Charity, Pecksniff's older daughter, was not blind to his plan. She was
in a sour temper because the miserly Jonas, who came from London often
now to see them, had begun to make love to Mercy instead of to her. To
see her father now paying so much attention to Mary Graham made Charity
angry, and she left her father's house and went to live in London at
Mrs. Todgers's boarding-house, where she set her cap to catch a young
man, whether he wanted to be caught or not. As for Mercy, the younger
sister, she was leading Jonas such a dance that she thought very little
of her father's schemes.
His vinegary daughter Charity out of the way, Pecksniff began to
persecute Mary more and more. One day he made her so angry by holding
her hand and kissing it that she threatened to complain to old
Chuzzlewit. Pecksniff told her that if she did he would use all his
influence to turn the old man still more against his grandson. The poor
girl was in great trouble then, for she loved Martin and feared
Pecksniff's growing power with old Chuzzlewit. And seeing that this
threat frightened her, Pecksniff continued his annoyances.
According to Martin's parting advice, Mary had learned to like and to
trust Tom Pinch, in spite of his mistaken worship of Pecksniff. One day
while Tom was practising the organ at the church she came to him and,
confiding in him, told all that she had endured.
In his simple-heartedness he had admired and looked up to Pecksniff all
his life, but this evidence opened Tom Pinch's eyes. At last he saw the
pompous hypocrite in his true light. He agreed with her that the
architect was a scoundrel, and comforted her, and asked her always to
trust in his own friendship.
Unluckily while they talked there was an eavesdropper near. It was
Pecksniff himself. He had gone into the church to rest, and lying down
in one of the high-back pews, had gone to sleep, and now the voices of
Tom and Mary had awakened him. He listened and waited till they had both
gone; then he stole out and went home by a roundabout way.
That night he went to old Chuzzlewit and, pretending to shed tears of
sorrow, told him he had overheard Tom Pinch, the pauper pupil, whom he
had trusted and befriended, making love to Mary, the old man's ward, in
the church. Making a great show of his respect and regard for old
Chuzzlewit, he told him this villain should not remain under his roof
one night longer. Then he called in Tom Pinch and, abusing and insulting
him in Chuzzlewit's presence, sent him away as he had sent away Martin.
Tom was feeling so bad over his loss of faith in his idol, Pecksniff,
that he did not greatly mind this last blow. In fact, he had about
concluded he could not live any longer with such a wicked hypocrite
anyway. He packed his things and set off for London, feeling almost as
if the world had come to an end.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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