BLEAK HOUSE  BY CHARLES DICKENS .  WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H .  K .  BROWNE .  LONDON : BRADBURY + EVANS , BOUVERIE STREET .  AGENTS : J .  MENZIES , EDINBURGH ; MURRAY AND SON , GLASGOW ; J .  M'GLASHAN , DUBLIN .  NOTICE is hereby given that the Author of “ BLEAK HOUSE ” , reserves to himself the right of publishing a Translation in France .  DEDICATED , AS A REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FRIENDLY UNION , TO MY COMPANIONS IN THE GUILD OF LITERATURE AND ART .  PREFACE .  A FEW months ago , on a public occasion , a Chancery Judge had the kindness to inform me , as one of a company of some hundred and fifty men and women not laboring under any suspicions of lunacy , that the Court of Chancery , though the shining subject of much popular prejudice ( at which point I thought the Judge 'seye had a cast in my direction ) , was almost immaculate .  There had been , he admitted , a trivial blemish or so in its rate of progress , but this was exaggerated , and had been entirely owing to the “ parsimony of the public ; ” which guilty public , it appeared , had been until lately bent in the most determined manner on by no means enlarging the number of Chancery Judges appointed — I believe by Richard the Second , but any other King will do as well .  This seemed to me too profound a joke to be inserted in the body of this book , or I should have restored it to Conversation Kenge or to Mr. Vholes , with one or other of whom I think it must have originated .  In such mouths I might have coupled it with an apt quotation from one of SHAKSPEARE 'SSonnets : My nature is subdued To what it works in , like the dyer 'shand : Pity me then , and wish I were renew 'd!  My nature is subdued  To what it works in , like the dyer 'shand :  Pity me then , and wish I were renew 'd!  But as it is wholesome that the parsimonious public should know what has been doing , and still is doing , in this connexion , I mention here that everything set forth in these pages concerning the Court of Chancery is substantially true , and within the truth .  The case of Gridley is in no essential altered from one of actual occurrence , made public by a disinterested person who was professionally acquainted with the whole of the monstrous wrong from beginning to end .  At the present moment there is a suit before the Court which was commenced nearly twenty years ago ; in which from thirty to forty counsel have been known to appear at one time ; in which costs have been incurred to the amount of seventy thousand pounds ; which is a friendly suit ; and which is ( I am assured ) no nearer to its termination now than when it was begun .  There is another well-known suit in Chancery , not yet decided , which was commenced before the close of the last century , and in which more than double the amount of seventy thousand pounds has been swallowed up in costs .  If I wanted other authorities for JARNDYCE AND JARNDYCE , I could rain them on these pages , to the shame of — a parsimonious public .  There is only one other point on which I offer a word of remark .  The possibility of what is called Spontaneous Combustion has been denied since the death of Mr. Krook ; and my good friend MR. LEWES ( quite mistaken , as he soon found , in supposing the thing to have been abandoned by all authorities ) published some ingenious letters to me at the time when that event was chronicled , arguing that Spontaneous Combustion could not possibly be .  I have no need to observe that I do not wilfully or negligently mislead my readers , and that before I wrote that description I took pains to investigate the subject .  There are about thirty cases on record , of which the most famous , that of the Countess Cornelia de Bandi Cesenate was minutely investigated and described by Giuseppe Bianchini , a prebendary of Verona , otherwise distinguished in letters , who published an account of it at Verona , in 1731 , which he afterwards republished at Rome .  The appearances beyond all rational doubt observed in that case , are the appearances observed in Mr. Krook 'scase .  The next most famous instance happened at Rheims , six years earlier ; and the historian in that case is LE CAT , one of the most renowned surgeons produced by France .  The subject was a woman , whose husband was ignorantly convicted of having murdered her ; but , on solemn appeal to a higher court , he was acquitted , because it was shown upon the evidence that she had died the death to which this name of Spontaneous Combustion is given .  I do not think it necessary to add to these notable facts , and that general reference to the authorities which will be found at page 329 , the recorded opinions and experiences of distinguished medical professors , French , English , and Scotch , in more modern days ; contenting myself with observing , that I shall not abandon the facts until there shall have been a considerable Spontaneous Combustion of the testimony on which human occurrences are usually received .  In Bleak House , I have purposely dwelt upon the romantic side of familiar things .  I believe I have never had so many readers as in this book .  May we meet again !  CHAPTER I .  IN CHANCERY .  LONDON .  Michaelmas Term lately over , and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln 'sInn Hall .  Implacable November weather .  As much mud in the streets , as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth , and it would not be wonderful to meet a Megalosaurus , forty feet long or so , waddling like an elephantine lizard up Holborn-hill .  Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots , making a soft black drizzle , with flakes of soot in it as big as full-grown snow-flakes — gone into mourning , one might imagine , for the death of the sun .  Dogs , undistinguishable in mire .  Horses , scarcely better ; splashed to their very blinkers .  Foot passengers , jostling one another 'sumbrellas , in a general infection of ill-temper , and losing their foot-hold at street-corners , where tens of thousands of other foot passengers have been slipping and sliding since the day broke ( if the day ever broke ) , adding new deposits to the crust upon crust of mud , sticking at those points tenaciously to the pavement , and accumulating at compound interest .  Fog everywhere .  Fog up the river , where it flows among green aits and meadows ; fog down the river , where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping , and the waterside pollutions of a great ( and dirty ) city .  Fog on the Essex marshes , fog on the Kentish heights .  Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs ; fog lying out on the yards , and hovering in the rigging of great ships ; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats .  Fog in the eyes and throats of ancient Greenwich pensioners , wheezing by the firesides of their wards ; fog in the stem and bowl of the afternoon pipe of the wrathful skipper , down in his close cabin ; fog cruelly pinching the toes and fingers of his shivering little 'prentice boy on deck .  Chance people on the bridges peeping over the parapets into a nether sky of fog , with fog all round them , as if they were up in a balloon , and hanging in the misty clouds .  