CHAPTER XII.
IN WHICH THE QUESTION OF THE BREWERY IS SETTLED.
During the day or two immediately subsequent to the election, Mr.Tappitt found himself to be rather downhearted. The excitement of thecontest was over. He was no longer buoyed up by the consoling andalmost triumphant assurances of success for himself against his enemyRowan, which had been administered to him by those with whom he hadbeen acting on behalf of Mr. Hart. He was alone and thoughtful inhis counting-house, or else subjected to the pressure of his wife'sarguments in his private dwelling. He had never yet been won over tosay that he would agree to any proposition, but he knew that he mustnow form some decision. Rowan would not even wait till the lawsuitshould be decided by legal means. If Mr. Tappitt would not consentto one of the three propositions made to him, Rowan would at oncecommence the building of his new brewery. "He is that sort of man,"said Honyman, "that if he puts a brick down nothing in the world willprevent him from going on."
"Of course it won't," said Mrs. Tappitt. "Oh dear, oh dear, T.! ifyou go on in this way we shall all be ruined; and then people willsay that it was my fault, and that I ought to have had you inquiredinto about your senses."
Tappitt gnashed his teeth and rushed out of the dining-room back intohis brewery. Among all those who were around him there was not oneto befriend him. Even Worts had turned against him, and had receivednotice to go with a stern satisfaction which Tappitt had perfectlyunderstood.
Tappitt was in this frame of mind, and was seated on his officestool, with his hat over his eyes, when he was informed by one of theboys about the place that a deputation from the town had come to waitupon him;--so he pulled off his hat, and begged that the deputationmight be shown into the counting-house. The deputation consisted ofthree tradesmen who were desirous of convening a meeting with theview of discussing the petition against Mr. Cornbury's return toParliament, and they begged that Mr. Tappitt would take the chair.The meeting was to be held at the Dragon, and it was proposed thatafter the meeting there should be a little dinner. Mr. Tappitt wouldperhaps consent to take the chair at the dinner also. Mr. Tappittdid consent to both propositions, and when the deputation withdrew,he felt himself to be himself once more. His courage had returnedto him, and he would at once rebuke his wife for the impropriety ofthe words she had addressed to him. He would rebuke his wife, andwould then proceed to meet Mr. Sharpit the attorney, at the Dragon,and to take the chair at the meeting. It could not be that a youngadventurer such as Rowan could put down an old-established firm, suchas his own, or banish from the scene of his labours a man of suchstanding in the town as himself! It was all the fault of Honyman,--ofHonyman who never was firm on any matter. When the meeting should beover he would say a word or two to Sharpit, and see if he could notput the matter into better training.
With a heavy tread, a tread that was intended to mark hisdetermination, he ascended to the drawing-room and from thence to thebed-room above in which Mrs. Tappitt was then seated. She understoodthe meaning of the footfall, and knew well that it indicated apurpose of marital authority. A woman must have much less of naturalwit than had fallen to Mrs. Tappitt's share, who has not learned fromthe experience of thirty years the meaning of such marital signs andsounds. So she sat herself firmly in her seat, caught hold of thepetticoat which she was mending with a stout grasp, and preparedherself for the battle. "Margaret," said he, when he had carefullyclosed the door behind him, "I have come up to say that I do notintend to dine at home to-day."
"Oh, indeed," said she. "At the Dragon, I suppose then."
"Yes; at the Dragon. I've been asked to take the chair at a popularmeeting which is to be held with reference to the late election."
"Take the chair!"
"Yes, my dear, take the chair at the meeting and at the dinner."
"Now, T., don't you make a fool of yourself."
"No, I won't; but Margaret, I must tell you once for all that thatis not the way in which I like you to speak to me. Why you shouldhave so much less confidence in my judgment than other people inBaslehurst, I cannot conceive; but--"
"Now, T., look here; as for your taking the chair as you call it, ofcourse you can do it if you like it."
"Of course I can; and I do like it, and I mean to do it. But it isn'tonly about that I've come to speak to you. You said something to meto-day, before Honyman, that was very improper."
