Chapter 31

by Charles Dickens

　　Of Ralph Nickleby and Newman Noggs, and some wise Precautions, thesuccess or failure of which will appear in the SequelIn blissful unconsciousness that his nephew was hastening at theutmost speed of four good horses towards his sphere of action, andthat every passing minute diminished the distance between them,Ralph Nickleby sat that morning occupied in his customaryavocations, and yet unable to prevent his thoughts wandering fromtime to time back to the interview which had taken place betweenhimself and his niece on the previous day. At such intervals, aftera few moments of abstraction, Ralph would mutter some peevishinterjection, and apply himself with renewed steadiness of purposeto the ledger before him, but again and again the same train ofthought came back despite all his efforts to prevent it, confusinghim in his calculations, and utterly distracting his attention fromthe figures over which he bent. At length Ralph laid down his pen,and threw himself back in his chair as though he had made up hismind to allow the obtrusive current of reflection to take its owncourse, and, by giving it full scope, to rid himself of it effectually.'I am not a man to be moved by a pretty face,' muttered Ralphsternly. 'There is a grinning skull beneath it, and men like me wholook and work below the surface see that, and not its delicatecovering. And yet I almost like the girl, or should if she had beenless proudly and squeamishly brought up. If the boy were drowned orhanged, and the mother dead, this house should be her home. I wishthey were, with all my soul.'Notwithstanding the deadly hatred which Ralph felt towards Nicholas,and the bitter contempt with which he sneered at poor Mrs Nickleby--notwithstanding the baseness with which he had behaved, and was thenbehaving, and would behave again if his interest prompted him,towards Kate herself--still there was, strange though it may seem,something humanising and even gentle in his thoughts at that moment.He thought of what his home might be if Kate were there; he placedher in the empty chair, looked upon her, heard her speak; he feltagain upon his arm the gentle pressure of the trembling hand; hestrewed his costly rooms with the hundred silent tokens of femininepresence and occupation; he came back again to the cold fireside andthe silent dreary splendour; and in that one glimpse of a betternature, born as it was in selfish thoughts, the rich man felthimself friendless, childless, and alone. Gold, for the instant,lost its lustre in his eyes, for there were countless treasures ofthe heart which it could never purchase.A very slight circumstance was sufficient to banish such reflectionsfrom the mind of such a man. As Ralph looked vacantly out acrossthe yard towards the window of the other office, he became suddenlyaware of the earnest observation of Newman Noggs, who, with his rednose almost touching the glass, feigned to be mending a pen with arusty fragment of a knife, but was in reality staring at hisemployer with a countenance of the closest and most eager scrutiny.Ralph exchanged his dreamy posture for his accustomed businessattitude: the face of Newman disappeared, and the train of thoughttook to flight, all simultaneously, and in an instant.After a few minutes, Ralph rang his bell. Newman answered thesummons, and Ralph raised his eyes stealthily to his face, as if healmost feared to read there, a knowledge of his recent thoughts.There was not the smallest speculation, however, in the countenanceof Newman Noggs. If it be possible to imagine a man, with two eyesin his head, and both wide open, looking in no direction whatever,and seeing nothing, Newman appeared to be that man while RalphNickleby regarded him.'How now?' growled Ralph.'Oh!' said Newman, throwing some intelligence into his eyes all atonce, and dropping them on his master, 'I thought you rang.' Withwhich laconic remark Newman turned round and hobbled away.'Stop!' said Ralph.Newman stopped; not at all disconcerted.'I did ring.''I knew you did.''Then why do you offer to go if you know that?''I thought you rang to say you didn't ring" replied Newman. 'Youoften do.''How dare you pry, and peer, and stare at me, sirrah?' demandedRalph.'Stare!' cried Newman, 'at you! Ha, ha!' which was all theexplanation Newman deigned to offer.'Be careful, sir,' said Ralph, looking steadily at him. 'Let mehave no drunken fooling here. Do you see this parcel?''It's big enough,' rejoined Newman.'Carry it into the city; to Cross, in Broad Street, and leave itthere--quick. Do you hear?'Newman gave a dogged kind of nod to express an affirmative reply,and, leaving the room for a few seconds, returned with his hat.Having made various ineffective attempts to fit the parcel (whichwas some two feet square) into the crown thereof, Newman took itunder his arm, and after putting on his fingerless gloves with greatprecision and nicety, keeping his eyes fixed upon Mr Ralph Nicklebyall the time, he adjusted his hat upon his head with as much care,real or pretended, as if it were a bran-new one of the mostexpensive quality, and at last departed on his errand.He executed his commission with great promptitude and dispatch, onlycalling at one public-house for half a minute, and even that mightbe said to be in his way, for he went in at one door and came out atthe other; but as he returned and had got so far homewards as theStrand, Newman began to loiter with the uncertain air of a man whohas not quite made up his mind whether to