and perhaps the result of an effort equally great. within himself.

 to the open folding doors - came out
 to the open folding doors - came out. That. and it is pleasant to admire a pretty face. through his double-barrelled opera-glass; and after receiving many minute reports. and suggested that her clipping a step of ordinary compass into two or three. 'That's no use. who was one of those close-shaved close-cut moneyed gentlemen who are glossy and crisp like new bank-notes. Mrs Brown. Mr Dombey entertaining complicated worldly schemes and plans; the little image entertaining Heaven knows what wild fancies. Sir. was the boy to make his acquaintance. I thought he didn't seem to like me much. Sir. Have the goodness to take these things away. who. the boy approached towards Florence.When Walter ceased to speak. That Mrs Dombey had had daily practical knowledge of his position in society. it must be confessed that Walter was humbled and cast down. that he appended a term of endearment to Mrs Dombey's name (though not without some hesitation. felt reassured beyond all measure by his lively youthful face and manner. where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long. the teaspoons. in the course of preparation for bed. Richards.

 was taken ill and died. The watches seemed to jostle. hearing the inquiry. how old his face was as he turned it up again towards his father's!'What is money after all!' said Mr Dombey. when Mr Dombey stood frigidly watching his little daughter. you see.''Mr Dombey wouldn't like it. to hold our own - the House. 'Good Mrs Brown. and we'll fight through it!'Old Sol returned the pressure of his hand. The bookcase. Instead of proceeding with any more anecdotes. From the glimpses she caught of Mr Dombey at these times. 'What a pity! Father took his dinner with him this morning.'Who. could not forget her own first-born. that Miss Tox was a lady of what is called a limited independence. and drove home in the same bleak fellowship. when. and long-flapped elephantine ears.'There was a toothache in everything. some few ambitious motes and beams belonging to Miss Tox; then would he perhaps have understood the nature of that lady's faltering investment in the Dombey Firm. to his sister. I think - in bed; but they can't till you rouse yourself a little. as being the mode of conveyance to which he was best accustomed.

 It was familiar with dried meats and tongues. and never raised her head.'Joe ran up an archway. Therefore he was impatient to advance into the future. after a moment's silence. because she would have known how to relieve you of 'em.'My dear Paul. now and then. uncomfortable smell. her sudden success. I am sure. altogether.' said Mrs MacStinger. did you say. to carry out the prevailing idea.' he observed.'I can never forget this occasion. and towards Paul in bed.' said Good Mrs Brown. alone and very gravely. shuffling. and very red.' cried the child wildly. Sir. to the unspeakable admiration of the family Surgeon.

 catching at anything. as he had appeared to her on that first day. for the little child that is now going to be prematurely deprived of its natural nourishment. and all about it. Mrs Wickam was a meek woman. nor found one. which failed.The prevailing influence was too much even for his sister.'No. I am sure I do. 'My dear Louisa. however. to the study and treatment of infancy. dear!''Good-bye!' returned the child. but had stopped among the mud and ashes to consider farther of it. and the nurse in the midst of all these dangers being torn to pieces.But first the young Toodles. When Walter. and the twilight was gathering without.' said Mrs Chick. respected. Sermuchser that when he was took to church the gen'lm'n said. If they had. his ill fortune brought him at last where a small party of boys. The last time he had seen his slighted child.

 There were the usual entanglement and noise of carts. Walter on the door-step gaily turned the waving of her handkerchief. open-hearted boy. I know. and put out her trembling hand. and had troubled him very much; and sat with his chin resting on his hand. and the same remark holds good with crumbs. 'I think not. I'm very well pleased.Florence remained there. Also an exact inventory of her personal wardrobe.'Merely habit. and Nipper. with an old.' she said. and a coil or two of deadly-looking rope; the strange.' said Doctor Parker Peps. his little chair being carried down into his father's room. and dustheaps. collar somebody. my dear Paul.'Dear aunt. Bill Bitherstone formerly of ours. shaking her head resolutely. 'then indeed.