Gas looming through the fog in divers places in the streets , much as the sun may , from the spongey fields , be seen to loom by husbandman and ploughboy .  Most of the shops lighted two hours before their time — as the gas seems to know , for it has a haggard and unwilling look .  The raw afternoon is rawest , and the dense fog is densest , and the muddy streets are muddiest , near that leaden-headed old obstruction , appropriate ornament for the threshold of a leaden-headed old corporation : Temple Bar .  And hard by Temple Bar , in Lincoln 'sInn Hall , at the very heart of the fog , sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery .  Never can there come fog too thick , never can there come mud and mire too deep , to assort with the groping and floundering condition which this High Court of Chancery , most pestilent of hoary sinners , holds , this day , in the sight of heaven and earth .  On such an afternoon , if ever , the Lord High Chancellor ought to be sitting here — as here he is — with a foggy glory round his head , softly fenced in with crimson cloth and curtains , addressed by a large advocate with great whiskers , a little voice , and an interminable brief , and outwardly directing his contemplation to the lantern in the roof , where he can see nothing but fog .  On such an afternoon , some score of members of the High Court of Chancery bar ought to be — as here they are — mistily engaged in one of the ten thousand stages of an endless cause , tripping one another up on slippery precedents , groping knee-deep in technicalities , running their goat-hair and horse-hair warded heads against walls of words , and making a pretence of equity with serious faces , as players might .  On such an afternoon , the various solicitors in the cause , some two or three of whom have inherited it from their fathers , who made a fortune by it , ought to be — as are they not ?  — ranged in a line , in a long matted well ( but you might look in vain for Truth at the bottom of it ) , between the registrar 'sred table and the silk gowns , with bills , cross-bills , answers , rejoinders , injunctions , affidavits , issues , references to masters , masters 'reports , mountains of costly nonsense , piled before them .  Well may the court be dim , with wasting candles here and there ; well may the fog hang heavy in it , as if it would never get out ; well may the stained glass windows lose their color , and admit no light of day into the place ; well may the uninitiated from the streets , who peep in through the glass panes in the door , be deterred from entrance by its owlish aspect , and by the drawl languidly echoing to the roof from the padded dais where the Lord High Chancellor looks into the lantern that has no light in it , and where the attendant wigs are all stuck in a fog-bank !  This is the Court of Chancery ; which has its decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire ; which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse , and its dead in every churchyard ; which has its ruined suitor , with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress , borrowing and begging through the round of every man 'sacquaintance ; which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right ; which so exhausts finances , patience , courage , hope ; so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart ; that there is not an honorable man among its practitioners who would not give — who does not often give — the warning , “ Suffer any wrong that can be done you , rather than come here !  ”  Who happen to be in the Lord Chancellor 'scourt this murky afternoon besides the Lord Chancellor , the counsel in the cause , two or three counsel who are never in any cause , and the well of solicitors before mentioned ?  There is the registrar below the Judge , in wig and gown ; and there are two or three maces , or petty-bags , or privy-purses , or whatever they may be , in legal court suits .  These are all yawning ; for no crumb of amusement ever falls from JARNDYCE AND JARNDYCE ( the cause in hand ) , which was squeezed dry years upon years ago .  The short-hand writers , the reporters of the court , and the reporters of the newspapers , invariably decamp with the rest of the regulars when Jarndyce and Jarndyce comes on .  Their places are a blank .  Standing on a seat at the side of the hall , the better to peer into the curtained sanctuary , is a little mad old woman in a squeezed bonnet , who is always in court , from its sitting to its rising , and always expecting some incomprehensible judgment to be given in her favor .  Some say she really is , or was , a party to a suit ; but no one knows for certain , because no one cares .  She carries some small litter in a reticule which she calls her documents ; principally consisting of paper matches and dry lavender .  A sallow prisoner has come up , in custody , for the half-dozenth time , to make a personal application “ to purge himself of his contempt ; ” which , being a solitary surviving executor who has fallen into a state of conglomeration about accounts of which it is not pretended that he had ever any knowledge , he is not at all likely ever to do .  In the meantime his prospects in life are ended .  Another ruined suitor , who periodically appears from Shropshire , and breaks out into efforts to address the Chancellor at the close of the day 'sbusiness , and who can by no means be made to understand that the Chancellor is legally ignorant of his existence after making it desolate for a quarter of a century , plants himself in a good place and keeps an eye on the Judge , ready to call out “ My lord !  ” in a voice of sonorous complaint , on the instant of his rising .  A few lawyers 'clerks and others who know this suitor by sight , linger , on the chance of his furnishing some fun , and enlivening the dismal weather a little .  Jarndyce and Jarndyce drones on .  This scarecrow of a suit has , in course of time , become so complicated , that no man alive knows what it means .  The parties to it understand it least ; but it has been observed that no two Chancery lawyers can talk about it for five minutes , without coming to a total disagreement as to all the premises .  Innumerable children have been born into the cause ; innumerable young people have married into it ; innumerable old people have died out of it .  Scores of persons have deliriously found themselves made parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce , without knowing how or why ; whole families have inherited legendary hatreds with the suit .  The little plaintiff or defendant , who was promised a new rocking-horse when Jarndyce and Jarndyce should be settled , has grown up , possessed himself of a real horse , and trotted away into the other world .  Fair wards of court have faded into mothers and grandmothers ; a long procession of Chancellors has come in and gone out ; the legion of bills in the suit have been transformed into mere bills of mortality ; there are not three Jarndyces left upon the earth perhaps , since old Tom Jarndyce in despair blew his brains out at a coffee-house in Chancery-lane ; but Jarndyce and Jarndyce still drags its dreary length before the Court , perennially hopeless .  