Chapter 17

by Charles Dickens

　　Follows the Fortunes of Miss NicklebyIt was with a heavy heart, and many sad forebodings which no effortcould banish, that Kate Nickleby, on the morning appointed for thecommencement of her engagement with Madame Mantalini, left the citywhen its clocks yet wanted a quarter of an hour of eight, andthreaded her way alone, amid the noise and bustle of the streets,towards the west end of London.At this early hour many sickly girls, whose business, like that ofthe poor worm, is to produce, with patient toil, the finery thatbedecks the thoughtless and luxurious, traverse our streets, makingtowards the scene of their daily labour, and catching, as if bystealth, in their hurried walk, the only gasp of wholesome air andglimpse of sunlight which cheer their monotonous existence duringthe long train of hours that make a working day. As she drew nighto the more fashionable quarter of the town, Kate marked many ofthis class as they passed by, hurrying like herself to their painfuloccupation, and saw, in their unhealthy looks and feeble gait, buttoo clear an evidence that her misgivings were not wholly groundless.She arrived at Madame Mantalini's some minutes before the appointedhour, and after walking a few times up and down, in the hope thatsome other female might arrive and spare her the embarrassment ofstating her business to the servant, knocked timidly at the door:which, after some delay, was opened by the footman, who had beenputting on his striped jacket as he came upstairs, and was nowintent on fastening his apron.'Is Madame Mantalini in?' faltered Kate.'Not often out at this time, miss,' replied the man in a tone whichrendered "Miss," something more offensive than "My dear."'Can I see her?' asked Kate.'Eh?' replied the man, holding the door in his hand, and honouringthe inquirer with a stare and a broad grin, 'Lord, no.''I came by her own appointment,' said Kate; 'I am--I am--to beemployed here.''Oh! you should have rung the worker's bell,' said the footman,touching the handle of one in the door-post. 'Let me see, though, Iforgot--Miss Nickleby, is it?''Yes,' replied Kate.'You're to walk upstairs then, please,' said the man. 'MadameMantalini wants to see you--this way--take care of these things onthe floor.'Cautioning her, in these terms, not to trip over a heterogeneouslitter of pastry-cook's trays, lamps, waiters full of glasses, andpiles of rout seats which were strewn about the hall, plainlybespeaking a late party on the previous night, the man led the wayto the second story, and ushered Kate into a back-room,communicating by folding-doors with the apartment in which she hadfirst seen the mistress of the establishment.'If you'll wait here a minute,' said the man, 'I'll tell herpresently.' Having made this promise with much affability, heretired and left Kate alone.There was not much to amuse in the room; of which the mostattractive feature was, a half-length portrait in oil, of MrMantalini, whom the artist had depicted scratching his head in aneasy manner, and thus displaying to advantage a diamond ring, thegift of Madame Mantalini before her marriage. There was, however,the sound of voices in conversation in the next room; and as theconversation was loud and the partition thin, Kate could not helpdiscovering that they belonged to Mr and Mrs Mantalini.'If you will be odiously, demnebly, outrIgeously jealous, my soul,'said Mr Mantalini, 'you will be very miserable--horrid miserable--demnition miserable.' And then, there was a sound as though MrMantalini were sipping his coffee.'I am miserable,' returned Madame Mantalini, evidently pouting.'Then you are an ungrateful, unworthy, demd unthankful littlefairy,' said Mr Mantalini.'I am not,' returned Madame, with a sob.'Do not put itself out of humour,' said Mr Mantalini, breaking anegg. 'It is a pretty, bewitching little demd countenance, and itshould not be out of humour, for it spoils its loveliness, and makesit cross and gloomy like a frightful, naughty, demd hobgoblin.''I am not to be brought round in that way, always,' rejoined Madame,sulkily.'It shall be brought round in any way it likes best, and not broughtround at all if it likes that better,' retorted Mr Mantalini, withhis egg-spoon in his mouth.'It's very easy to talk,' said Mrs Mantalini.'Not so easy when one is eating a demnition egg,' replied MrMantalini; 'for the yolk runs down the waistcoat, and yolk of eggdoes not match any waistcoat but a yellow waistcoat, demmit.''You were flirting with her during the whole night,' said MadameMantalini, apparently desirous to lead the conversation back to thepoint from which it had strayed.'No, no, my life.''You were,' said Madame; 'I had my eye upon you all the time.''Bless the little winking twinkling eye; was it on me all the time!'cried Mantalini, in a sort of lazy rapture. 'Oh, demmit!''And I say once more,' resumed Madame, 'that you ought not to waltzwith anybody but your own wife; and I will not bear it, Mantalini,if I take poison first.''She will not take poison and have horrid pains, will she?' saidMantalini; who, by the altered sound of his voice, seemed to havemoved his chair, and taken up his position nearer to his wife. 