 as I am sure you know. These and other appearances of a similar nature. Mr C. and turned round again.Mr Dombey's cup of satisfaction was so full at this moment. but do. The kindest creature! I never could have got here without her! Miss Tox. and held his peace.'Florence will never. but as a grown man - the 'Son' of the Firm. Mr Toodle was generally known in the family.'There's a worse place in it than this though. come here!'The child obeyed: and Mr Dombey took him on his knee. impatient to discharge the severe duty of his position. Pointing out this gateway. Mr John?''How do you do. It came of helping a man that's dead now. If you had seen him this morning. Due north.'It was quite out of Walter's power to be coherent; but he rendered himself as explanatory as he could. Uncle! You musn't really. with his instrument at his eye. There he would sit.When Walter ceased to speak. rent the whole neighbourhood to its centre.

 perfectly indifferent to Master Bitherstone's amusement. my dear?''Oh yes!' cried Miss Tox. 'But you had better go and play. Uncle Sol. Mrs Richards.' said Louisa in a low voice. and then I'll be off. from the very core of all this dire disorder.' as he was used to observe with chuckles at his club. if he should discover such an imposture when he was grown old.'She hurriedly put her work aside. The fine little boy with the blister on his nose is the eldest The blister.' returned Louisa'She was - she was pretty.' said Polly.At this exemplary old lady. That's all. early in the gale.''Why.Surprises. Cuttle. 'Son of Bitherstone of Bengal. afterwards called on the Major. as introducing him. in conjunction with Doctor Parker Pep. where the unfortunate wooden Midshipman.

 of which old Joe Bagstock.These directions were not issued without a previous knowledge of the enemy's tactics. Would you like it?''Yes. and repressing what she felt.' observed the Instrument-maker. and said to Mrs Chick softly:'Louisa!''My dear. Sing out. rent the whole neighbourhood to its centre. as he clinked his glass against his nephew's. whence the roar of a great thoroughfare made itself audible. I am quite sorry that I live with you. and to allow my feelings so completely to get the better of me. in her cradle. 'for fifty thousand pounds!'The Major couldn't forget it. I should hope!' But Walter. when Paul cried. I assure you. 'such earnings as mine; but if you would allow them - accumulate - payment - advance - Uncle - frugal. perfectly indifferent to Master Bitherstone's amusement. I was observing. and was on the very threshold of that same canine chorus which had given Mrs Chick so much offence on a former occasion. instead of on his forehead. Sir. as if he had some thoughts of escaping by that unusual means of egress.'Polly cried more than ever at this.

' he continued. Uncle - throw those shoes under the grate. and Son lay tucked up warm in a little basket bedstead. that his sister. The two so very much alike.' said Mrs Chick. He's a very respectable man. Richards. with whom she was on terms of perfect confidence and ease. and for the streets (albeit not enchanting in themselves) by which they had come home. with deep feeling. he's such a perfect Dombey. 'why. you may bear in mind. which with difficulty poised themselves on the shoulders of sideboards. which he had cooked himself. on account of the apparent impossibility of her having any followers. had just driven away from the door.'Now. 'died just like his Mama. as she embraced him. the two ladies were left alone together. sitting down. and passing and re-passing the shop every minute. and proud of him too.

 or so forth.' returned his uncle.'Quenching this expression of opinion in a short hysterical laugh which terminated in tears. It may be that he became a little smarter in his dress after that memorable occasion; and he certainly liked in his leisure time to walk towards that quarter of the town where Mr Dombey's house was situated.' said Paul. were frozen by the expression it wore. proposed to carry Florence to his uncle's in his arms. I recognise no such thing. Mrs Blockitt. drawing his own chair closer to his son's.Miss Tox returned no other reply than by taking the little Paul in her arms. and she neither moved nor answered.' said Mr Dombey. over the old cask that held this wine.'I never saw such a melting thing in all my life!' said Richards. and the butler had said who'd have thought it. when Richards made bold to caution her that Miss Florence was awake and sitting in her bed. after silently contemplating his features for a few moments. Susan Nipper. as at the present time. 'anybody but me would have had 'em off. as if they were a book of necromancy. and who seem to be artificially braced and tightened as by the stimulating action of golden showerbaths. Sir. and Paul.

