Davenport Dunn, a Man of Our Day. Volume 1 (of 2)Lever, Charles
General
Davenport Dunn, a Man of Our Day. Volume 1 (of 2)
Lever, Charles
Aristocracy (Social class) -- Great Britain -- Fiction; Capitalists and financiers -- Fiction
“I am willing to give him every credit for his propriety of conduct,
Augusta,” added he, in a still more lofty tone; “for we live in times
when really wealth and worldly prosperity have more than their rightful
supremacy, and such men as Dunn are made the marks of an adulation that
is actually an outrage,--an outrage upon _us!_”
And the last little monosyllable was uttered with an emphasis of intense
significance.
Just as his Lordship had rounded his peroration, the servant presented
him with a small three-cornered note. He opened it and read,--
“My Lord,--I think the bearer of this, T. Driscoll, might possibly
do what you wish for; and I send him, since I am sure that a personal
interview with your Lordship would be more efficacious than any
negotiation.
“By your Lordship's most obedient to command,
“Simpson Hankes.”
“Is the person who brought this below?” asked Lord Glengariff.
“Yes, my Lord; he is waiting for the answer.”
“Show him into my dressing-room.”
Mr. Terence Driscoll was accordingly introduced into that sanctum;
and while he employs his few spare moments in curious and critical
examination of the various gold and silver objects which contribute to
his Lordship's toilet, and wonderingly snuffs at essences and odors of
whose existence he had never dreamed, let us take the opportunity of a
little examination of himself. He was a short, fat old man, with a
very round red face, whose jovial expression was rather heightened than
marred by a tremendous squint; for the eyes kept in incessant play and
movement, which intimated a restless drollery that his full, capacious
mouth well responded to. In dress and general appearance he belonged to
the class of the comfortable farmer, and his massive silver watch-chain
and huge seal displayed a consciousness of his well-to-do condition in
life.
“Are you Mr. Driscoll?” said Lord Glengariff, as he looked at the letter
to prompt him to the name. “Pray take a seat!”
“Yes, my Lord, I 'm that poor creature Terry Driscoll; the neighbors
call me Tearin' Terry, but that 's all past and gone, Heaven be praised!
It was a fever I had, my Lord, and my rayson wandered, and I did many
a thing that desthroyed me entirely; I tore up the lease of my house,
I tore up Peter Driscoll's, my uncle's, will; ay, and worse than all, I
tore up all my front teeth!”
And, in evidence of this feat of dentistry, Mr. Driscoll gave a grin
that exposed his bare gums to view.
“Good heavens, how shocking!” exclaimed Lord Glen-gariff, though, not
impossibly, the expression was extorted by the sight rather than the
history of the calamity.
“Shocking indeed, my Lord,--that's the name for it!” said Terry,
sighing; “but ye see I was n't compos when I did it. I thought they were
a set of blackguards that I could n't root out of the land,--squatters
that would n't pay sixpence, nor do a day's work. That was the delusion
that was upon me!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account