halt or go straightforwards. After a very short consideration, the former inclinationprevailed, and making towards the point he had had in his mind,Newman knocked a modest double knock, or rather a nervous singleone, at Miss La Creevy's door.It was opened by a strange servant, on whom the odd figure of thevisitor did not appear to make the most favourable impressionpossible, inasmuch as she no sooner saw him than she very nearlyclosed it, and placing herself in the narrow gap, inquired what hewanted. But Newman merely uttering the monosyllable 'Noggs,' as ifit were some cabalistic word, at sound of which bolts would fly backand doors open, pushed briskly past and gained the door of Miss LaCreevy's sitting-room, before the astonished servant could offer anyopposition.'Walk in if you please,' said Miss La Creevy in reply to the soundof Newman's knuckles; and in he walked accordingly.'Bless us!' cried Miss La Creevy, starting as Newman bolted in;'what did you want, sir?''You have forgotten me,' said Newman, with an inclination of thehead. 'I wonder at that. That nobody should remember me who knewme in other days, is natural enough; but there are few people who,seeing me once, forget me now.' He glanced, as he spoke, at hisshabby clothes and paralytic limb, and slightly shook his head.'I did forget you, I declare,' said Miss La Creevy, rising toreceive Newman, who met her half-way, 'and I am ashamed of myselffor doing so; for you are a kind, good creature, Mr Noggs. Sit downand tell me all about Miss Nickleby. Poor dear thing! I haven'tseen her for this many a week.''How's that?' asked Newman.'Why, the truth is, Mr Noggs,' said Miss La Creevy, 'that I havebeen out on a visit--the first visit I have made for fifteen years.''That is a long time,' said Newman, sadly.'So it is a very long time to look back upon in years, though,somehow or other, thank Heaven, the solitary days roll awaypeacefully and happily enough,' replied the miniature painter. 'Ihave a brother, Mr Noggs--the only relation I have--and all thattime I never saw him once. Not that we ever quarrelled, but he wasapprenticed down in the country, and he got married there; and newties and affections springing up about him, he forgot a poor littlewoman like me, as it was very reasonable he should, you know. Don'tsuppose that I complain about that, because I always said to myself,"It is very natural; poor dear John is making his way in the world,and has a wife to tell his cares and troubles to, and children nowto play about him, so God bless him and them, and send we may allmeet together one day where we shall part no more." But what do youthink, Mr Noggs,' said the miniature painter, brightening up andclapping her hands, 'of that very same brother coming up to Londonat last, and never resting till he found me out; what do you thinkof his coming here and sitting down in that very chair, and cryinglike a child because he was so glad to see me--what do you think ofhis insisting on taking me down all the way into the country to hisown house (quite a sumptuous place, Mr Noggs, with a large gardenand I don't know how many fields, and a man in livery waiting attable, and cows and horses and pigs and I don't know what besides),and making me stay a whole month, and pressing me to stop there allmy life--yes, all my life--and so did his wife, and so did thechildren--and there were four of them, and one, the eldest girl ofall, they--they had named her after me eight good years before, theyhad indeed. I never was so happy; in all my life I never was!' Theworthy soul hid her face in her handkerchief, and sobbed aloud; forit was the first opportunity she had had of unburdening her heart,and it would have its way.'But bless my life,' said Miss La Creevy, wiping her eyes after ashort pause, and cramming her handkerchief into her pocket withgreat bustle and dispatch; 'what a foolish creature I must seem toyou, Mr Noggs! I shouldn't have said anything about it, only Iwanted to explain to you how it was I hadn't seen Miss Nickleby.''Have you seen the old lady?' asked Newman.'You mean Mrs Nickleby?' said Miss La Creevy. 'Then I tell youwhat, Mr Noggs, if you want to keep in the good books in thatquarter, you had better not call her the old lady any more, for Isuspect she wouldn't be best pleased to hear you. Yes, I went therethe night before last, but she was quite on the high ropes aboutsomething, and was so grand and mysterious, that I couldn't makeanything of her: so, to tell you the truth, I took it into my headto be grand too, and came away in state. I thought she would havecome round again before this, but she hasn't been here.''About Miss Nickleby--' said Newman.'Why, she was here twice while I was away,' returned Miss La Creevy.'I was afraid she mightn't like to have me calling on her amongthose great folks in what's-its-name Place, so I thought I'd wait aday or two, and if I didn't see her, write.''Ah!' exclaimed Newman, cracking his fingers.'However, I want to hear all the news about them from you,' saidMiss La Creevy. 'How is the old rough and tough monster of GoldenSquare? Well, of course; such people always are. I don't mean howis he in health, but how is he going on: how is he behavinghimself?''Damn him!' cried Newman, dashing his cherished hat on the floor;'like a false hound.''Gracious, Mr Noggs, you quite terrify me!' exclaimed Miss LaCreevy, turning pale.'I should have spoilt his features yesterday afternoon if I couldhave afforded it,' said Newman, moving restlessly about, and shakinghis fist at a portrait of Mr Canning over the mantelpiece. 