"What I say always is improper, I know."
"I don't suppose you could have intended to insinuate that youthought that I was a lunatic."
"I didn't say so."
"You said something like it."
"No, I didn't, T."
"Yes you did, Margaret."
"If you'll allow me for a moment, T., I'll tell you what I did say,and if you wish it, I'll say it again."
"No; I'd rather not hear it said again."
"But, T., I don't choose to be misunderstood, nor yetmisrepresented."
"I haven't misrepresented you."
"But I say you have misrepresented me. If I ain't allowed to speaka word, of course it isn't any use for me to open my mouth. I hopeI know what my duty is and I hope I've done it;--both by you, T.,and by the children. I know I'm bound to submit, and I hope I havesubmitted. Very hard it has been sometimes when I've seen thingsgoing as they have gone; but I've remembered my duty as a wife,and I've held my tongue when any other woman in England would havespoken out. But there are some things which a woman can't stand andshouldn't; and if I'm to see my girls ruined and left without a roofover their heads, or a bit to eat, or a thing to wear, it shan't befor want of a word from me."
"Didn't they always have plenty to eat?"
"But where is it to come from if you're going to rush openmouthedinto the lion's jaws in this way? I've done my duty by you, T., andno man nor yet no woman can say anything to the contrary. And if itwas myself only I'd see myself on the brink of starvation beforeI'd say a word; but I can't see those poor girls brought to beggarywithout telling you what everybody in Baslehurst is talking about;and I can't see you, T., behaving in such a way and sit by and holdmy tongue."
"Behave in what way? Haven't I worked like a horse? Do you meanto tell me that I am to give up my business, and my position, andeverything I have in the world, and go away because a young scoundrelcomes to Baslehurst and tells me that he wants to have my brewery? Itell you what, Margaret, if you think I'm that sort of man, you don'tknow me yet."
"I don't know about knowing you, T."
"No; you don't know me."
"If you come to that, I know very well that I have been deceived.I didn't want to speak of it, but now I must. I have been made tobelieve for these last twenty years that the brewery was all yourown, whereas it now turns out that you've only got a share in it, andfor aught I can see, by no means the best share. Why wasn't I toldall that before?"
"Woman!" shouted Mr. Tappitt.
"Yes; woman indeed! I suppose I am a woman, and therefore I'm to haveno voice in anything. Will you answer me one question, if you please?Are you going to that man, Sharpit?"
"Yes, I am."
"Then, Mr. Tappitt, I shall consult my brothers." Mrs. Tappitt'sbrothers were grocers in Plymouth; men whom Mr. Tappitt had neverloved. "They mayn't hold their heads quite as high as you do,--orrather as you used to do when people thought that the establishmentwas all your own; but such as it is nobody can turn them out oftheir shop in the Market-place. If you are going to Sharpit, I shallconsult them."
"You may consult the devil, if you like it."
"Oh, oh! very well, Mr. Tappitt. It's clear enough that you're notyourself any longer, and that somebody must take up your affairs andmanage them for you. If you'll follow my advice you'll stay at homethis evening and take a dose of physic and see Dr. Haustus quietly inthe morning."
"I shall do nothing of the kind."
"Very well. Of course I can't make you. As yet you're your ownmaster. If you choose to go to this silly meeting and then to drinkgin and water and to smoke bad tobacco till all hours at
the Dragon,and you in the dangerous state you are at present, I can't helpit. I don't suppose that anything I could do now, that is quiteimmediately, would enable me to put you under fitting restraint."
"Put me where?" Then Mr. Tappitt looked at his wife with a look thatwas intended to annihilate her, for the time being,--seeing that nowords that he could speak had any such effect,--and he hurried out ofthe room without staying to wash his hands or brush his hair beforehe went off to preside at the meeting.
Mrs. Tappitt remained where she was for about half an hour and thendescended among her daughters.
"Isn't papa going to dine at home?" said Augusta.
"No, my dear; your papa is going to dine with some friends of Mr.Hart's, the candidate who was beaten."
"And has he settled anything about the brewery?" Cherry asked.