'Shewill not take poison, because she had a demd fine husband who mighthave married two countesses and a dowager--''Two countesses,' interposed Madame. 'You told me one before!''Two!' cried Mantalini. 'Two demd fine women, real countesses andsplendid fortunes, demmit.''And why didn't you?' asked Madame, playfully.'Why didn't I!' replied her husband. 'Had I not seen, at a morningconcert, the demdest little fascinator in all the world, and whilethat little fascinator is my wife, may not all the countesses anddowagers in England be--'Mr Mantalini did not finish the sentence, but he gave MadameMantalini a very loud kiss, which Madame Mantalini returned; afterwhich, there seemed to be some more kissing mixed up with theprogress of the breakfast.'And what about the cash, my existence's jewel?' said Mantalini,when these endearments ceased. 'How much have we in hand?''Very little indeed,' replied Madame.'We must have some more,' said Mantalini; 'we must have somediscount out of old Nickleby to carry on the war with, demmit.''You can't want any more just now,' said Madame coaxingly.'My life and soul,' returned her husband, 'there is a horse for saleat Scrubbs's, which it would be a sin and a crime to lose--going, mysenses' joy, for nothing.''For nothing,' cried Madame, 'I am glad of that.''For actually nothing,' replied Mantalini. 'A hundred guineas downwill buy him; mane, and crest, and legs, and tail, all of thedemdest beauty. I will ride him in the park before the verychariots of the rejected countesses. The demd old dowager willfaint with grief and rage; the other two will say "He is married, hehas made away with himself, it is a demd thing, it is all up!" Theywill hate each other demnebly, and wish you dead and buried. Ha!ha! Demmit.'Madame Mantalini's prudence, if she had any, was not proof againstthese triumphal pictures; after a little jingling of keys, sheobserved that she would see what her desk contained, and rising forthat purpose, opened the folding-door, and walked into the roomwhere Kate was seated.'Dear me, child!' exclaimed Madame Mantalini, recoiling in surprise.'How came you here?''Child!' cried Mantalini, hurrying in. 'How came--ehdemmit,how d'ye do?''I have been waiting, here some time, ma'am,' said Kate, addressingMadame Mantalini. 'The servant must have forgotten to let you knowthat I was here, I think.''You really must see to that man,' said Madame, turning to herhusband. 'He forgets everything.''I will twist his demd nose off his countenance for leaving such avery pretty creature all alone by herself,' said her husband.'Mantalini,' cried Madame, 'you forget yourself.''I don't forget you, my soul, and never shall, and never can,' saidMantalini, kissing his wife's hand, and grimacing aside, to MissNickleby, who turned away.Appeased by this compliment, the lady of the business took somepapers from her desk which she handed over to Mr Mantalini, whoreceived them with great delight. She then requested Kate to followher, and after several feints on the part of Mr Mantalini to attractthe young lady's attention, they went away: leaving that gentlemanextended at full length on the sofa, with his heels in the air and anewspaper in his hand.Madame Mantalini led the way down a flight of stairs, and through apassage, to a large room at the back of the premises where were anumber of young women employed in sewing, cutting out, making up,altering, and various other processes known only to those who arecunning in the arts of millinery and dressmaking. It was a closeroom with a skylight, and as dull and quiet as a room need be.On Madame Mantalini calling aloud for Miss Knag, a short, bustling,over-dressed female, full of importance, presented herself, and allthe young ladies suspending their operations for the moment,whispered to each other sundry criticisms upon the make and textureof Miss Nickleby's dress, her complexion, cast of features, andpersonal appearance, with as much good breeding as could have beendisplayed by the very best society in a crowded ball-room.'Oh, Miss Knag,' said Madame Mantalini, 'this is the young person Ispoke to you about.'Miss Knag bestowed a reverential smile upon Madame Mantalini, whichshe dexterously transformed into a gracious one for Kate, and saidthat certainly, although it was a great deal of trouble to haveyoung people who were wholly unused to the business, still, she wassure the young person would try to do her best--impressed with whichconviction she (Miss Knag) felt an interest in her, already.'I think that, for the present at all events, it will be better forMiss Nickleby to come into the show-room with you, and try things onfor people,' said Madame Mantalini. 