How the accomplished gentleman spent the evening in the midst of adazzling and brilliant circle; how he enchanted all those withwhom he mingled by the grace of his deportment, the politeness ofhis manner, the vivacity of his conversation, and the sweetness ofhis voice; how it was observed in every corner, that Chester was aman of that happy disposition that nothing ruffled him, that he wasone on whom the world"s cares and errors sat lightly as his dress,and in whose smiling face a calm and tranquil mind was constantlyreflected; how honest men, who by instinct knew him better,bowed down before him nevertheless, deferred to his every word, andcourted his favourable notice; how people, who really had good inthem, went with the stream, and fawned and flattered, and approved,and despised themselves while they did so, and yet had not thecourage to resist; how, in short, he was one of those who arereceived and cherished in society (as the phrase is) by scores whoindividually would shrink from and be repelled by the object oftheir lavish regard; are things of course, which will suggestthemselves. Matter so commonplace needs but a passing glance, andthere an end.
The despisers of mankind--apart from the mere fools and mimics, ofthat creed--are of two sorts. They who believe their meritneglected and unappreciated, make up one class; they who receiveadulation and flattery, knowing their own worthlessness, composethe other. Be sure that the coldest-hearted misanthropes are everof this last order.
Mr Chester sat up in bed next morning, sipping his coffee, andremembering with a kind of contemptuous satisfaction how he hadshone last night, and how he had been caressed and courted, whenhis servant brought in a very small scrap of dirty paper, tightlysealed in two places, on the inside whereof was inscribed in prettylarge text these words: "A friend. Desiring of a conference.
Immediate. Private. Burn it when you"ve read it."
"Where in the name of the Gunpowder Plot did you pick up this?"
said his master.
It was given him by a person then waiting at the door, the manreplied.
"With a cloak and dagger?" said Mr Chester.
With nothing more threatening about him, it appeared, than aleather apron and a dirty face. "Let him come in." In he came--MrTappertit; with his hair still on end, and a great lock in hishand, which he put down on the floor in the middle of the chamberas if he were about to go through some performances in which it wasa necessary agent.
"Sir," said Mr Tappertit with a low bow, "I thank you for thiscondescension, and am glad to see you. Pardon the menial office inwhich I am engaged, sir, and extend your sympathies to one, who,humble as his appearance is, has inn"ard workings far above hisstation."
Mr Chester held the bed-curtain farther back, and looked at himwith a vague impression that he was some maniac, who had not onlybroken open the door of his place of confinement, but had broughtaway the lock. Mr Tappertit bowed again, and displayed his legs tothe best advantage.
"You have heard, sir," said Mr Tappertit, laying his hand upon hisbreast, "of G. Varden Locksmith and bell-hanger and repairs neatlyexecuted in town and country, Clerkenwell, London?"
"What then?" asked Mr Chester.
"I"m his "prentice, sir."
"What THEN?"
"Ahem!" said Mr Tappertit. "Would you permit me to shut the door,sir, and will you further, sir, give me your honour bright, thatwhat passes between us is in the strictest confidence?"
Mr Chester laid himself calmly down in bed again, and turning aperfectly undisturbed face towards the strange apparition, whichhad by this time closed the door, begged him to speak out, and tobe as rational as he could, without putting himself to any verygreat personal inconvenience.
"In the first place, sir," said Mr Tappertit, producing a smallpocket-handkerchief and shaking it out of the folds, "as I have nota card about me (for the envy of masters debases us below thatlevel) allow me to offer the best substitute that circumstanceswill admit of. If you will take that in your own hand, sir, andcast your eye on the right-hand corner," said Mr Tappertit,offering it with a graceful air, "you will meet with mycredentials."
"Thank you," answered Mr Chester, politely accepting it, andturning to some blood-red characters at one end. ""Four. SimonTappertit. One." Is that the--"
"Without the numbers, sir, that is my name," replied the "prentice.
"They are merely intended as directions to the washerwoman, andhave no connection with myself or family. YOUR name, sir," said MrTappertit, looking very hard at his nightcap, "is Chester, Isuppose? You needn"t pull it off, sir, thank you. I observe E. C.
from here. We will take the rest for granted."
"Pray, Mr Tappertit," said Mr Chester, "has that complicated pieceof ironmongery which you have done me the favour to bring with you,any immediate connection with the business we are to discuss?"
"It has not, sir," rejoined the "prentice. "It"s going to befitted on a ware"us-door in Thames Street."
"Perhaps, as that is the case," said Mr Chester, "and as it has astronger flavour of oil than I usually refresh my bedroom with, youwill oblige me so far as to put it outside the door?"