"No; not as yet. Your papa is very much troubled about it, and I fearhe is not very well. I suppose he must go to this electioneeringdinner. When gentlemen take up that sort of thing, they must go onwith it. And as they wish your father to preside over the petition, Isuppose he he can't very well help himself."
"Is papa going to preside over the petition?" asked Augusta.
"Yes, my dear."
"I hope it won't cost him anything," said Martha. "People say thatthose petitions do cost a great deal of money."
"It's a very anxious time for me, girls; of course, you must all ofyou see that. I'm sure when we had our party I didn't think thingswere going to be as anxious as this, or I wouldn't have had a pennyspent in such a way as that. If your papa could bring himself to giveup the brewery, everything would be well."
"I do so wish he would," said Cherry, "and let us all go and live atTorquay. I do so hate this nasty dirty old place."
"I shall never live in a house I like so well," said Martha.
"The house is well enough, my dears, and so is the brewery, but itcan't be expected that your father should go on working for ever ashe does at present. It's too much for his strength;--a great deal toomuch. I can see it, though I don't suppose any one else can. No oneknows, only me, what your father has gone through in that brewery."
"But why doesn't he take Mr. Rowan's offer?" said Cherry.
"Everybody seems to say now that Rowan is ever so rich," saidAugusta.
"I suppose papa doesn't like the feeling of being turned out," saidMartha.
"He wouldn't be turned out, my dear; not the least in the world,"said Mrs. Tappitt. "I don't choose to interfere much myself because,perhaps, I don't understand it; but certainly I should like your papato retire. I have told him so; but gentlemen sometimes don't like tobe told of things."
Mrs. Tappitt could be very severe to her husband, could say to himterrible words if her spirit were put up, as she herself was wontto say. But she understood that it did not become her to speak illof their father before her girls. Nor would she willingly have beenheard by the servants to scold their master. And though she saidterrible things she said them with a conviction that they would nothave any terrible effect. Tappitt would only take them for whatthey were worth, and would measure them by the standard which hisold experience had taught him to adopt. When a man has been longconsuming red pepper, it takes much red pepper to stimulate hispalate. Had Mrs. Tappitt merely advised her husband, in properconjugal phraseology, to relinquish his trade and to retire toTorquay, her advice, she knew, would have had no weight. She waseager on the subject, feeling convinced that this plan of retirementwas for the good of the family generally, and therefore she hadadvocated it with energy. There may be those who think that a wifegoes too far in threatening a husband with a commission of lunacy,and frightening him with a prospect of various fatal diseases; butthe dose must be adapted to the constitution, and the palate that isaccustomed to large quantities of red pepper must have quantitieslarger than usual whenever some special culinary effect is to beachieved. On the present occasion Mrs. Tappitt went on talking tothe girls of their father in language that was quite eulogistic. Nothreat against the absent brewer passed her mouth,--or theirs. Butthey all understood each other, and were agreed that everything wasto be done to induce papa to accept Mr. Rowan's offer.
"Then," said Cherry, "he'll marry Rachel Ray, and she'll be mistressof the brewery house."
"Never!" said Mrs. Tappitt, very solemnly. "Never! He'll never besuch a fool as that."
"Never!" said Augusta. "Never!"