Jarndyce and Jarndyce has passed into a joke .  That is the only good that has ever come of it .  It has been death to many , but it is a joke in the profession .  Every master in Chancery has had a reference out of it .  Every Chancellor was “ in it , ” for somebody or other , when he was counsel at the bar .  Good things have been said about it by blue-nosed , bulbous-shoed old benchers , in select port-wine committee after dinner in hall .  Articled clerks have been in the habit of fleshing their legal wit upon it .  The last Lord Chancellor handled it neatly , when , correcting Mr. Blowers the eminent silk gown who said that such a thing might happen when the sky rained potatoes , he observed , “ or when we get through Jarndyce and Jarndyce , Mr. Blowers ; ” — a pleasantry that particularly tickled the maces , bags , and purses .  How many people out of the suit , Jarndyce and Jarndyce has stretched forth its unwholesome hand to spoil and corrupt , would be a very wide question .  From the master , upon whose impaling files reams of dusty warrants in Jarndyce and Jarndyce have grimly writhed into many shapes ; down to the copying clerk in the Six Clerks 'Office , who has copied his tens of thousands of Chancery-folio-pages under that eternal heading ; no man 'snature has been made the better by it .  In trickery , evasion , procrastination , spoliation , botheration , under false pretences of all sorts , there are influences that can never come to good .  The very solicitors 'boys who have kept the wretched suitors at bay , by protesting time out of mind that Mr. Chizzle , Mizzle , or otherwise , was particularly engaged and had appointments until dinner , may have got an extra moral twist and shuffle into themselves out of Jarndyce and Jarndyce .  The receiver in the cause has acquired a goodly sum of money by it , but has acquired too a distrust of his own mother , and a contempt for his own kind .  Chizzle , Mizzle , and otherwise , have lapsed into a habit of vaguely promising themselves that they will look into that outstanding little matter , and see what can be done for Drizzle — who was not well used — when Jarndyce and Jarndyce shall be got out of the office .  Shirking and sharking , in all their many varieties , have been sown broadcast by the ill-fated cause ; and even those who have contemplated its history from the outermost circle of such evil , have been insensibly tempted into a loose way of letting bad things alone to take their own bad course , and a loose belief that if the world go wrong , it was , in some off-hand manner , never meant to go right .  Thus , in the midst of the mud and at the heart of the fog , sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery .  “ Mr. Tangle , ” says the Lord High Chancellor , latterly something restless under the eloquence of that learned gentleman .  “ Mlud , ” says Mr. Tangle .  Mr. Tangle knows more of Jarndyce and Jarndyce than anybody .  He is famous for it — supposed never to have read anything else since he left school .  “ Have you nearly concluded your argument ?  ”  “ Mlud , no — variety of points — feel it my duty tsubmit — ludship , ” is the reply that slides out of Mr. Tangle .  “ Several members of the bar are still to be heard , I believe ?  ” says the Chancellor , with a slight smile .  Eighteen of Mr. Tangle 'slearned friends , each armed with a little summary of eighteen hundred sheets , bob up like eighteen hammers in a piano-forte , make eighteen bows , and drop into their eighteen places of obscurity .  “ We will proceed with the hearing on Wednesday fortnight , ” says the Chancellor .  For , the question at issue is only a question of costs , a mere bud on the forest tree of the parent suit , and really will come to a settlement one of these days .  The Chancellor rises ; the bar rises ; the prisoner is brought forward in a hurry ; the man from Shropshire cries , “ My lord !  ” Maces , bags , and purses , indignantly proclaim silence , and frown at the man from Shropshire .  “ In reference , ” proceeds the Chancellor , still on Jarndyce and Jarndyce , “ to the young girl — ”  “ Begludship 'spardon — boy , ” says Mr. Tangle , prematurely .  “ In reference , ” proceeds the Chancellor , with extra distinctness , “ to the young girl and boy , the two young people , ”  ( Mr. Tangle crushed .  )  “ Whom I directed to be in attendance to-day , and who are now in my private room , I will see them and satisfy myself as to the expediency of making the order for their residing with their uncle .  ”  Mr. Tangle on his legs again .  “ Begludship 'spardon — dead .  ”  “ With their , ” Chancellor looking through his double eye-glass at the papers on his desk , “ grandfather .  ”  “ Begludship 'spardon — victim of rash action — brains .  ”  Suddenly a very little counsel , with a terrific bass voice , arises , fully inflated , in the back settlements of the fog , and says , “ Will your lordship allow me ?  I appear for him .  He is a cousin , several times removed .  I am not at the moment prepared to inform the Court in what exact remove he is a cousin ; but he is a cousin .  ”  Leaving this address ( delivered like a sepulchral message ) ringing in the rafters of the roof , the very little counsel drops , and the fog knows him no more .  Everybody looks for him .  Nobody can see him .  “ I will speak with both the young people , ” says the Chancellor anew , “ and satisfy myself on the subject of their residing with their cousin .  I will mention the matter to-morrow morning when I take my seat .  ”  The Chancellor is about to bow to the bar , when the prisoner is presented .  Nothing can possibly come of the prisoner 'sconglomeration , but his being sent back to prison ; which is soon done .  The man from Shropshire ventures another remonstrative “ My lord !  ” but the Chancellor , being aware of him , has dexterously vanished .  Everybody else quickly vanishes too .  A battery of blue bags is loaded with heavy charges of papers and carried off by clerks ; the little mad old woman marches off with her documents ; the empty court is locked up .  If all the injustice it has committed , and all the misery it has caused , could only be locked up with it , and the whole burnt away in a great funeral pyre , — why , so much the better for other parties than the parties in Jarndyce and Jarndyce !  CHAPTER II .  IN FASHION .  IT is but a glimpse of the world of fashion that we want on this same miry afternoon .  It is not so unlike the Court of Chancery , but that we may pass from the one scene to the other , as the crow flies .  Both the world of fashion and the Court of Chancery are things of precedent and usage ; over-sleeping Rip Van Winkles , who have played at strange games through a deal of thundery weather ; sleeping beauties , whom the Knight will wake one day , when all the stopped spits in the kitchen shall begin to turn prodigiously !  It is not a large world .  Relatively even to this world of ours , which has its limits too ( as your Highness shall find when you have made the tour of it , and are come to the brink of the void beyond ) , it is a very little speck .  There is much good in it ; there are many good and true people in it ; it has its appointed place .  