登陆注册
5262200000316

第316章 Chapter 14 CHECKMATE TO THE FRIENDLY MOVE(2)

Mr Wegg, glancing in great dudgeon towards the French gentleman's corner, seemed to notice something new there, which induced him to glance at the opposite corner, and then to put on his glasses and stare at all the nooks and corners of the dim shop in succession.

'Why, you've been having the place cleaned up!' he exclaimed.

'Yes, Mr Wegg. By the hand of adorable woman.'

'Then what you're going to do next, I suppose, is to get married?'

'That's it, sir.'

Silas took off his glasses again--finding himself too intensely disgusted by the sprightly appearance of his friend and partner to bear a magnified view of him and made the inquiry:

'To the old party?'

'Mr Wegg!' said Venus, with a sudden flush of wrath. 'The lady in question is not a old party.'

'I meant,' exclaimed Wegg, testily, 'to the party as formerly objected?'

'Mr Wegg,' said Venus, 'in a case of so much delicacy, I must trouble you to say what you mean. There are strings that must not be played upon. No sir! Not sounded, unless in the most respectful and tuneful manner. Of such melodious strings is Miss Pleasant Riderhood formed.'

'Then it IS the lady as formerly objected?' said Wegg.

'Sir,' returned Venus with dignity, 'I accept the altered phrase. It is the lady as formerly objected.'

'When is it to come off?' asked Silas.

'Mr Wegg,' said Venus, with another flush. 'I cannot permit it to be put in the form of a Fight. I must temperately but firmly call upon you, sir, to amend that question.'

'When is the lady,' Wegg reluctantly demanded, constraining his ill temper in remembrance of the partnership and its stock in trade, 'a going to give her 'and where she has already given her 'art?'

'Sir,' returned Venus, 'I again accept the altered phrase, and with pleasure. The lady is a going to give her 'and where she has already given her 'art, next Monday.'

'Then the lady's objection has been met?' said Silas.

'Mr Wegg,' said Venus, 'as I did name to you, I think, on a former occasion, if not on former occasions--'

'On former occasions,' interrupted Wegg.

'--What,' pursued Venus, 'what the nature of the lady's objection was, I may impart, without violating any of the tender confidences since sprung up between the lady and myself, how it has been met, through the kind interference of two good friends of mine: one, previously acquainted with the lady: and one, not. The pint was thrown out, sir, by those two friends when they did me the great service of waiting on the lady to try if a union betwixt the lady and me could not be brought to bear--the pint, I say, was thrown out by them, sir, whether if, after marriage, I confined myself to the articulation of men, children, and the lower animals, it might not relieve the lady's mind of her feeling respecting being as a lady--regarded in a bony light. It was a happy thought, sir, and it took root.'

'It would seem, Mr Venus,' observed Wegg, with a touch of distrust, 'that you are flush of friends?'

'Pretty well, sir,' that gentleman answered, in a tone of placid mystery. 'So-so, sir. Pretty well.'

'However,' said Wegg, after eyeing him with another touch of distrust, 'I wish you joy. One man spends his fortune in one way, and another in another. You are going to try matrimony. I mean to try travelling.'

'Indeed, Mr Wegg?'

'Change of air, sea-scenery, and my natural rest, I hope may bring me round after the persecutions I have undergone from the dustman with his head tied up, which I just now mentioned. The tough job being ended and the Mounds laid low, the hour is come for Boffin to stump up. Would ten to-morrow morning suit you, partner, for finally bringing Boffin's nose to the grindstone?'

Ten to-morrow morning would quite suit Mr Venus for that excellent purpose.

'You have had him well under inspection, I hope?' said Silas.

Mr Venus had had him under inspection pretty well every day.

'Suppose you was just to step round to-night then, and give him orders from me--I say from me, because he knows I won't be played with--to be ready with his papers, his accounts, and his cash, at that time in the morning?' said Wegg. 'And as a matter of form, which will be agreeable to your own feelings, before we go out (for I'll walk with you part of the way, though my leg gives under me with weariness), let's have a look at the stock in trade.'

Mr Venus produced it, and it was perfectly correct; Mr Venus undertook to produce it again in the morning, and to keep tryst with Mr Wegg on Boffin's doorstep as the clock struck ten. At a certain point of the road between Clerkenwell and Boffin's house (Mr Wegg expressly insisted that there should be no prefix to the Golden Dustman's name) the partners separated for the night.

It was a very bad night; to which succeeded a very bad morning.

The streets were so unusually slushy, muddy, and miserable, in the morning, that Wegg rode to the scene of action; arguing that a man who was, as it were, going to the Bank to draw out a handsome property, could well afford that trifling expense.

Venus was punctual, and Wegg undertook to knock at the door, and conduct the conference. Door knocked at. Door opened.

'Boffin at home?'

The servant replied that MR Boffin was at home.

'He'll do,' said Wegg, 'though it ain't what I call him.'

The servant inquired if they had any appointment?

'Now, I tell you what, young fellow,' said Wegg, 'I won't have it.

This won't do for me. I don't want menials. I want Boffin.'

They were shown into a waiting-room, where the all-powerful Wegg wore his hat, and whistled, and with his forefinger stirred up a clock that stood upon the chimneypiece, until he made it strike.

