Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction
“Play 'Charming Judy Callaghan,' will ye?” says Mr. Snaffle's man,
the fly-driver; on which the bugler performed that lively air, and up
started the horse, and the grooms, who were rubbing Mr. Eglantine down
against a lamp-post, invited him to remount.
But his heart was too broken for that. The ladies gladly made room for
him in the clarence. Dick mounted “Emperor” and rode homewards. The
drag, too, drove away, playing “Oh dear, what can the matter be?” and
with a scowl of furious hate, Mr. Eglantine sat and regarded his rival.
His pantaloons were split, and his coat torn up the back.
“Are you hurt much, dear Mr. Archibald?” said Morgiana, with unaffected
compassion.
“N-not much,” said the poor fellow, ready to burst into tears.
“Oh, Mr. Woolsey,” added the good-natured girl, “how could you play such
a trick?”
“Upon my word,” Woolsey began, intending to plead innocence; but the
ludicrousness of the situation was once more too much for him, and he
burst out into a roar of laughter.
“You! you cowardly beast!” howled out Eglantine, now driven to
fury--“YOU laugh at me, you miserable cretur! Take THAT, sir!” and he
fell upon him with all his might, and well-nigh throttled the tailor,
and pummelling his eyes, his nose, his ears, with inconceivable
rapidity, wrenched, finally, his wig off his head, and flung it into the
road.
Morgiana saw that Woolsey had red hair. [2]
CHAPTER IV. IN WHICH THE HEROINE HAS A NUMBER MORE LOVERS, AND CUTS A
VERY DASHING FIGURE IN THE WORLD.
Two years have elapsed since the festival at Richmond, which, begun so
peaceably, ended in such general uproar. Morgiana never could be brought
to pardon Woolsey's red hair, nor to help laughing at Eglantine's
disasters, nor could the two gentlemen be reconciled to one another.
Woolsey, indeed, sent a challenge to the perfumer to meet him with
pistols, which the latter declined, saying, justly, that tradesmen had
no business with such weapons; on this the tailor proposed to meet
him with coats off, and have it out like men, in the presence of their
friends of the “Kidney Club”. The perfumer said he would be party to no
such vulgar transaction; on which, Woolsey, exasperated, made an oath
that he would tweak the perfumer's nose so surely as he ever entered the
club-room; and thus ONE member of the “Kidneys” was compelled to vacate
his armchair.
Woolsey himself attended every meeting regularly, but he did not evince
that gaiety and good-humour which render men's company agreeable in
clubs. On arriving, he would order the boy to “tell him when that
scoundrel Eglantine came;” and, hanging up his hat on a peg, would scowl
round the room, and tuck up his sleeves very high, and stretch, and
shake his fingers and wrists, as if getting them ready for that pull
of the nose which he intended to bestow upon his rival. So prepared, he
would sit down and smoke his pipe quite silently, glaring at all, and
jumping up, and hitching up his coat-sleeves, when anyone entered the
room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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