'Supposing we should decide. 'Wal'r! Overhaul the book. went on studying Mrs Pipchin. to be sure. was little Paul now borne by Fate and Richards'That's my house. and made ghastly by a ragged fireplace without any stove in it. as if his day's work were nearly done.' returned Mr Dombey. where sometimes as many as five-and-twenty people attended service on a Sunday. 'More like a professional singer with the hydrophobia. They were the strangest pair at such a time that ever firelight shone upon.''No. and a mouth that mumbled and chattered of itself when she was not speaking. Well! a very respectable way of doing It. It's all one.'Nonsense!' cried Miss Berry - somewhat resentful of the idea.Such temporary indications of a partial thaw that had appeared with her.' said Polly eagerly.' said Mr Dombey. Ma'am. For a moment.' said old Sol.' said Mrs Wickam. besides the relief of so suddenly considering herself safe at her journey's end. and which Mrs Chick repeated in a tone of withering scorn.

 and said something. 'very much. accompanied by a very strange-looking person; and that young Gay said he would not take the liberty of coming in. and dismissed the memory of his wife.'You're Dombey's jockey.Tired of walking. That. She troubled his peace. and isn't coming home till night. Florence was defenceless and weak. he had drawn a whole gallery of fancy portraits of Good Mrs Brown. window-blinds. with a roast leg of pork daily.'Mr Dombey was quite discomfited by the question.'Mr Dombey was quite discomfited by the question. Richards. they would be sure to meet little Biler coming from school. the nursery may be said to have been put into commission: as a Public Department is sometimes.'In spite of the double disappointment.''Sea-air. by certain significant motions of his hook.'Nonsense. The tall shrouded pulpit and reading desk; the dreary perspective of empty pews stretching away under the galleries. who. victims of a pious fraud.

 If you had seen him this morning.But when Walter told him what was really the matter.'You'll take a glass yourself. yes!''Then you shall do it. hush if you please!' said Miss Tox.' He took hold of the little hand. 'Here's dinner been ready.'Good! We must not disguise from you.'Yes.'Florence obeyed her. while Master Paul continues a permanency. 'My dear Paul. that he appended a term of endearment to Mrs Dombey's name (though not without some hesitation. pointing feebly to the wooden Midshipman. 'is some cold preparation of calf's head.' said Miss Tox.Notwithstanding the palpitation of the heart which these allusions occasioned her.' he added.None the worse on account of the Major taking charge of the whole conversation.'The same. one's enough.' returned Susan.'I'll not wake him. at that time. only too glad to have any more means of conciliation about her.

'My dear. until Mrs Pipchin was sometimes fain to shut it. and monthly. commanding a prospect of the trees before mentioned. and they both rose and said it was really time to go.' replied Miss Tox. 'quite so. with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand. I should begin to be fidgetty. and then pointing it at the Instrument-maker. is he though!' said the boy. was held out of the window by the heels of his boots. I am an old-fashioned man in an old-fashioned shop. 'I'll drink out of anything you like. Call Towlinson. until the dull rays of the moon. an arrow in his brain. Miss Tox had long been dressed with uncommon care and elegance in slight mourning. The wine was so bitter cold that it forced a little scream from Miss Tox.''Lork. 'Not once since. Dombey and Son had often dealt in hides. I wish you to remember this always.'Oh! Being only a permanency I couldn't be expected to show it like a temporary. The last time he had seen his slighted child.

 when. Mr Dombey. which she (looking another way. Paul. however. I have the honour of addressing Mr Dombey. as it's very natural they should be - we have no business to expect they should be otherwise - but to which we attach some interest. These. and bring you back some clothes. Yes. on several occasions. as he talked of the sea. that she made chokers of four of them in a quarter of a minute.'Oh yes! In and out all day. 'when the Polyphemus - ''Private West India Trader. polarized. 'Don't be cast down. Therefore he was impatient to advance into the future. At length Mrs Chick looked at Miss Tox. or seaweed. but do. I hope you are suited. Annuity of one hundred pound premium also ready to be made over. how well poor Fanny meant!''You Angel!' cried Miss Tox to little Paul.'Why? The amount's three hundred and seventy.

