The Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. YellowplushThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Memoirs of Mr. Charles J. Yellowplush
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Didactic fiction; England -- Fiction; Household employees -- Fiction; Humorous stories; Master and servant -- Fiction
She had just foalded up into its proper triangular shape the noat
transcribed abuff, and I was just on the point of saying, according to
my master's orders, “Miss, if you please, the Honrabble Mr. Deuceace
would be very much ableaged to you to keep the seminary which is to take
place to-morrow a profound se--,” when my master's father entered, and I
fell back to the door. Miss, without a word, rusht into his arms, burst
into teers agin, as was her reglar way (it must be confest she was of
a very mist constitution), and showing to him his son's note, cried,
“Look, my dear lord, how nobly your Algernon, OUR Algernon, writes
to me. Who can doubt, after this, of the purity of his matchless
affection?”
My lord took the letter, read it, seamed a good deal amyoused, and
returning it to its owner, said, very much to my surprise, “My dear Miss
Griffin, he certainly does seem in earnest; and if you choose to make
this match without the consent of your mother-in-law, you know the
consequence, and are of course your own mistress.”
“Consequences!--for shame, my lord! A little money, more or less, what
matters it to two hearts like ours?”
“Hearts are very pretty things, my sweet young lady, but Three-per-Cents
are better.”
“Nay, have we not an ample income of our own, without the aid of Lady
Griffin?”
My lord shrugged his shoulders. “Be it so, my love,” says he. “I'm sure
I can have no other reason to prevent a union which is founded upon such
disinterested affection.”
And here the conversation dropt. Miss retired, clasping her hands, and
making play with the whites of her i's. My lord began trotting up and
down the room, with his fat hands stuck in his britchis pockits, his
countnince lighted up with igstream joy, and singing, to my inordnit
igstonishment:
“See the conquering hero comes!
Tiddy diddy doll--tiddy doll, doll, doll.”
He began singing this song, and tearing up and down the room like mad.
I stood amazd--a new light broke in upon me. He wasn't going, then, to
make love to Miss Griffin! Master might marry her! Had she not got the
for--?
I say, I was just standing stock still, my eyes fixt, my hands
puppindicklar, my mouf wide open and these igstrordinary thoughts
passing in my mind, when my lord having got to the last “doll” of his
song, just as I came to the sillible “for” of my ventriloquism, or
inward speech--we had eatch jest reached the pint digscribed, when the
meditations of both were sudnly stopt, by my lord, in the midst of his
singin and trottin match, coming bolt up aginst poar me, sending me up
aginst one end of the room, himself flying back to the other: and it
was only after considrabble agitation that we were at length restored to
anything like a liquilibrium.
“What, YOU here, you infernal rascal?” says my lord.
“Your lordship's very kind to notus me,” says I; “I am here.” And I gave
him a look.
He saw I knew the whole game.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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