The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 5Meredith, George
General
The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 5
Meredith, George
Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction
We were present at the head of the supper-table to hear our healths
drunk. Sewis spoke like a half-caste oblivious of his training, and of
the subjects he was at liberty to touch on as well. Evidently there was
a weight of foreboding on his mind. He knew his master well. The squire
excused him under the ejaculation, 'Drunk, by the Lord!' Sewis went so
far as to mention my father 'He no disgrace, sar, he no disgrace, I say!
but he pull one way, old house pull other way, and 'tween 'em my little
Harry torn apieces, squire. He set out in the night "You not enter it
any more!" Very well. I go my lawyer next day. You see my Will,
squire. Years ago, and little Harry so high. Old Sewis not the man to
change. He no turncoat, squire. God bless you, my master; you
recollect, and ladies tell you if you forget, old Sewis no turncoat. You
hate turncoat. You taught old Sewis, and God bless you, and Mr. Harry,
and British Constitution, all Amen!'
With that he bounded to bed. He was dead next morning.
The squire was humorous over my legacy. It amounted to about seventeen
hundred pounds invested in Government Stock, and he asked me what I meant
to do with it; proposed a Charity to be established on behalf of decayed
half-castes, insisting that servants' money could never be appropriated
to the uses of gentlemen. All the while he was muttering, 'Turncoat!
eh? turncoat?'--proof that the word had struck where it was aimed. For
me, after thinking on it, I had a superstitious respect for the legacy,
so I determined, in spite of the squire's laughter over 'Sixty pounds per
annum!' to let it rest in my name: I saw for the first time the
possibility that I might not have my grandfather's wealth to depend upon.
He warned me of growing miserly. With my father in London, living freely
on my property, I had not much fear of that. However, I said discreetly,
'I don't mind spending when I see my way.'
'Oh! see your way,' said he. 'Better a niggard than a chuckfist. Only,
there 's my girl: she 's good at accounts. One 'll do for them, Harry?--
ha'n't been long enough at home yet?'
Few were the occasions when our conversation did not diverge to this sort
of interrogation. Temple and Heriot, with whom I took counsel, advised
me to wait until the idea of the princess had worn its way into his
understanding, and leave the work to Janet. 'Though,' said Heriot to me
aside, 'upon my soul, it's slaughter.' He believed that Janet felt
keenly. But then, she admired him, and so they repaid one another.
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