In the mean time the meeting went on at the Dragon. I can't say thatMr. Tappitt was on this occasion called upon to preside over thepetition. He was simply invited to take the chair at a meeting ofa dozen men at Baslehurst who were brought together by Mr. Sharpitin order that they might be induced by him to recommend Mr. Hart toemploy him, Mr. Sharpit, in getting up the petition in question; andin order that there might be some sufficient temptation to thesetwelve men to gather themselves together, the dinner at the Dragonwas added to the meeting. Mr. Tappitt took the chair in the big,uncarpeted, fusty room upstairs, in which masonic meetings were heldonce a month, and in which the farmers of the neighbourhood dinedonce a week, on market days. He took the chair and some seven oreight of his townsmen clustered round him. The others had sent wordthat they would manage to come in time for the dinner. Mr. Sharpit,before he put the brewer in his place of authority, prompted himas to what he was to do, and in the course of a quarter of an hourtwo resolutions, already prepared by Mr. Sharpit, had been passedunanimously. Mr. Hart was to be told by the assembled people ofBaslehurst that he would certainly be seated by a scrutiny, andhe was to be advised to commence his proceedings at once. Theseresolutions were duly committed to paper by one of Mr. Sharpit'sclerks, and Mr. Tappitt, before he sat down to dinner, signed aletter to Mr. Hart on behalf of the electors of Baslehurst. Whenthe work of the meeting was completed it still wanted half an hourto dinner, during which the nine electors of Baslehurst saunteredabout the yard of the inn, looked into the stables, talked to thelandlady at the bar, indulged themselves with gin and bitters,and found the time very heavy on their hands. They were ninedecent-looking, middle-aged men, dressed in black not of the newest,in swallow-tailed coats and black trousers, with chimney-pot hats,and red faces; and as they pottered about the premises of the Dragonthey seemed to be very little at their ease.
"What's up, Jim?" said one of the postboys to the ostler.
"Sharpit's got 'em all here to get some more money out of that ereJew gent;--that's about the ticket," said the ostler.
"He's a clever un," said the postboy.
At last the dinner was ready; and the total number of the partyhaving now completed itself, the liberal electors of Baslehurstprepared to enjoy themselves. No bargain had been made on thesubject, but it was understood by them all that they would not beasked to pay for their dinner. Sharpit would see to that. He wouldprobably know how to put it into his little bill; and if he failed inthat the risk was his own.
But while the body of the liberal electors was peeping into thestables and drinking gin and bitters, Mr. Sharpit and Mr. Tappittwere engaged in a private conference.
"If you come to me," said Sharpit, "of course I must take it up. Theetiquette of the profession don't allow me to decline."
"But why should you wish to decline?" said Tappitt, not altogetherpleased by Mr. Sharpit's manner.
"Oh, by no means; no. It's just the sort of work I like;--not much tobe made by it, but there's injury to be redressed and justice to bedone. Only you see poor Honyman hasn't got much of a practice left tohim, and I don't want to take his bread out of his mouth."
"But I'm not to be ruined because of that!"
"As I said before, if you bring the business to me I must take it up.I can't help myself, if I would. And if I do take it up I'll see youthrough it. Everybody who knows me knows that of me."
"I suppose I shall find you at home about ten to-morrow?"
"Yes; I'll be in my office at ten;--only you should think itwell over, you know, Mr. Tappitt. I've nothing to say against Mr.Honyman,--not a word. You'll remember that
, if you please, if thereshould be anything about it afterwards. Ah! you're wanted for thechair, Mr. Tappitt. I'll come and sit alongside of you, if you'llallow me."
The dinner itself was decidedly bad, and the company undoubtedlydull. I am inclined to think that every individual there would havedined more comfortably at home. A horrid mess concocted of old gravy,catsup, and bad wine was distributed under the name of soup. Thenthere came upon the table half a huge hake,--the very worst fish thatswims, a fish with which Devonshire is peculiarly invested. Some harddark brown mysterious balls were handed round, which on being openedwith a knife were found to contain sausage-meat, very greasy and byno means cooked through. Even the _dura ilia_ of the liberal electorsof Baslehurst declined to make acquaintance with these dainties.After that came the dinner, consisting of a piece of roast beef veryraw, and a leg of parboiled mutton, absolutely blue in its state ofrawness. When the gory mess was seen which displayed itself on thefirst incision made into these lumps of meat, the vice-presidentand one or two of his friends spoke out aloud. That hard and greasysausage-meat might have been all right for anything they knew to thecontrary, and the soup they