而遭到如此恶厉惩罚的秘密给探究出来似的；他终于发出了声音：
“好啦，先生！您放开我吧，好不好！”
“放开你！”卡克先生说道，“什么！我已经抓住你了，是不是？”这点是毫无疑问的，而且是抓得紧紧的。“你这条狗，”
卡克先生咬牙切齿地说道，“我要勒死你！”
拜勒抽噎着。他果真要勒死他吗？啊，不，他不会的！那么他为什么要那么做呢？他为什么不勒死跟他个子相同的什么人，而要勒死他呢？可是拜勒被这不寻常的接待方式压制得完全驯服；当他的头安定下来，不再摇晃，他望着那位先生的脸，更正确地说，望着他的牙齿，看到他对他咆哮如雷的时候，他竟完全忘掉了他的丈夫气概，放声大哭起来。
“我没有做什么对不起你的事情，先生，”拜勒说道；他就是罗布，也就是磨工，而且永远是图德尔。
“你这年轻的无赖！”卡克先生回答道，一边慢慢地放开了他，并往后退了一步，恢复了他所喜爱的姿势，“你胆敢跑到这里来，打算干什么？”
“我没有什么坏的用意，先生，”罗布啜泣着，一只手抚摸着喉咙，另一只手的指节擦着眼睛。“我再也不到这里来了，先生。我只是想找工作做。”
“工作？你是个年轻的该隐！①”卡克先生逼视着他，说道，“难道你不是伦敦最游手好闲的流浪汉吗？”
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①该隐：圣经故事中说，该隐是亚当的长子，曾杀死弟弟亚伯。圣经认为它是人类历史上的第一桩凶杀案。
这个指责虽然很影响小图德尔先生的情绪，但却完全符合他的身份，所以他说不出一句否认的话。他就站在那里，怀着惊恐不安、自知有罪、悔恨不已的神情望着这位先生。
可以指出一点的是，当他望着他的时候，他被卡克先生强烈地吸引住了，圆圆的眼睛片刻也没有离开他。
“你不是一个小偷吗？”卡克先生手插在衣袋里，说道。
“不是，先生。”罗布争辩道。
“你就是！”卡克先生说。
“我确实不是，先生，”罗布啜泣着说道，“我没有干过偷窃的事情，先生，请相信我。我知道，自从我开始逮捕鸟儿、追赶鸟儿以后，我就走上错误的道路了。毫无疑问，一般人也许会想，”小图德尔万分后悔地说道，“唱歌的鸟儿是天真无邪的伴侣。可是谁也不知道这些小东西有多大害处，它们会给你带来什么结果。”
看来，它们已经给他带来的结果是，他只有一件棉绒短上衣，一条破烂得不好穿的裤子，一件特别小、像护喉甲胄一般的红背心，背心下面露出蓝色的花格子衬衫，还有就是前面提到的那顶帽子。
“自从这些鸟儿叫我着了迷以后，我已经有二十次没有待在家里了，”罗布说道，“已经有十个月了。他们每个人看到我都伤心，我怎么能回家呢！我不明白，”拜勒放声哇哇大哭起来，并用袖头擦着眼睛，说道，“为什么我老早以前没有跳到水里去把自己淹死呢。”
孩子说所有这些话（包括他对他没有完成最后这稀罕的业绩表示惊奇的话）的时候，就仿佛卡克先生的牙齿从他嘴里把话拉出来似的；在这排炮般强烈的吸引力下，他无法隐瞒任何事情
Chapter 23
Florence solitary, and the Midshipman mysterious
Florence lived alone in the great dreary house, and day succeeded day, and still she lived alone; and the blank walls looked down upon her with a vacant stare, as if they had a Gorgon-like mind to stare her youth and beauty into stone.
No magic dwelling-place in magic story, shut up in the heart of a thick wood, was ever more solitary and deserted to the fancy, than was her father's mansion in its grim reality, as it stood lowering on the street: always by night, when lights were shining from neighbouring windows, a blot upon its scanty brightness; always by day, a frown upon its never-smiling face.
There were not two dragon sentries keeping ward before the gate of this above, as in magic legend are usually found on duty over the wronged innocence imprisoned; but besides a glowering visage, with its thin lips parted wickedly, that surveyed all comers from above the archway of the door, there was a monstrous fantasy of rusty iron, curling and twisting like a petrifaction of an arbour over threshold, budding in spikes and corkscrew points, and bearing, one on either side, two ominous extinguishers, that seemed to say, 'Who enter here, leave light behind!' There were no talismanic characters engraven on the portal, but the house was now so neglected in appearance, that boys chalked the railings and the pavement - particularly round the corner where the side wall was - and drew ghosts on the stable door; and being sometimes driven off by Mr Towlinson, made portraits of him, in return, with his ears growing out horizontally from under his hat. Noise ceased to be, within the shadow of the roof. The brass band that came into the street once a week, in the morning, never brayed a note in at those windows; but all such company, down to a poor little piping organ of weak intellect, with an imbecile party of automaton dancers, waltzing in and out at folding-doors, fell off from it with one accord, and shunned it as a hopeless place.
The spell upon it was more wasting than the spell that used to set enchanted houses sleeping once upon a time, but left their waking freshness unimpaired. The passive desolation of disuse was everywhere silently manifest about it. Within doors, curtains, drooping heavily, lost their old folds and shapes, and hung like cumbrous palls. Hecatombs of furniture, still piled and covered up, shrunk like imprisoned and forgotten men, and changed insensibly. Mirrors were dim as with the breath of years. Patterns of carpets faded and became perplexed and faint, like the memory of those years' trifling incidents. Boards, starting at unwonted footsteps, creaked and shook. Keys rusted in the locks of doors. Damp started on the walls, and as the stains came out, the pictures seemed to go in and secrete themselves. Mildew and mould began to lurk in closets. Fungus trees grew in corners of the cellars. Dust accumulated, nobody knew whence nor how; spiders, moths, and grubs were heard of every day. An exploratory blackbeetle now and then was found immovable upon the stairs, or in an upper room, as wondering how he got there. Rats began to squeak and scuffle in the night time, through dark galleries they mined behind the panelling.
