The Widow Barnaby. Vol. 3 (of 3)Trollope, Frances Milton
General
The Widow Barnaby. Vol. 3 (of 3)
Trollope, Frances Milton
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Social classes -- England -- Fiction; Widows -- Fiction
"The brutality of these Cheltenham people is perfectly
inconceivable. Mr. Crayton my broker, and my poor father's
broker before me, came to me as early as it was possible last
night; and I explained to him fully, and without a shadow of
reserve, the foolish scrape I had got into, which would have
been no scrape at all if I had not happened to fall into the
hands of a parcel of rascals. He undertook to get the sum
necessary to release me by eleven o'clock this morning, which
he did, good man, with the greatest punctuality ... paid that
villanous Simmons, got his receipt, and my discharge, when,
just at the very moment when I was stepping into the coach that
was to take me from this hateful place, up come the same two
identical fellows that insulted us in Half-Moon Street, and
arrest me again at the suit of Wright.... Such nonsense!... As
if I could not pay them all ten times over, as easy as buy a
pot of porter. But they care no more for reason than a pig in a
sty; so here I am, shut up again till that dear old man Crayton
can come, and get through all the same tedious work again. You
can't conceive how miserably dull I am; and what's
particularly provoking, I gave over trying to have you in with
me as soon as old Crayton told me I should be out by noon
to-day; and therefore, Agnes, I want you to set off the very
minute you receive this, and come to me for a visit. You may
come to me for a visit, though I can't have you in without
special leave. Mind not to lose your way; but it's uncommonly
easy if you will only go by what I say. Set out the same way
that we went to the church, you know, and keep on till you get
to the Haymarket, which you will know by its being written up.
Then, when you've got down to the bottom of it, turn sharp
round to your left, and just ask your way to the Strand; and
when you have got there, which you will in a minute, walk on,
on, on, till you come to the bottom of a steep hill, and then
stop and ask some one to shew you the way to the Fleet Prison.
When you get there, any of the turnkeys will be able to shew
you to my room; and a comfort I'm sure it will be to see you in
such a place as this.... And do, Agnes, buy as you come along
half a dozen cheesecakes and half a dozen queen-cakes, and a
small jar, for about four or five shillings, of brandy
cherries.... And what's a great comfort, I may keep you till
it's dark, which is what they call shutting-up time, and then
you can easy enough find your way back again by the gaslight,
which is ten times more beautiful than day, all along the
streets from one end of the town to the other.... Only think of
that dirty scoundrel Morrison never coming near me ... after
all that passed too, and all the wine he drank, shabby
fellow!...
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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