'She will not be able for thepresent to be of much use in any other way; and her appearance will--''Suit very well with mine, Madame Mantalini,' interrupted Miss Knag.'So it will; and to be sure I might have known that you would not belong in finding that out; for you have so much taste in all thosematters, that really, as I often say to the young ladies, I do notknow how, when, or where, you possibly could have acquired all youknow--hem--Miss Nickleby and I are quite a pair, Madame Mantalini,only I am a little darker than Miss Nickleby, and--hem--I think myfoot may be a little smaller. Miss Nickleby, I am sure, will notbe offended at my saying that, when she hears that our family alwayshave been celebrated for small feet ever since--hem--ever since ourfamily had any feet at all, indeed, I think. I had an uncle once,Madame Mantalini, who lived in Cheltenham, and had a most excellentbusiness as a tobacconist--hem--who had such small feet, that theywere no bigger than those which are usually joined to wooden legs--the most symmetrical feet, Madame Mantalini, that even you canimagine.''They must have had something of the appearance of club feet, MissKnag,' said Madame.'Well now, that is so like you,' returned Miss Knag, 'Ha! ha! ha!Of club feet! Oh very good! As I often remark to the young ladies,"Well I must say, and I do not care who knows it, of all the readyhumour--hem--I ever heard anywhere"--and I have heard a good deal;for when my dear brother was alive (I kept house for him, MissNickleby), we had to supper once a week two or three young men,highly celebrated in those days for their humour, Madame Mantalini--"Of all the ready humour," I say to the young ladies, "I ever heard,Madame Mantalini's is the most remarkable--hem. It is so gentle, sosarcastic, and yet so good-natured (as I was observing to MissSimmonds only this morning), that how, or when, or by what means sheacquired it, is to me a mystery indeed."'Here Miss Knag paused to take breath, and while she pauses it may beobserved--not that she was marvellously loquacious and marvellouslydeferential to Madame Mantalini, since these are facts which requireno comment; but that every now and then, she was accustomed, in thetorrent of her discourse, to introduce a loud, shrill, clear 'hem!'the import and meaning of which, was variously interpreted by heracquaintance; some holding that Miss Knag dealt in exaggeration, andintroduced the monosyllable when any fresh invention was in courseof coinage in her brain; others, that when she wanted a word, shethrew it in to gain time, and prevent anybody else from strikinginto the conversation. It may be further remarked, that Miss Knagstill aimed at youth, although she had shot beyond it, years ago;and that she was weak and vain, and one of those people who are bestdescribed by the axiom, that you may trust them as far as you cansee them, and no farther.'You'll take care that Miss Nickleby understands her hours, and soforth,' said Madame Mantalini; 'and so I'll leave her with you.You'll not forget my directions, Miss Knag?'Miss Knag of course replied, that to forget anything MadameMantalini had directed, was a moral impossibility; and that lady,dispensing a general good-morning among her assistants, sailed away.'Charming creature, isn't she, Miss Nickleby?' said Miss Knag,rubbing her hands together.'I have seen very little of her,' said Kate. 'I hardly know yet.''Have you seen Mr Mantalini?' inquired Miss Knag.'Yes; I have seen him twice.''Isn't he a charming creature?''Indeed he does not strike me as being so, by any means,' repliedKate.'No, my dear!' cried Miss Knag, elevating her hands. 'Why, goodnessgracious mercy, where's your taste? Such a fine tall, full-whiskered dashing gentlemanly man, with such teeth and hair, and--hem--well now, you do astonish me.''I dare say I am very foolish,' replied Kate, laying aside herbonnet; 'but as my opinion is of very little importance to him oranyone else, I do not regret having formed it, and shall be slow tochange it, I think.''He is a very fine man, don't you think so?' asked one of the youngladies.'Indeed he may be, for anything I could say to the contrary,'replied Kate.'And drives very beautiful horses, doesn't he?' inquired another.'I dare say he may, but I never saw them,' answered Kate.'Never saw them!' interposed Miss Knag. 'Oh, well! There it is atonce you know; how can you possibly pronounce an opinion about agentleman--hem--if you don't see him as he turns out altogether?'There was so much of the world--even of the little world of thecountry girl--in this idea of the old milliner, that Kate, who wasanxious, for every reason, to change the subject, made no furtherremark, and left Miss Knag in possession of the field.After a short silence, during which most of the young people made acloser inspection of Kate's appearance, and compared notesrespecting it, one of them offered to help her off with her shawl,and the offer being accepted, inquired whether she did not findblack very uncomfortable wear.'I do indeed,' replied Kate, with a bitter sigh.'So dusty and hot,' observed the same speaker, adjusting her dressfor her.Kate might have said, that mourning is sometimes the coldest wearwhich mortals can assume; that it not only chills the breasts ofthose it clothes, but extending its influence to summer friends,freezes up their sources of good-will and kindness, and witheringall the buds of promise they once so liberally put forth, leavesnothing but bared and rotten hearts exposed. There are few who havelost a friend or relative constituting in life their soledependence, who have not keenly felt this chilling influence oftheir sable garb. She had felt it acutely, and feeling it at themoment, could not quite restrain her tears.'I am very sorry to have wounded you by my thoughtless speech,' saidher companion. 