had swallowed without complaint. But theydid know what should be the state of a joint of meat when broughtto the table, and therefore they spoke out in their anger. Tappitthimself said nothing that was intended to be carried beyond thewaiter, seeing that beer from his own brewery was consumed in the tapof the Dragon; but the vice-president was a hardware dealer with whomthe Dragon had but small connection of trade, and he sent terriblemessages down to the landlady, threatening her with the Blue Boar,the Mitre, and even with that nasty little pothouse the Chequers."What is it they expects for their three-and-sixpence?" said thelandlady, in her wrath; for it must be understood that Sharpit knewwell that he was dealing with one who understood the value of money,and that he did not feel quite sure of passing the dinner in Mr.Hart's bill. Then came a pie with crust an inch thick, which nobodycould eat, and a cabinet pudding, so called, full of lumps of suet.I venture to assert that each liberal elector there would have gota better dinner at home, and would have been served with greatercomfort; but a public dinner at an inn is the recognized relaxationof a middle-class Englishman in the provinces. Did he not attendsuch banquets his neighbours would conceive him to be constrainedby domestic tyranny. Others go to them, and therefore he goes also.He is bored frightfully by every speech to which he listens. He isdriven to the lowest depths of dismay by every speech which he iscalled upon to make. He is thoroughly disgusted when he is called onto make no speech. He has no point of sympathy with the neighboursbetween whom he sits. The wine is bad. The hot water is brought tohim cold. His seat is hard and crowded. No attempt is made at thepleasures of conversation. He is continually called upon to standup that he may pretend to drink a toast in honour of some person orinstitution for which he cares nothing; for the hero of the evening,as to whom he is probably indifferent; for the church, whichperhaps he never enters; the army, which he regards as a hotbed ofaristocratic insolence; or for the Queen, whom he reveres and lovesby reason of his nature as an Englishman, but against whose fulsomepraises as repeated to him ad nauseam in the chairman's speech hisvery soul unconsciously revolts. It is all a bore, trouble, ennui,nastiness, and discomfort. But yet he goes again and again,--becauseit is the relaxation natural to an Englishman. The Frenchman who sitsfor three hours tilted on the hind legs of a little chair with hisback against the window-sill of the cafe, with first a cup of coffeebefore him and then a glass of sugar and water, is perhaps as much tobe pitied as regards his immediate misery; but the liquids which heimbibes are not so injurious to him.
Mr. Tappitt with the eleven other liberal electors of Baslehurst wentthrough the ceremony of their dinner in the usual way. They drankthe health of the Queen, and of the volunteers of the county becausethere was present a podgy little grocer who had enrolled himself inthe corps and who was thus enabled to make a speech; and then theydrank the health of Mr. Hart, whose ultimate return for the boroughthey pledged themselves to effect. Having done so much for business,and having thus brought to a conclusion the political work of theevening, they adjourned their meeting to a cosy little parlournear the bar, and then they began to be happy. Some few of thenumber, including the angry vice-president, who sold hardware, tookthemselves home to their wives. "Mrs. Tongs keeps him sharp enough bythe ears," said Sharpit, winking to Tappitt. "Come along, old fellow,and we'll get a drop of something really hot." Tappitt winked backagain and shook his head with an affected laugh; but as he did so hethought of Mrs. T. at home, and the terrible words she had spoken tohim;--and at the same moment an idea came across him that Mr. Sharpitwas a very dangerous companion.
About half a dozen entered the cosy little parlour, and there theyremained for a couple of hours. While sitting in that cosy littleparlour they really did enjoy themselves. About nine o'clock theyhad a bit of the raw beef broiled, and in that guise it was pleasantenough; and the water was hot, and the tobacco was grateful and thestiffness of the evening was gone. The men chatted together andmade no more speeches, and they talked of matters which bore a trueinterest to them. Sharpit explained to them how each man might beassisted in his own business if this rich London tailor could bebrought in for the borough. And by degrees they came round to theaffairs of the brewery, and Tappitt, as the brandy warmed him, spokeloudly against Rowan.
"By George!" said the podgy grocer, "if anybody would offer me athousand a year to give up, I'd take it hopping."
"Then I wouldn't," said Tappitt, "and what's more, I won't. Butbrewing ain't like other businesses;--there's more in it than in mostothers."
"Of course there is," said Sharpit; "it isn't like any common trade."
"That's true too," said the podgy grocer.