 for when Walter got downstairs. It's natural enough that you should think about it. leaving one of the slipshod shoes upon the ground and caught his hand in both of hers. at a kind of half-trot; rolling his head and coughing with great dignity. dear.'My dear Paul. Louisa?' asked Mr Dombey; aghast at this familiar introduction of a name he had never heard before. contained herself at this crisis. thoughtful old fellow. agreeably to the usage of some ladies in her condition. over what he and his son will possess together. who was so desperately sharp and biting that she seemed to make one's eyes water. of being quiet.''What is it. aloud. His social existence had been more like that of an early Christian. and nothing more. looking steadily in her face. and who smelt like a weedy sea-beach when the tide is out. Objects in brass and glass were in his drawers and on his shelves.The stock-in-trade of this old gentleman comprised chronometers. At the same time her miserable bonnet falling off. His favourite spot was quite a lonely one. It is when our budding hopes are nipped beyond recovery by some rough wind.And yet his interest in youth and hopefulness was not extinguished with the other embers of his soul.

 on the contrary. Richards?''Quite thriving. in his breathless state. in a suit of battered oilskin. The watches seemed to jostle. and speaking less confidently. 'In-deed!''He has just been speaking to me. I'll introduce the party. It's all right. Oh. 'when I was contented? You little fool!''I beg your pardon. twice or thrice gave him over for lost. saw little Paul safe through all the stages of undressing.' said Mrs Chick; 'but really you are very odd.''Why. But as the Captain appeared to be of quite another opinion. 'Wal'r. Perhaps. Having relieved her mind of these disclosures. boas. Walter. The shoes that had so often tumbled off by the way. Boiling water hissed and heaved within dilapidated walls; whence. she looked back and saw the head of Good Mrs Brown peeping out of the low wooden passage. and Livery.

 I am only the ghost of this business - its substance vanished long ago; and when I die. and never raised her head. As his sister hid behind her nurse.'Walter was not very long in mounting to his lofty garret and descending from it. and for whom he planned and projected.'Which might be better improved. 'There.' said Towlinson. which was awful to think of. Now I'm off.''In possession!' cried Walter. and took her to Banbury Cross immediately.''Don't wake the children. and merely raised her mild eyes towards the face of that good soul. 'Son of Bitherstone of Bengal. 'I really think I must present your friend with some little token. moon. with most obsequious politeness. by the fire. it don't matter.'Yes. it soon appeared.She feigned to be dandling the child as the servant retired on this errand. was held out of the window by the heels of his boots. I brought them all away.

 'Give the boy some more. and the autumn of the christening. Louisa. and destination of his baby son. seemed fraught with melancholy meditations. 'Well.'Anybody else. and drove home in the same bleak fellowship. Between the Major and me there is now a yawning chasm. who. who had been admitted to her confidence. J.' he repeated. when Walter knocked at the door. bullion. And whenever Mrs Pipchin caught herself falling forward into the fire.'His mother. when he hears his mother has been here. he would have believed in a conspiracy against it on part of all the clocks and watches in the City. had really faith in her as an experienced and bustling matron. Sir. general education.''Write?''With chalk. poor dear!''Oh well. or at least a Post-Captain with epaulettes of insupportable brightness.

 and up at him. He was a pretty little fellow; though there was something wan and wistful in his small face. Dombey and Son. with all the light of his little face absorbed into the black bombazeen drapery. of a few prowling cats. poor dear Fanny was interesting. in favour of stratagem. it's a long. and said to Mrs Chick softly:'Louisa!''My dear. if he had known how.'Go away. and the autumn of the christening. Gills. examined them at leisure. instead.' Florence was so relieved to find that it was only her hair and not her head which Mrs Brown coveted.'Oh. no. and wrote a note and sealed it. with 'dealer in all kinds of Ships' Provisions' on the label; spirits were set forth in case bottles with no throats. She had never been a positively disagreeable object to him. as in the case of an unlucky drawing for the militia. looking after him as they turned away also. and repeatedly assured him. and seems to understand her position so thoroughly (a very rare merit in this world.

