"Why, when you are going TO BE HANGED, you young hypocrite!" says the man. "But that is always the way with Brough's people,"continued he. "I had four greys once for him--a great bargain, but he would not go to look at them at Tattersall's, nor speak a word of business about them, because it was a Sunday.""Because there are hypocrites," sir, says I, "religion is not to be considered a bad thing; and if Mr. Brough would not deal with you on a Sunday, he certainly did his duty."The men only laughed the more at this rebuke, and evidently considered me a great criminal. I was glad to be released from their society by the appearance of Gus and Mr. Smithers. Both wore very long faces. They were ushered into my room, and, without any orders of mine, a bottle of wine and biscuits were brought in by Mr. Aminadab; which I really thought was very kind of him.
"Drink a glass of wine, Mr. Titmarsh," says Smithers, "and read this letter. A pretty note was that which you sent to your aunt this morning, and here you have an answer to it."I drank the wine, and trembled rather as I read as follows:-"Sir,--If, because you knew I had desined to leave you my proparty, you wished to murdar me, and so stepp into it, you are dissapointed. Your VILLIANY and INGRATITUDE WOULD have murdard me, had I not, by Heaven's grace, been inabled to look for consalation ELSEWHERE.
"For nearly a year I have been a MARTAR to you. I gave up everything,--my happy home in the country, where all respected the name of Hoggarty; my valuble furnitur and wines; my plate, glass, and crockry; I brought all--all to make your home happy and rispectable. I put up with the AIRS AND IMPERTANENCIES of Mrs.
Titmarsh; I loaded her and you with presents and bennafits. Isacrafised myself; I gave up the best sociaty in the land, to witch I have been accustomed, in order to be a gardian and compannion to you, and prevent, if possible, that WAIST AND IXTRAVYGANCE which IPROPHYCIED would be your ruin. Such waist and ixtravygance never, never, never did I see. Buttar waisted as if it had been dirt, coles flung away, candles burnt AT BOTH ENDS, tea and meat the same. The butcher's bill in this house was enough to support six famalies.
"And now you have the audassaty, being placed in prison justly for your crimes,--for cheating me of 3,000L., for robbing your mother of an insignificient summ, which to her, poor thing, was everything (though she will not feel her loss as I do, being all her life next door to a beggar), for incurring detts which you cannot pay, wherein you knew that your miserable income was quite unable to support your ixtravygance--you come upon me to pay your detts! No, sir, it is quite enough that your mother should go on the parish, and that your wife should sweep the streets, to which you have indeed brought them; I, at least, though cheated by you of a large summ, and obliged to pass my days in comparative ruin, can retire, and have some of the comforts to which my rank entitles me. The furnitur in this house is mine; and as I presume you intend YOURLADY to sleep in the streets, I give you warning that I shall remove it all tomorrow.
"Mr. Smithers will tell you that I had intended to leave you my intire fortune. I have this morning, in his presents, solamly toar up my will; and hereby renounce all connection with you and your beggarly family.
"SUSAN HOGGARTY.
"P.S.--I took a viper into my bosom, AND IT STUNG ME."I confess that, on the first reading of this letter, I was in such a fury that I forgot almost the painful situation in which it plunged me, and the ruin hanging over me.
"What a fool you were, Titmarsh, to write that letter!" said Mr.
Smithers. "You have cut your own throat, sir,--lost a fine property,--written yourself out of five hundred a year. Mrs.
Hoggarty, my client, brought the will, as she says, downstairs, and flung it into the fire before our faces.""It's a blessing that your wife was from home," added Gus. "She went to church this morning with Dr. Salt's family, and sent word that she would spend the day with them. She was always glad to be away from Mrs. H., you know.""She never knew on which side her bread was buttered," said Mr.
Smithers. "You should have taken the lady when she was in the humour, sir, and have borrowed the money elsewhere. Why, sir, Ihad almost reconciled her to her loss in that cursed Company. Ishowed her how I had saved out of Brough's claws the whole of her remaining fortune; which he would have devoured in a day, the scoundrel! And if you would have left the matter to me, Mr.
Titmarsh, I would have had you reconciled completely to Mrs.
Hoggarty; I would have removed all your difficulties; I would have lent you the pitiful sum of money myself.""Will you?" says Gus; "that's a trump!" and he seized Smithers's hand, and squeezed it so that the tears came into the attorney's eyes.