A man usually receives some compensation for having gone through thepenance of the chairman's duties. For the remainder of the evening heis entitled to the flattery of his companions, and generally receivesit till they become tipsy and insubordinate. Tappitt had not thecharacter of an intemperate man, but on this occasion he did exceedthe bounds of a becoming moderation. The room was hot and the tobaccosmoke was thick. The wine had been bad and the brandy was strong.Sharpit, too, urged him to new mixtures and stronger denunciationsagainst Rowan, till at last, at eleven o'clock, when he took himselfto the brewery, he was not in a condition proper for the father ofsuch daughters or for the husband of such a wife.
"Shall I see him home?" said the podgy grocer to Mr. Sharpit.
Tappitt, with the suspicious quickness of a drunken man, turnedsharply upon the podgy and abashed grocer, and abused him for hisinsolence. He then made his way out of the inn-yard, and along theHigh Street, and down Brewery Lane to his own door, knowing the wayas well as though he had been sober, and passing over it as quickly.Nor did he fall or even stumble, though now and again he reeledslightly. And as he went the idea came strongly upon him thatSharpit was a dangerous man, and that perhaps at this very moment he,Tappitt, was standing on the brink of a precipice. Then he rememberedthat his wife would surely be watching for him, and as he made hisfirst attempt to insert the latch-key into the door his heart becameforgetful of the brandy, and sank low within his breast.
How affairs went between him and Mrs. Tappitt on that night I willnot attempt to describe. That she used her power with generosity I donot doubt. That she used it with discretion I am quite convinced. Onthe following morning at ten o'clock Tappitt was still in bed; buta note had been written by Mrs. T. to Messrs. Sharpit and Longfite,saying that the projected visit had, under altered circumstances,become unnecessary. That Tappitt's head was racked with pain, and hisstomach disturbed with sickness, there can be no doubt, and as littlethat Mrs. T. used the consequent weakness of her husband for purposesof feminine dominion; but this she did with discretion and even withkindness. Only a word or two was said as to the state in which he hadreturned home,--a word or two with the simple object of putting thatdominion on a firm basis. After that Mrs. Tappitt took his conditionas an est
ablished fact, administered to him the comforts of hermedicine-chest and teapot, excused his illness to the girls as havingbeen produced by the fish, and never left his bedside till she hadachieved her purpose. If ever a man got tipsy to his own advantage,Mr. Tappitt did so on that occasion. And if ever a man in thatcondition was treated with forbearing kindness by his wife, Mr.Tappitt was so treated then.
"Don't disturb yourself, T.," she said; "there's nothing wants doingin the brewery, and if it did what would it signify in comparisonwith your health? The brewery won't be much to you now, thankgoodness; and I'm sure you've had enough of it. Thirty years of suchwork as that would make any man sick and weak. I'm sure I don'twonder at your being ill;--not the least. The wonder is that you'veever stood up against it so long as you have. If you'll take myadvice you'll just turn round and try to sleep for an hour or so."
Tappitt took her advice at any rate, so far that he turned roundand closed his eyes. Up to this time he had not given way about thebrewery. He had uttered no word of assent. But he was graduallybecoming aware that he would have to yield before he would be allowedto put on his clothes. And now, in the base and weak condition ofhis head and stomach, yielding did not seem to him to be so verybad a thing. After all, the brewery was troublesome, the fight washarassing. Rowan was young and strong, and Mr. Sharpit was verydangerous. Rowan, too, had risen in his estimation as in that ofothers, and he could not longer argue, even to himself, that thestipulated income would not be paid. He did not sleep, but got intothat half-drowsy state in which men think of their existing affairs,but without any power of active thought. He knew that he ought to bein his counting-house and at work. He half feared that the world wasfalling away from him because he was not there. He was ashamed ofhimself, and sometimes almost entertained a thought of rising up andshaking off his lethargy. But his stomach was bad, and he could notbring himself to move. His head was tormented, and his pillow wassoft; and therefore there he lay. He wondered what was the time ofday, but did not think of looking at his watch which was under hishead. He heard his wife's steps about the room as she shaded somewindow from his eyes, or crept to the door to give some householdorder to one of her girls outside; but he did not speak to her,nor she to him. She did not speak to him as long as he lay theremotionless, and when he moved with a small low groan she merelyoffered him some beef tea.