同类推荐
  • 佛说大乘造像功德经

    佛说大乘造像功德经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • KIDNAPPED

    KIDNAPPED

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 酉阳杂俎

    酉阳杂俎

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 画继

    画继

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 羯鼓录

    羯鼓录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 攻略对象画风总是不对

    攻略对象画风总是不对

    水殊是游刃有余的职场OL,一个意外被系统选中穿越回古代,不想变成一个被禁足的小小妃嫔,还附赠了个只会惹事的包子!本来已经做好宫斗的准备,结果任务却是攻略帝王。坑爹的是她根本不会谈恋爱,更坑爹的是这个帝王画风总是不对!【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 本宫来了接招吧

    本宫来了接招吧

    霸道君少:“惹了我还想跑?先得问问我的身体同不同意你走!”神秘帝尊:“见过我真面目的人,要么死,要么嫁,你是想死呢?还是想嫁?”腹黑少帅:“既然做了我的俘虏,那就等着被困一辈子吧。”新婚夜被一刀刺中心脏,从此踏上了一条撩男神的不归路。“嗷嗷,我要回去!我不要做任务了!”突然,眼前出现一个高大威武的男人,白雪忍住了哈喇子:“这个男神长的不错,不过就是胸小了点,无妨,打包带走。”系统君:“亲爱的公主殿下,这可是boss大人啊,明天下不了床了解一下?”
  • 重生柱灭之刃成为剑圣

    重生柱灭之刃成为剑圣

    前身遭受不明生物的袭击而丧命的无尘重生了,重生在大正时期的日本,与此同时他的脑海中浮现出不属于这个时代的剑技。他苦练剑技,提着日轮刀,只为斩尽天下鬼。
  • 《中华人民共和国安全生产法》释义及实用指南

    《中华人民共和国安全生产法》释义及实用指南

    本书由《中华人民共和国安全生产法》立法的同志撰写。本书共分三个部分:第一部分,法律文本及条文释义;第二部分,立法文件;第三部分,相关司法解释和行政法规。本书逐条对安全生产法进行了释解,并对实务中需要注意的问题进行了特别提示。本书适于生产管理者、生产安全监督者、法律实务工作者阅读。
  • 见诡一百法

    见诡一百法

    一件诡异的阴谋把我带进来漩涡之中,人生两面,有明有暗。乡里的舅舅突然病逝,我前去悼念。因为本身不亲,所以葬礼上我只是象征性的磕头烧纸,却不想我扔的纸致使整个火盆的火都灭了,我怎么也无法点燃,等到下一人烧纸的时候却一切正常。之后我频繁做噩梦,却被告知是大舅妈做的手脚,找了大舅妈理论也解决了现状,却发现事情并没有那么简单,大舅的死跟害我的人存在着一丝关系,为此,我踏上了寻求真相的道路。
  • 泉水的歌唱(原创经典作品)

    泉水的歌唱(原创经典作品)

    善读精品美文,拾取久违的感动;体悟百味人生,感受成长的’陕乐。阅读其间,时而在惊险悬疑的案件中悚然而惊,时雨为体察入微的真情潸然泪下,时而又涌动着想针砭时弊的激情……掩卷而思,人性的美丑,世事的善恶,人生际遇的变幻无常不禁让人感慨万千。
  • 商业银行经营管理

    商业银行经营管理

    谭遥主编的《商业银行经营管理》全面地反映商业银行经营管理基本知识、基本理论、基本技能,让学生能够了解商业银行经营管理的理论体系,掌握商业银行经营管理基本技能。既注重高等院校和高职院校金融专业学生知识的需要,又考虑金融人才培养目标的需要。在阐述基本知识和基本理论时,尽可能做到深入浅出,简明扼要,通俗易懂。
  • 最有效的晋升方法:做最好的员工

    最有效的晋升方法:做最好的员工

    要想在职场成功晋升到底有没有捷径呢?要想在这个职场登山运动中胜出,只需把握两点,就是捷径,第一:不要走弯路,第二:相同的路走得比别人快。站在员工的角度,要立足于这两个基点,循序渐进地运用快速晋升的观念、心态、思维方式去做事和为人处世。我们相信,职场之“ 道”比“术”更重要,人在职场,树立正确的观念、心态与观察角度、思维方式,比苦学任何具体技巧都重要。正如推销大师万变而不离其宗,而一位推销新手,不明白推销的原理而背诵推销108招,理论上熟练,却无法灵活运用。
  • 豹的世仇

    豹的世仇

    十八年前,狒狒杰瑞德和花豹卡罗莎是在同一片土地上长大的伙伴。长大后,狩猎的冲突使它们疏远了彼此,唯恐对方侵入自己的领地。一个旱季的夜晚,为了采摘可以救命的猴面包树叶,狒狒杰瑞德爬上了花豹卡罗莎世代居住的巨大的猴面包树,不慎撞落了卡罗莎储藏在树上的猎物……为了报复狒狒杰瑞德,卡罗莎偷袭了杰瑞德狒狒家族,却惨败而归。杰瑞德率领庞大的狒狒家族,趁机抢占了花豹卡罗莎世代居住的猴面包树。为了争夺巨大的猴面包树,花豹家族和狒狒家族爆发了一次次血战。
  • 爱上你多么幸运

    爱上你多么幸运

    这是一对由青梅竹马通过各种套路各种试探逐渐转变成情侣爱人的平凡爱情之路【注:文中社会背景什么纯属虚构!!!】