Tales and Novels — Volume 01: Moral TalesEdgeworth, Maria
General
Tales and Novels — Volume 01: Moral Tales
Edgeworth, Maria
Fiction
Upon Mackenzie's return to Dr. Campbell's, after his fall from Sawney,
the first thing he heard was that his note was found; that it had been
stopped at the bank of Scotland; and that one of the clerks of the bank,
who brought it for his examination, had been some time waiting for his
return from riding. When the note was produced, Henry saw that two or
three of the words which had been written in ink, the name of the person
to whom it was payable, and the date of the month and year, were so pale
as to be scarcely visible; and that there was a round hole through one
corner of the paper. This round hole puzzled Henry, but he had no doubt
that the ink had been thus nearly obliterated by vitriolic acid. He
poured a few drops, diluted with water, upon some printing, and the ink
was quickly turned to nearly the same pale colour as that in Mackenzie's
note. The note was easily traced, as it had not passed through many
hands--our readers will be sorry to hear it--to M. Pasgrave, the
dancing-master. Mackenzie and the clerk went directly to his house,
found him at home, and without much preface, informed him of their
business. The dancing-master trembled from head to foot, and, though
innocent, exhibited all the signs of guilt; he had not the slightest
knowledge of business, and the manner and language of the banker's clerk
who accompanied Mackenzie terrified him beyond measure, because he did
not comprehend one word in ten that he said about checks, entries,
and day-books; and he was nearly a quarter of an hour before he could
recover sufficient presence of mind to consider from whom he received
the note. At length, after going over, in an unintelligible manner, all
the puzzled accounts of monies received and paid which he kept in his
head, he declared that he clearly recollected to have received the
ten-guinea note at Mr. Macpherson's, the tailor; that he went a few
weeks ago to settle his year's account with him; and that in change
for a twenty-pound note, he received that which the banker's clerk
now produced. To Mackenzie it was perfectly indifferent who was found
guilty, so that he could recover his money. "Settle it as you will
amongst you," said he, "the money must be refunded, or I must have you
all before a magistrate directly." Pasgrave, in great perturbation, set
out for Mr. Macpherson's, showed him the note, and reminded him of the
day when he paid his account. "If you received the note from us, sir,"
said the master-tailor, very calmly, "it must be entered in our books,
for we keep regular accounts." The tailor's foreman, who knew much more
of the affair than his master, appealed, with assumed security, to the
entry in the books. By this entry it appeared that M. Pasgrave
settled his account the 17th of October; that he paid the balance by a
twenty-pound note, and that he received in change a ten-guinea note on
Sir William Forbes's bank. "You see, sir," said the tailor, "this cannot
possibly be Mr.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account