But the evil of it is , that it is a world wrapped up in too much jeweller 'scotton and fine wool , and cannot hear the rushing of the larger worlds , and cannot see them as they circle round the sun .  It is a deadened world , and its growth is sometimes unhealthy for want of air .  My Lady Dedlock has returned to her house in town for a few days previous to her departure for Paris , where her ladyship intends to stay some weeks ; after which her movements are uncertain .  The fashionable intelligence says so , for the comfort of the Parisians , and it knows all fashionable things .  To know things otherwise , were to be unfashionable .  My Lady Dedlock has been down at what she calls , in familiar conversation , her “ place ” in Lincolnshire .  The waters are out in Lincolnshire .  An arch of the bridge in the park has been sapped and sopped away .  The adjacent low-lying ground , for half a mile in breadth , is a stagnant river , with melancholy trees for islands in it , and a surface punctured all over , all day long , with falling rain .  My Lady Dedlock 's“ place ” has been extremely dreary .  The weather , for many a day and night , has been so wet that the trees seem wet through , and the soft loppings and prunings of the woodman 'saxe can make no crash or crackle as they fall .  The deer , looking soaked , leave quagmires , where they pass .  The shot of a rifle loses its sharpness in the moist air , and its smoke moves in a tardy little cloud towards the green rise , coppice-topped , that makes a back-ground for the falling rain .  The view from my Lady Dedlock 'sown windows is alternately a lead-colored view , and a view in Indian ink .  The vases on the stone terrace in the foreground catch the rain all day ; and the heavy drops fall , drip , drip , drip , upon the broad flagged pavement , called , from old time , the Ghost 'sWalk , all night .  On Sundays , the little church in the park is mouldy ; the oaken pulpit breaks out into a cold sweat ; and there is a general smell and taste as of the ancient Dedlocks in their graves .  My Lady Dedlock ( who is childless ) , looking out in the early twilight from her boudoir at a keeper 'slodge , and seeing the light of a fire upon the latticed panes , and smoke rising from the chimney , and a child , chased by a woman , running out into the rain to meet the shining figure of a wrapped-up man coming through the gate , has been put quite out of temper .  My Lady Dedlock says she has been “ bored to death .  ”  Therefore my Lady Dedlock has come away from the place in Lincolnshire , and has left it to the rain , and the crows , and the rabbits , and the deer , and the partridges and pheasants .  The pictures of the Dedlocks past and gone have seemed to vanish into the damp walls in mere lowness of spirits , as the housekeeper has passed along the old rooms , shutting up the shutters .  And when they will next come forth again , the fashionable intelligence — which , like the fiend , is omniscient of the past and present , but not the future — cannot yet undertake to say .  Sir Leicester Dedlock is only a baronet , but there is no mightier baronet than he .  His family is as old as the hills , and infinitely more respectable .  He has a general opinion that the world might get on without hills , but would be done up without Dedlocks .  He would on the whole admit Nature to be a good idea ( a little low , perhaps , when not enclosed with a park-fence ) , but an idea dependent for its execution on your great county families .  He is a gentleman of strict conscience , disdainful of all littleness and meanness , and ready , on the shortest notice , to die any death you may please to mention rather than give occasion for the least impeachment of his integrity .  He is an honorable , obstinate , truthful , high-spirited , intensely prejudiced , perfectly unreasonable man .  Sir Leicester is twenty years , full measure , older than my Lady .  He will never see sixty-five again , nor perhaps sixty-six , nor yet sixty-seven .  He has a twist of the gout now and then , and walks a little stiffly .  He is of a worthy presence , with his light grey hair and whiskers , his fine shirt-frill , his pure white waistcoat , and his blue coat with bright buttons always buttoned .  He is ceremonious , stately , most polite on every occasion to my Lady , and holds her personal attractions in the highest estimation .  His gallantry to my Lady , which has never changed since he courted her , is the one little touch of romantic fancy in him .  Indeed , he married her for love .  A whisper still goes about , that she had not even family ; howbeit , Sir Leicester had so much family that perhaps he had enough , and could dispense with any more .  But she had beauty , pride , ambition , insolent resolve , and sense enough to portion out a legion of fine ladies .  Wealth and station , added to these , soon floated her upward ; and for years , now , my Lady Dedlock has been at the centre of the fashionable intelligence , and at the top of the fashionable tree .  How Alexander wept when he had no more worlds to conquer , everybody knows — or has some reason to know by this time , the matter having been rather frequently mentioned .  My Lady Dedlock , having conquered her world , fell , not into the melting but rather into the freezing mood .  An exhausted composure , a worn-out placidity , an equanimity of fatigue not to be ruffled by interest or satisfaction , are the trophies of her victory .  She is perfectly well bred .  If she could be translated to Heaven to-morrow , she might be expected to ascend without any rapture .  She has beauty still , and , if it be not in its heyday , it is not yet in its autumn .  She has a fine face — originally of a character that would be rather called very pretty than handsome , but improved into classicality by the acquired expression of her fashionable state .  Her figure is elegant , and has the effect of being tall .  Not that she is so , but that “ the most is made , ” as the Honorable Bob Stables has frequently asserted upon oath , “ of all her points .  ” The same authority observes , that she is perfectly got up ; and remarks , in commendation of her hair especially , that she is the best-groomed woman in the whole stud .  With all her perfections on her head , my Lady Dedlock has come up from her place in Lincolnshire ( hotly pursued by the fashionable intelligence ) , to pass a few days at her house in town previous to her departure for Paris , where her ladyship intends to stay some weeks , after which her movements are uncertain .  And at her house in town , upon this muddy , murky afternoon , presents himself an old-fashioned old gentleman , attorney-at-law , and eke solicitor of the High Court of Chancery , who has the honor of acting as legal adviser of the Dedlocks , and has as many cast-iron boxes in his office with that name outside , as if the present baronet were the coin of the conjuror 'strick , and were constantly being juggled through the whole set .  Across the hall , and up the stairs , and along the passages , and through the rooms , which are very brilliant in the season and very dismal out of it — Fairy-land to visit , but a desert to live in — the old gentleman is conducted , by a Mercury in powder , to my Lady 'spresence .  