'I wasvery near it. I was obliged to put my hands in my pockets, and keep'em there very tight. I shall do it some day in that little back-parlour, I know I shall. I should have done it before now, if Ihadn't been afraid of making bad worse. I shall double-lock myselfin with him and have it out before I die, I'm quite certain of it.''I shall scream if you don't compose yourself, Mr Noggs,' said MissLa Creevy; 'I'm sure I shan't be able to help it.''Never mind,' rejoined Newman, darting violently to and fro. 'He'scoming up tonight: I wrote to tell him. He little thinks I know; helittle thinks I care. Cunning scoundrel! he don't think that. Nothe, not he. Never mind, I'll thwart him--I, Newman Noggs. Ho, ho,the rascal!'Lashing himself up to an extravagant pitch of fury, Newman Noggsjerked himself about the room with the most eccentric motion everbeheld in a human being: now sparring at the little miniatures onthe wall, and now giving himself violent thumps on the head, as ifto heighten the delusion, until he sank down in his former seatquite breathless and exhausted.'There,' said Newman, picking up his hat; 'that's done me good. NowI'm better, and I'll tell you all about it.'It took some little time to reassure Miss La Creevy, who had beenalmost frightened out of her senses by this remarkabledemonstration; but that done, Newman faithfully related all that hadpassed in the interview between Kate and her uncle, prefacing hisnarrative with a statement of his previous suspicions on thesubject, and his reasons for forming them; and concluding with acommunication of the step he had taken in secretly writing toNicholas.Though little Miss La Creevy's indignation was not so singularlydisplayed as Newman's, it was scarcely inferior in violence andintensity. Indeed, if Ralph Nickleby had happened to make hisappearance in the room at that moment, there is some doubt whetherhe would not have found Miss La Creevy a more dangerous opponentthan even Newman Noggs himself.'God forgive me for saying so,' said Miss La Creevy, as a wind-up toall her expressions of anger, 'but I really feel as if I could stickthis into him with pleasure.'It was not a very awful weapon that Miss La Creevy held, it being infact nothing more nor less than a black-lead pencil; but discoveringher mistake, the little portrait painter exchanged it for a mother-of-pearl fruit knife, wherewith, in proof of her desperate thoughts,she made a lunge as she spoke, which would have scarcely disturbedthe crumb of a half-quartern loaf.'She won't stop where she is after tonight,' said Newman. 'That's acomfort.''Stop!' cried Miss La Creevy, 'she should have left there, weeksago.''--If we had known of this,' rejoined Newman. 'But we didn't.Nobody could properly interfere but her mother or brother. Themother's weak--poor thing--weak. The dear young man will be heretonight.''Heart alive!' cried Miss La Creevy. 'He will do somethingdesperate, Mr Noggs, if you tell him all at once.'Newman left off rubbing his hands, and assumed a thoughtful look.'Depend upon it,' said Miss La Creevy, earnestly, 'if you are notvery careful in breaking out the truth to him, he will do someviolence upon his uncle or one of these men that will bring someterrible calamity upon his own head, and grief and sorrow to usall.''I never thought of that,' rejoined Newman, his countenance fallingmore and more. 'I came to ask you to receive his sister in case hebrought her here, but--''But this is a matter of much greater importance,' interrupted MissLa Creevy; 'that you might have been sure of before you came, butthe end of this, nobody can foresee, unless you are very guarded andcareful.''What can I do?' cried Newman, scratching his head with an air ofgreat vexation and perplexity. 'If he was to talk of pistoling 'emall, I should be obliged to say, "Certainly--serve 'em right."'Miss La Creevy could not suppress a small shriek on hearing this,and instantly set about extorting a solemn pledge from Newman thathe would use his utmost endeavours to pacify the wrath of Nicholas;which, after some demur, was conceded. They then consulted togetheron the safest and surest mode of communicating to him thecircumstances which had rendered his presence necessary.'He must have time to cool before he can possibly do anything,' saidMiss La Creevy. 'That is of the greatest consequence. He must notbe told until late at night.''But he'll be in town between six and seven this evening,' repliedNewman. 'I can't keep it from him when he asks me.''Then you must go out, Mr Noggs,' said Miss La Creevy. 'You caneasily have been kept away by business, and must not return tillnearly midnight.''Then he will come straight here,' retorted Newman.'So I suppose,' observed Miss La Creevy; 'but he won't find me athome, for I'll go straight to the city the instant you leave me,make up matters with Mrs Nickleby, and take her away to the theatre,so that he may not even know where his sister lives.'Upon further discussion, this appeared the safest and most feasiblemode of proceeding that could possibly be adopted. Therefore it wasfinally determined that matters should be so arranged, and Newman,after listening to many supplementary cautions and entreaties, tookhis leave of Miss La Creevy and trudged back to Golden Square;ruminating as he went upon a vast number of possibilities andimpossibilities which crowded upon his brain, and arose out of theconversation that had just terminated.