Boardinghouses -- Fiction; Great Britain -- History -- Victoria, 1837-1901 -- Fiction; Widows -- Fiction
Never never never shall I forget the fair bright face of our boy when he
stood at the foot of the bed, looking at his unknown father. And O so
like his dear young mother then!
"Jemmy" I says, "I have found out all about this poor gentleman who is so
ill, and he did lodge in the old house once. And as he wants to see all
belonging to it, now that he is passing away, I sent for you."
"Ah poor man!" says Jemmy stepping forward and touching one of his hands
with great gentleness. "My heart melts for him. Poor, poor man!"
The eyes that were so soon to close for ever turned to me, and I was not
that strong in the pride of my strength that I could resist them.
"My darling boy, there is a reason in the secret history of this fellow-
creetur lying as the best and worst of us must all lie one day, which I
think would ease his spirit in his last hour if you would lay your cheek
against his forehead and say, 'May God forgive you!'"
"O Gran," says Jemmy with a full heart, "I am not worthy!" But he leaned
down and did it. Then the faltering fingers made out to catch hold of my
sleeve at last, and I believe he was a-trying to kiss me when he died.
* * * * *
There my dear! There you have the story of my Legacy in full, and it's
worth ten times the trouble I have spent upon it if you are pleased to
like it.
You might suppose that it set us against the little French town of Sens,
but no we didn't find that. I found myself that I never looked up at the
high tower atop of the other tower, but the days came back again when
that fair young creetur with her pretty bright hair trusted in me like a
mother, and the recollection made the place so peaceful to me as I can't
express. And every soul about the hotel down to the pigeons in the
courtyard made friends with Jemmy and the Major, and went lumbering away
with them on all sorts of expeditions in all sorts of vehicles drawn by
rampagious cart-horses,--with heads and without,--mud for paint and ropes
for harness,--and every new friend dressed in blue like a butcher, and
every new horse standing on his hind legs wanting to devour and consume
every other horse, and every man that had a whip to crack crack-crack-
crack-crack-cracking it as if it was a schoolboy with his first. As to
the Major my dear that man lived the greater part of his time with a
little tumbler in one hand and a bottle of small wine in the other, and
whenever he saw anybody else with a little tumbler, no matter who it
was,--the military character with the tags, or the inn-servants at their
supper in the courtyard, or townspeople a chatting on a bench, or country
people a starting home after market,--down rushes the Major to clink his
glass against their glasses and cry,--Hola! Vive Somebody! or Vive
Something! as if he was beside himself. And though I could not quite
approve of the Major's doing it, still the ways of the world are the ways
of the world varying according to the different parts of it, and dancing
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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