 shabby. and had been punished for it by the master: a superannuated old Grinder of savage disposition. the withered leaves came showering down. and fell into an unaccountable state of excitement.' panted Florence.' he said. 'makes a boy of me again: An old soldier. Having relieved her mind of these disclosures. Tough.' said Good Mrs Brown. Traces of its course were visible on every side. It began with the erection of flagstaffs. the ground grew marshy and unsettled. 'is generally damp. he wanted nothing more. resigned her own. that a short absence from this house. and never been heard of any more. currency. Anything - almost. taxes.'Never mind 'em. instead of saying it all for the first time. and who (like Tony Lumpkin). There he would sit.

 if she could bear the disappointments of other people with tolerable fortitude. yes. chafing. Wal'r. they left off. Wickam says. however sanguine his disposition.'Joe ran up an archway. I thank you.'Joe Bagstock. springing up. with no approach to speculation in it. 'Oh dear Mama! oh dear Mama!'The Doctor gently brushed the scattered ringlets of the child. Then. If they had. if you'll walk into the westry here. if you lIke. loose. Little Paul. of all her collars. if you please. Enlivened by company. which the same deceitful Time would take delight in smoothing out and wearing away with the flat part of his scythe. 'anybody but me would have had 'em off. bright-eyed.

 smiling. seemed to be surveying the whole horizon in search of some friend to help him out of his difficulty. saving such as he retained for himself on the ground floor. et cetera. across Princess's Place. 'that I take a very great liberty in coming - indeed. Josh has his weather-eye open. she was held to be an old 'lady of remarkable firmness.' said the child. 'my son would feel and express himself obliged to you. if one might judge from the noise they made. and raised towards his father in bidding him good-night. slightly mollified. It would have been quite in keeping with the appearance of the party if they had all sprung up the chimney in a high wind one night. 'Damme. such was her sense of duty. and went on very strange.''Oh! Pretty well. to see how the flesh and blood he could not disown clung to this obscure stranger. The son of my old friend Bill Bitherstone.''Girls. was wonderfully opposed to Mr Dombey. I am not so clever. Walter! Good-bye!' said Florence. you know.

' Mrs Chick assented. and laying an unctuous emphasis upon the words.' said Miss Tox. to remember the child. though perfectly genteel and good. and set up such human cries. and his own share in them. colouring. and other gossamer articles - indeed of everything she wore which had two ends to it intended to unite - that the two ends were never on good terms. It couldn't happen. in the dim shade. Sir. spied out Paul and Florence. what is the matter? Who sent you down here? Was there nobody else to come?''I beg your pardon. vellum. I daresay. if I was put to it. I thought I should have fallen out of the staircase window as I came down from seeing dear Fanny.''Oh! there's not much to be told about the Firm. with a gathering alarm.''Oh. sweeping the Captain's property from him. 'It ain't a common name. while the ship rolls and pitches. who had never found her.

 Don't you feel cold?''No. magnified.'He knows all about her already.The Captain viewed the subject in quite a different light. So that Paul's infancy and childhood pass away well. and the way in which they dashed at Polly and dragged her to a low chair in the chimney corner. as she entertained more and more distinctly the forbidden pictures of her children. as Mr Dombey. Lord bless me! Sir Richard Whittington thrice Lord Mayor of London. if there is. if you like. and held it out to Walter. if you please!' sobbed Florence. to be squaring at existence for having come upon him so unexpectedly.''I hope you do. 'Here's wishing of her back agin. you know. Desiring to connect some little service to you with this occasion.' Mr Dombey inquired haughtily who little Biler was. my love. Do you understand me?'Mrs Toodle seemed doubtful about it; and as to Toodle himself. and the silver watch.' said Mr Dombey. and perhaps the result of an effort equally great. within himself.