'I did not think of it. You are in mourning forsome near relation?''For my father,' answered Kate.'For what relation, Miss Simmonds?' asked Miss Knag, in an audiblevoice.'Her father,' replied the other softly.'Her father, eh?' said Miss Knag, without the slightest depressionof her voice. 'Ah! A long illness, Miss Simmonds?''Hush,' replied the girl; 'I don't know.''Our misfortune was very sudden,' said Kate, turning away, 'or Imight perhaps, at a time like this, be enabled to support itbetter.'There had existed not a little desire in the room, according toinvariable custom, when any new 'young person' came, to know whoKate was, and what she was, and all about her; but, although itmight have been very naturally increased by her appearance andemotion, the knowledge that it pained her to be questioned, wassufficient to repress even this curiosity; and Miss Knag, finding ithopeless to attempt extracting any further particulars just then,reluctantly commanded silence, and bade the work proceed.In silence, then, the tasks were plied until half-past one, when abaked leg of mutton, with potatoes to correspond, were served in thekitchen. The meal over, and the young ladies having enjoyed theadditional relaxation of washing their hands, the work began again,and was again performed in silence, until the noise of carriagesrattling through the streets, and of loud double knocks at doors,gave token that the day's work of the more fortunate members ofsociety was proceeding in its turn.One of these double knocks at Madame Mantalini's door, announced theequipage of some great lady--or rather rich one, for there isoccasionally a distinction between riches and greatness--who hadcome with her daughter to approve of some court-dresses which hadbeen a long time preparing, and upon whom Kate was deputed to wait,accompanied by Miss Knag, and officered of course by MadameMantalini.Kate's part in the pageant was humble enough, her duties beinglimited to holding articles of costume until Miss Knag was ready totry them on, and now and then tying a string, or fastening a hook-and-eye. She might, not unreasonably, have supposed herself beneaththe reach of any arrogance, or bad humour; but it happened that thelady and daughter were both out of temper that day, and the poorgirl came in for her share of their revilings. She was awkward--herhands were cold--dirty--coarse--she could do nothing right; theywondered how Madame Mantalini could have such people about her;requested they might see some other young woman the next time theycame; and so forth.So common an occurrence would be hardly deserving of mention, butfor its effect. Kate shed many bitter tears when these people weregone, and felt, for the first time, humbled by her occupation. Shehad, it is true, quailed at the prospect of drudgery and hardservice; but she had felt no degradation in working for her bread,until she found herself exposed to insolence and pride. Philosophywould have taught her that the degradation was on the side of thosewho had sunk so low as to display such passions habitually, andwithout cause: but she was too young for such consolation, and herhonest feeling was hurt. May not the complaint, that common peopleare above their station, often take its rise in the fact of uncommonpeople being below theirs?In such scenes and occupations the time wore on until nine o'clock,when Kate, jaded and dispirited with the occurrences of the day,hastened from the confinement of the workroom, to join her mother atthe street corner, and walk home:--the more sadly, from having todisguise her real feelings, and feign to participate in all thesanguine visions of her companion.'Bless my soul, Kate,' said Mrs Nickleby; 'I've been thinking allday what a delightful thing it would be for Madame Mantalini to takeyou into partnership--such a likely thing too, you know! Why, yourpoor dear papa's cousin's sister-in-law--a Miss Browndock--was takeninto partnership by a lady that kept a school at Hammersmith, andmade her fortune in no time at all. I forget, by-the-bye, whetherthat Miss Browndock was the same lady that got the ten thousandpounds prize in the lottery, but I think she was; indeed, now I cometo think of it, I am sure she was. "Mantalini and Nickleby", howwell it would sound!--and if Nicholas has any good fortune, youmight have Doctor Nickleby, the head-master of Westminster School,living in the same street.''Dear Nicholas!' cried Kate, taking from her reticule her brother'sletter from Dotheboys Hall. 'In all our misfortunes, how happy itmakes me, mama, to hear he is doing well, and to find him writingin such good spirits! It consoles me for all we may undergo, tothink that he is comfortable and happy.'Poor Kate! she little thought how weak her consolation was, and howsoon she would be undeceived.