The old gentleman is rusty to look at , but is reputed to have made good thrift out of aristocratic marriage settlements and aristocratic wills , and to be very rich .  He is surrounded by a mysterious halo of family confidences ; of which he is known to be the silent depository .  There are noble Mausoleums rooted for centuries in retired glades of parks , among the growing timber and the fern , which perhaps hold fewer noble secrets than walk abroad among men , shut up in the breast of Mr. Tulkinghorn .  He is of what is called the old school — a phrase generally meaning any school that seems never to have been young — and wears knee breeches tied with ribbons , and gaiters or stockings .  One preculiarity of his black clothes , and of his black stockings , be they silk or worsted , is , that they never shine .  Mute , close , irresponsive to any glancing light , his dress is like himself .  He never converses , when not professionally consulted .  He is found sometimes , speechless but quite at home , at corners of dinnertables in great country houses , and near doors of drawing-rooms , concerning which the fashionable intelligence is eloquent : where everybody knows him , and where half the Peerage stops to say “ How do you do , Mr. Tulkinghorn ?  ” He receives these salutations with gravity , and buries them along with the rest of his knowledge .  Sir Leicester Dedlock is with my Lady , and is happy to see Mr. Tulkinghorn .  There is an air of prescription about him which is always agreeable to Sir Leicester ; he receives it as a kind of tribute .  He likes Mr. Tulkinghorn 'sdress ; there is a kind of tribute in that too .  It is eminently respectable , and likewise , in a general way , retainer-like .  It expresses , as it were , the steward of the legal mysteries , the butler of the legal cellar , of the Dedlocks .  Has Mr. Tulkinghorn any idea of this himself ?  It may be so , or it may not ; but there is this remarkable circumstance to be noted in everything associated with my Lady Dedlock as one of a class — as one of the leaders and representatives of her little world .  She supposes herself to be an inscrutable Being , quite out of the reach and ken of ordinary mortals — seeing herself in her glass , where indeed she looks so .  Yet , every dim little star revolving about her , from her maid to the manager of the Italian Opera , knows her weaknesses , prejudices , follies , haughtinesses , and caprices ; and lives upon as accurate a calculation and as nice a measure of her moral nature , as her dress-maker takes of her physical proportions .  Is a new dress , a new custom , a new singer , a new dancer , a new form of jewellery , a new dwarf or giant , a new chapel , a new anything , to be set up ?  There are deferential people , in a dozen callings , whom my Lady Dedlock suspects of nothing but prostration before her , who can tell you how to manage her as if she were a baby ; who do nothing but nurse her all their lives ; who , humbly affecting to follow with profound subservience , lead her and her whole troop after them ; who , in hooking one , hook all and bear them off , as Lemuel Gulliver bore away the stately fleet of the majestic Lilliput .  “ If you want to address our people , sir , ” say Blaze and Sparkle the jewellers — meaning by our people , Lady Dedlock and the rest — “ you must remember that you are not dealing with the general public ; you must hit our people in their weakest place , and their weakest place is such a place .  ” “ To make this article go down , gentlemen , ” say Sheen and Gloss the mercers , to their friends the manufacturers , “ you must come to us , because we know where to have the fashionable people , and we can make it fashionable .  ” “ If you want to get this print upon the tables of my high connexion , sir , ” says Mr. Sladdery the librarian , “ or if you want to get this dwarf or giant into the houses of my high connexion , sir , or if you want to secure to this entertainment the patronage of my high connexion , sir , you must leave it , if you please , to me ; for I have been accustomed to study the leaders of my high connexion , sir ; and I may tell you , without vanity , that I can turn them round my finger , ” — in which Mr. Sladdery , who is an honest man , does not exaggerate at all .  Therefore , while Mr. Tulkinghorn may not know what is passing in the Dedlock mind at present , it is very possible that he may .  “ My Lady 'scause has been again before the Chancellor , has it , Mr. Tulkinghorn ?  ” says Sir Leicester , giving him his hand .  “ Yes .  It has been on again to-day , ” Mr. Tulkinghorn replies ; making one of his quiet bows to my Lady who is on a sofa near the fire , shading her face with a hand-screen .  “ It would be useless to ask , ” says my Lady , with the dreariness of the place in Lincolnshire still upon her , “ whether anything has been done .  ”  “ Nothing that you would call anything , has been done to-day , ” replies Mr. Tulkinghorn .  “ Nor ever will be , ” says my Lady .  Sir Leicester has no objection to an interminable Chancery suit .  It is a slow , expensive , British , constitutional kind of thing .  To be sure , he has not a vital interest in the suit in question , her part in which was the only property my Lady brought him ; and he has a shadowy impression that for his name — the name of Dedlock — to be in a cause , and not in the title of that cause , is a most ridiculous accident .  But he regards the Court of Chancery , even if it should involve an occasional delay of justice and a trifling amount of confusion , as a something , devised in conjunction with a variety of other somethings , by the perfection of human wisdom , for the eternal settlement ( humanly speaking ) of every thing .  And he is upon the whole of a fixed opinion , that to give the sanction of his countenance to any complaints respecting it , would be to encourage some person in the lower classes to rise up somewhere — like Wat Tyler .  “ As a few fresh affidavits have been put upon the file , ” says Mr. Tulkinghorn , “ and as they are short , and as I proceed upon the troublesome principle of begging leave to possess my clients with any new proceedings in a cause ; ” cautious man , Mr. Tulkinghorn , taking no more responsibility than necessary ; “ and further , as I see you are going to Paris ; I have brought them in my pocket .  ”  ( Sir Leicester was going to Paris too , by-the-bye , but the delight of the fashionable intelligence was in his Lady .  )  Mr. Tulkinghorn takes out his papers , asks permission to place them on a golden talisman of a table at my Lady 'selbow , puts on his spectacles , and begins to read by the light of a shaded lamp .  “ ‘In Chancery .  Between John Jarndyce — ’ ”  My Lady interrupts , requesting him to miss as many of the formal horrors as he can .  Mr. Tulkinghorn glances over his spectacles , and begins again lower down .  My Lady carelessly and scornfully abstracts her attention .  Sir Leicester in a great chair looks at the fire , and appears to have a stately liking for the legal repetitions and prolixities , as ranging among the national bulwarks .  