′And I am very glad I have come,′ said Mr Pecksniff, ′if I can be of service. I am very glad I have come. What is the matter, Mrs Lupin?′
′A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,′ said the tearful hostess.
′A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, has he?′ repeated Mr Pecksniff. ′Well, well!′
Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff′s manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said ′a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,′ or ′eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,′ must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom.
′And how,′ asked Mr Pecksniff, drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire, as benevolently as if they were somebody else′s, not his; ′and how is he now?′
′He is better, and quite tranquil,′ answered Mrs Lupin.
′He is better, and quite tranquil,′ said Mr Pecksniff. ′Very well! Ve-ry well!′
Here again, though the statement was Mrs Lupin′s and not Mr Pecksniff′s, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it. It was not much when Mrs Lupin said it, but it was a whole book when Mr Pecksniff said it. ′I observe,′ he seemed to say, ′and through me, morality in general remarks, that he is better and quite tranquil.′
′There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,′ said the hostess, shaking her head, ′for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. He is far from easy in his thoughts, and wants some proper advice from those whose goodness makes it worth his having.′
′Then,′ said Mr Pecksniff, ′he is the sort of customer for me.′ But though he said this in the plainest language, he didn′t speak a word. He only shook his head; disparagingly of himself too.
′I am afraid, sir,′ continued the landlady, first looking round to assure herself that there was nobody within hearing, and then looking down upon the floor. ′I am very much afraid, sir, that his conscience is troubled by his not being related to—or—or even married to—a very young lady—′
′Mrs Lupin!′ said Mr Pecksniff, holding up his hand with something in his manner as nearly approaching to severity as any expression of his, mild being that he was, could ever do. ′Person! young person?′
′A very young person,′ said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; ′—I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don′t know what I say—who is with him now.′
′Who is with him now,′ ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow′s back, or an orphan′s back, or an enemy′s back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. ′Oh dear me, dear me!′
′At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,′ observed the hostess, earnestly, ′that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.′
′Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,′ said Mr Pecksniff gravely, ′is very natural.
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