It was nearly six o'clock, and the hour of dinner at the brewerywas long passed, when Mrs. Tappitt sat herself down by thebedside determined to reap the fruit of her victory. He had justraised himself in his bed and announced his intention of gettingup,--declaring, as he did so, that he would never again eat any ofthat accursed fish. The moment of his renovation had come upon him,and Mrs. Tappitt perceived that if he escaped from her now, theremight even yet be more trouble.
"It wasn't only the fish, T.," she said, with somewhat of sternnessin her eye.
"I hardly drank anything," said Tappitt.
"Of course I wasn't there to see what you took," said she; "but youwere very bad when you came home last night;--very bad indeed. Youcouldn't have got in at the door only for me."
"That's nonsense."
"But it is quite true. It's a mercy, T., that neither of the girlssaw you. Only think! But there'll be nothing more of that kind, I'msure, when we are out of this horrid place; and it wouldn't havehappened now, only for all this trouble."
To this Tappitt made no answer, but he grunted, and again said thathe thought he would get up.
"Of course it's settled now, T., that we're to leave this place."
"I don't know that at all."
"Then, T., you ought to know it. Come now; just look at the commonsense of the thing. If we don't give up the brewery what are we todo? There isn't a decent respectable person in the town in favourof our staying here, only that rascal Sharpit. You desired me thismorning to write and tell him you'd have nothing more to do withhim; and so I did." Tappitt had not seen his wife's letter to thelawyer,--had not asked to see it, and now became aware that his onlypossible supporter might probably have been driven away from him.Sharpit too, though dangerous as an enemy, was ten times moredangerous as a friend!
"Of course you'll take that young man's offer. Shall I sit down andwrite a line to Honyman, and tell him to come in the morning?"
Tappitt groaned again and again, said that he would get up, butMrs. T. would not let him out of bed till he had assented to herproposition that Honyman should be again invited to the brewery. Heknew well that the battle was gone from him,--had in truth known itthrough all those half-comatose hours of his bedridden day. But aman, or a nation, when yielding must still resist even in yielding.Tappitt fumed and fussed under the clothes, protesting that hissending for Honyman would be useless. But the letter was written inhis name and sent with his knowledge; and it was perfectly understoodthat that invitation to Honyman signified an unconditional surrenderon the part of Mr. Tappitt. One word Mrs. T. said as she allowed herhusband to escape from his prison amidst the blankets, one word bywhich to mark that the thing was done, and one word only. "I supposewe needn't leave the house for about a month or so,--because it wouldbe inconvenient about the furniture."
"Who's to turn you out if you stay for six months?" said Tappitt.
The thing was marked enough then, and Mrs. Tappitt retired in muffledtriumph,--retired when she had made all things easy for the simplestceremony of dressing.
"Just sponge your face, my dear," she said, "and put on yourdressing-gown, and come down for half an hour or so."
"I'm all right now," said Tappitt.
"Oh! quite so;--but I wouldn't go to the trouble of much dressing."Then she left him, descended the stairs, and entered the parlouramong her daughters. When there she could not abstain from oneblast of the trumpet of triumph. "Well, girls," she said, "it's allsettled, and we shall be in Torquay now before the winter."
"No!" said Augusta.
"That'll be a great change," said Martha.
"In Torquay before the winter!" said Cherry. "Oh, mamma, how cleveryou have been!"
"And now your papa is coming down, and you should thank him for whathe's doing for you. It's all for your sake that he's doing it."
Mr. Tappitt crept into the room, and when he had taken his seat inhis accustomed arm-chair, the girls went up to him and kissed him.Then they thanked him for his proposed kindness in taking them out ofthe brewery.
"Oh, papa, it is so jolly!" said Cherry.
Mr. Tappitt did not say much in answer to this;--but luckily therewas no necessity that he should say anything. It was an occasion onwhich silence was understood as giving a perfect consent.