It happens that the fire is hot , where my Lady sits ; and that the hand-screen is more beautiful than useful , being priceless , but small .  My Lady , changing her position , sees the papers on the table — looks at them nearer — looks at them nearer still — asks impulsively :  “ Who copied that ?  ”  Mr. Tulkinghorn stops short , surprised by my Lady 'sanimation and her unusual tone .  “ Is it what you people call law-hand ?  ” she asks , looking full at him in her careless way again , and toying with her screen .  “ Not quite .  Probably ” — Mr .  Tulkinghorn examines it as he speaks — “ the legal character it has , was acquired after the original hand was formed .  Why do you ask ?  ”  “ Anything to vary this detestable monotony .  O , go on , do !  ”  Mr. Tulkinghorn reads again .  The heat is greater , my Lady screens her face .  Sir Leicester doses , starts up suddenly , and cries “ Eh ?  what do you say ?  ”  “ I say I am afraid , ” says Mr. Tulkinghorn , who has risen hastily , “ that Lady Dedlock is ill. ”  “ Faint , ” my Lady murmurs , with white lips , “ only that ; but it is like the faintness of death .  Do n't speak to me .  Ring , and take me to my room !  ”  Mr. Tulkinghorn retires into another chamber ; bells ring , feet shuffle and patter , silence ensues .  Mercury at last begs Mr. Tulkinghorn to return .  “ Better now , ” quoth Sir Leicester , motioning the lawyer to sit down and read to him alone .  “ I have been quite alarmed .  I never knew my Lady swoon before .  But the weather is extremely trying — and she really has been bored to death down at our place in Lincolnshire .  ”  CHAPTER III .  A PROGRESS .  I HAVE a great deal of difficulty in beginning to write my portion of these pages , for I know I am not clever .  I always knew that .  I can remember , when I was a very little girl indeed , I used to say to my doll , when we were alone together , “ Now , Dolly , I am not clever , you know very well , and you must be patient with me , like a dear !  ” And so she used to sit propped up in a great arm-chair , with her beautiful complexion and rosy lips , staring at me — or not so much at me , I think , as at nothing — while I busily stitched away , and told her every one of my secrets .  My dear old doll !  I was such a shy little thing that I seldom dared to open my lips , and never dared to open my heart , to anybody else .  It almost makes me cry to think what a relief it used to be to me , when I came home from school of a day , to run upstairs to my room , and say , “ O you dear faithful Dolly , I knew you would be expecting me !  ” and then to sit down on the floor , leaning on the elbow of her great chair , and tell her all I had noticed since we parted .  I had always rather a noticing way — not a quick way , O no !  — a silent way of noticing what passed before me , and thinking I should like to understand it better .  I have not by any means a quick understanding .  When I love a person very tenderly indeed , it seems to brighten .  But even that may be my vanity .  I was brought up , from my earliest remembrance — like some of the princesses in the fairy stories , only I was not charming — by my godmother .  At least I only knew her as such .  She was a good , good woman !  She went to church three times every Sunday , and to morning prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays , and to lectures whenever there were lectures ; and never missed .  She was handsome ; and if she had ever smiled , would have been ( I used to think ) like an angel — but she never smiled .  She was always grave , and strict .  She was so very good herself , I thought , that the badness of other people made her frown all her life .  I felt so different from her , even making every allowance for the differences between a child and a woman ; I felt so poor , so trifling , and so far off ; that I never could be unrestrained with her — no , could never even love her as I wished .  It made me very sorry to consider how good she was , and how unworthy of her I was ; and I used ardently to hope that I might have a better heart ; and I talked it over very often with the dear old doll ; but I never loved my godmother as I ought to have loved her , and as I felt I must have loved her if I had been a better girl .  This made me , I dare say , more timid and retiring than I naturally was , and cast me upon Dolly as the only friend with whom I felt at ease .  But something happened when I was still quite a little thing , that helped it very much .  I had never heard my mama spoken of .  I had never heard of my papa either , but I felt more interested about my mama .  I had never worn a black frock , that I could recollect .  I had never been shown my mama 'sgrave .  I had never been told where it was .  Yet I had never been taught to pray for any relation but my godmother .  I had more than once approached this subject of my thoughts with Mrs. Rachael , our only servant , who took my light away when I was in bed ( another very good woman , but austere to me ) , and she had only said , “ Esther , good night !  ” and gone away and left me .  Although there were seven girls at the neighbouring school where I was a day boarder , and although they called me little Esther Summerson , I knew none of them at home .  All of them were older than I , to be sure ( I was the youngest there by a good deal ) , but there seemed to be some other separation between us besides that , and besides their being far more clever than I was , and knowing much more than I did .  One of them , in the first week of my going to the school ( I remember it very well ) , invited me home to a little party , to my great joy .  But my godmother wrote a stiff letter declining for me , and I never went .  I never went out at all .  It was my birthday .  There were holidays at school on other birthdays — none on mine .  There were rejoicings at home on other birthdays , as I knew from what I heard the girls relate to one another — there were none on mine .  My birthday was the most melancholy day at home , in the whole year .  I have mentioned , that , unless my vanity should deceive me ( as I know it may , for I may be very vain , without suspecting it — though indeed I do n't ) , my comprehension is quickened when my affection is .  My disposition is very affectionate ; and perhaps I might still feel such a wound , if such a wound could be received more than once , with the quickness of that birthday .  Dinner was over , and my godmother and I were sitting at the table before the fire .  The clock ticked , the fire clicked ; not another sound had been heard in the room , or in the house , for I do n't know how long .  I happened to look timidly up from my stitching , across the table , at my godmother , and I saw in her face , looking gloomily at me , “ It would have been far better , little Esther , that you had had no birthday ; that you had never been born !  ”  I broke out crying and sobbing , and I said , “ O , dear godmother , tell me , pray do tell me , did mama die on my birthday ?  ”  “ No , ” she returned .  “ Ask me no more , child !  ”  “ O , do pray tell me something of her .  Do now , at last , dear godmother , if you please !  What did I do to her ?  How did I lose her ?  Why am I so different from other children , and why is it my fault , dear godmother ?  No , no , no , do n't go away .  O , speak to me !  ”  I was in a kind of fright beyond my grief ; and I had caught hold of her dress , and was kneeling to her .  She had been saying all the while , “ Let me go !  ” But now she stood still .  Her darkened face had such power over me , that it stopped me in the midst of my vehemence .  I put up my trembling little hand to clasp hers , or to beg her pardon with what earnestness I might , but withdrew it as she looked at me , and laid it on my fluttering heart .  She raised me , sat in her chair , and standing me before her , said , slowly , in a cold , low voice — I see her knitted brow , and pointed finger :  “ Your mother , Esther , is your disgrace , and you were hers .  The time will come — and soon enough — when you will understand this better , and will feel it too , as no one save a woman can .  I have forgiven her ; ” but her face did not relent ; “ the wrong she did to me , and I say no more of it , though it was greater than you will ever know — than any one will ever know , but I , the sufferer .  For yourself , unfortunate girl , orphaned and degraded from the first of these evil anniversaries , pray daily that the sins of others be not visited upon your head , according to what is written .  Forget your mother , and leave all other people to forget her who will do her unhappy child that greatest kindness .  Now , go !  ”  She checked me , however , as I was about to depart from her — so frozen as I was !  — and added this :  “ Submission , self-denial , diligent work , are the preparations for a life begun with such a shadow on it .  You are different from other children , Esther , because you were not born , like them , in common sinfulness and wrath .  You are set apart .  ”  I went up to my room , and crept to bed , and laid my doll 'scheek against mine wet with tears ; and holding that solitary friend upon my bosom , cried myself to sleep .  Imperfect as my understanding of my sorrow was , I knew that I had brought no joy , at any time , to anybody 'sheart , and that I was to no one upon earth what Dolly was to me .  Dear , dear , to think how much time we passed alone together afterwards , and how often I repeated to the doll the story of my birthday , and confided to her that I would try , as hard as ever I could , to repair the fault I had been born with ( of which I confusedly felt guilty and yet innocent ) , and would strive as I grew up to be industrious , contented and kind-hearted , and to do some good to some one , and win some love to myself if I could .  I hope it is not self-indulgent to shed these tears as I think of it .  I am very thankful , I am very cheerful , but I cannot quite help their coming to my eyes .  There !  I have wiped them away now , and can go on again properly .  I felt the distance between my godmother and myself so much more after the birthday , and felt so sensible of filling a place in her house which ought to have been empty , that I found her more difficult of approach , though I was fervently grateful to her in my heart , than ever .  I felt in the same way towards my school companions ; I felt in the same way towards Mrs. Rachael , who was a widow ; and O , towards her daughter , of whom she was proud , who came to see her once a fortnight !  I was very retired and quiet , and tried to be very diligent .  One sunny afternoon , when I had come home from school with my books and portfolio , watching my long shadow at my side , and as I was gliding up stairs to my room as usual , my godmother looked out of the parlor door , and called me back .  Sitting with her , I found — which was very unusual indeed — a stranger .  A portly important-looking gentleman , dressed all in black , with a white cravat , large gold watch seals , a pair of gold eyeglasses , and a large seal-ring upon his little finger .  “ This , ” said my godmother in an under tone , “ is the child .  ” Then she said , in her naturally stern way of speaking , “ This is Esther , sir .  ”  The gentleman put up his eye-glasses to look at me , and said , “ Come here , my dear !  ” He shook hands with me , and asked me to take off my bonnet — looking at me all the while .  When I had complied , he said , “ Ah !  ” and afterwards “ Yes !  ” And then , taking off his eye-glasses and folding them in a red case , and leaning back in his arm-chair , turning the case about in his two hands he gave my godmother a nod .  Upon that , my godmother said , “ You may go upstairs , Esther !  ” and I made him my curtsey and left him .  It must have been two years afterwards , and I was almost fourteen , when one dreadful night my godmother and I sat at the fireside .  I was reading aloud , and she was listening .  I had come down at nine o'clock , as I always did , to read the Bible to her ; and was reading , from St. John , how our Saviour stooped down , writing with his finger in the dust , when they brought the sinful woman to him .  “ ‘So when they continued asking him , he lifted up himself and said unto them , He that is without sin among you , let him first cast a stone at her !  ’ ”  I was stopped by my godmother 'srising , putting her hand to her head , and crying out , in an awful voice , from quite another part of the book :  “ ‘Watch ye therefore !  lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping .  And what I say unto you , I say unto all , Watch !  ’ ”  In an instant , while she stood before me repeating these words , she fell down on the floor .  I had no need to cry out ; her voice had sounded through the house , and been heard in the street .  She was laid upon her bed .  For more than a week she lay there , little altered outwardly ; with her old handsome resolute frown that I so well knew , carved upon her face .  Many and many a time , in the day and in the night , with my head upon the pillow by her that my whispers might be plainer to her , I kissed her , thanked her , prayed for her , asked her for her blessing and forgiveness , entreated her to give me the least sign that she knew or heard me .  No , no , no. Her face was immoveable .  To the very last , and even afterwards , her frown remained unsoftened .  On the day after my poor good godmother was buried , the gentleman in black with the white neckcloth reappeared .  I was sent for by Mrs. Rachael , and found him in the same place , as if he had never gone away .  “ My name is Kenge , ” he said ; “ you may remember it , my child ; Kenge and Carboy , Lincoln 'sInn .  ”  I replied , that I remembered to have seen him once before .  “ Pray be seated — here , near me .  Do n't distress yourself ; it 'sof no use .  Mrs. Rachael , I need n't inform you who were acquainted with the late Miss Barbary 'saffairs , that her means die with her ; and that this young lady , now her aunt is dead — ”  “ My aunt , sir !  ”  “ It really is of no use carrying on a deception when no object is to be gained by it , ” said Mr. Kenge , smoothly .  “ Aunt in fact , though not in law .  Do n't distress yourself !  Do n't weep !  Do n't tremble !  Mrs. Rachael , our young friend has no doubt heard of — the — a — Jarndyce and Jarndyce .  ”  “ Never , ” said Mrs. Rachael .  “ Is it possible , ” pursued Mr Kenge , putting up his eye-glasses , “ that our young friend — I beg you wo n't distress yourself !  — never heard of Jarndyce and Jarndyce !  ”  I shook my head , wondering even what it was .  “ Not of Jarndyce and Jarndyce ?  ” said Mr. Kenge , looking over his glasses at me , and softly turning the case about and about , as if he were petting something .  “ Not of one of the greatest Chancery suits known ?  Not of Jarndyce and Jarndyce — the — a — in itself a monument of Chancery practice ?  In which ( I would say ) every difficulty , every contingency , every masterly fiction , every form of procedure known in that court , is represented over and over again ?  It is a cause that could not exist , out of this free and great country .  I should say that the aggregate of costs in Jarndyce and Jarndyce , Mrs. Rachael ; ” I was afraid he addressed himself to her , because I appeared inattentive ; “ amounts at the present hour to from SIX-ty to SEVEN-ty THOUSAND POUNDS !  ” said Mr. Kenge , leaning back in his chair .  I felt very ignorant , but what could I do ?  I was so entirely unacquainted with the subject , that I understood nothing about it even then .  “ And she really never heard of the cause !  ” said Mr. Kenge .  “ Surprising !  ”  “ Miss Barbary , sir , ” returned Mrs. Rachael , “ who is now among the Seraphim — ”  ( “ I hope so , I am sure , ” said Mr. Kenge , politely .  )  “ — Wished Esther only to know what would be serviceable to her .  And she knows , from any teaching she has had here , nothing more .  ”  “ Well !  ” said Mr. Kenge .  “ Upon the whole , very proper .  Now to the point , ” addressing me .  “ Miss Barbary , your sole relation ( in fact , that is ; for I am bound to observe that in law you had none ) , being deceased , and it naturally not being to be expected that Mrs. Rachael — ”  “ O dear no !  ” said Mrs. Rachael , quickly .  “ Quite so , ” assented Mr. Kenge ; — “ that Mrs. Rachael should charge herself with your maintenance and support ( I beg you wo n't distress yourself ) , you are in a position to receive the renewal of an offer which I was instructed to make to Miss Barbary some two years ago , and which , though rejected then , was understood to be renewable under the lamentable circumstances that have since occurred .  Now , if I avow that I represent , in Jarndyce and Jarndyce , and otherwise , a highly humane , but at the same time singular man , shall I compromise myself by any stretch of my professional caution ?  ” said Mr. Kenge , leaning back in his chair again , and looking calmly at us both .  He appeared to enjoy beyond everything the sound of his own voice .  I could n't wonder at that , for it was mellow and full , and gave great importance to every word he uttered .  He listened to himself with obvious satisfaction , and sometimes gently beat time to his own music with his head , or rounded a sentence with his hand .  I was very much impressed by him — even then , before I knew that he formed himself on the model of a great lord who was his client , and that he was generally called Conversation Kenge .  “ Mr. Jarndyce , ” he pursued , “ being aware of the — I would say , desolate — position of our young friend , offers to place her at a first-rate establishment ; where her education shall be completed , where her comfort shall be secured , where her reasonable wants shall be anticipated , where she shall be eminently qualified to discharge her duty in that station of life unto which it has pleased — shall I say Providence ?  — to call her .  ”  My heart was filled so full , both by what he said , and by his affecting manner of saying it , that I was not able to speak , though I tried .  “ Mr. Jarndyce , ” he went on , “ makes no condition , beyond expressing his expectation , that our young friend will not at any time remove herself from the establishment in question without his knowledge and concurrence .  That she will faithfully apply herself to the acquisition of those accomplishments , upon the exercise of which she will be ultimately dependent .  That she will tread in the paths of virtue and honor , and — the — a — so forth .  ”  I was still less able to speak , than before .  “ Now , what does our young friend say ?  ” proceeded Mr. Kenge .  “ Take time , take time !  I pause for her reply .  But take time !  ”  What the destitute subject of such an offer tried to say , I need not repeat .  What she did say , I could more easily tell , if it were worth the telling .  What she felt , and will feel to her dying hour , I could never relate .  This interview took place at Windsor , where I had passed ( as far as I knew ) my whole life .  On that day week , amply provided with all necessaries , I left it , inside the stage-coach , for Reading .  Mrs. Rachael was too good to feel any emotion at parting , but I was not so good , and wept bitterly .  I thought that I ought to have known her better after so many years , and ought to have made myself enough of a favorite with her to make her sorry then .  When she gave me one cold parting kiss upon my forehead , like a thaw-drop from the stone porch — it was a very frosty day — I felt so miserable and self-reproachful , that I clung to her and told her it was my fault , I knew , that she could say good bye so easily !  “ No , Esther !  ” she returned .  “ It is your misfortune !  ”  The coach was at the little lawn gate — we had not come out until we heard the wheels — and thus I left her , with a sorrowful heart .  She went in before my boxes were lifted to the coach-roof , and shut the door .  As long as I could see the house , I looked back at it from the window , through my tears .  My godmother had left Mrs. Rachael all the little property she possessed ; and there was to be a sale ; and an old hearth-rug with roses on it , which always seemed to me the first thing in the world I had ever seen , was hanging outside in the frost and snow .  A day or two before , I had wrapped the dear old doll in her own shawl , and quietly laid her — I am half ashamed to tell it — in the gardenearth , under the tree that shaded my old window .  I had no companion left but my bird , and him I carried with me in his cage .  When the house was out of sight , I sat , with my bird-cage in the straw at my feet , forward on the low seat , to look out of the high window ; watching the frosty trees , that were like beautiful pieces of spar ; and the fields all smooth and white with last night 'ssnow ; and the sun , so red but yielding so little heat ; and the ice , dark like metal , where the skaters and sliders had brushed the snow away .  There was a gentleman in the coach who sat on the opposite seat , and looked very large in a quantity of wrappings ; but he sat gazing out of the other window , and took no notice of me .  I thought of my dead godmother ; of the night when I read to her ; of her frowning so fixedly and sternly in her bed ; of the strange place I was going to ; of the people I should find there , and what they would be like , and what they would say to me ; when a voice in the coach gave me a terrible start .  It said , “ What the de-vil are you crying for ?  ”  I was so frightened that I lost my voice , and could only answer in a whisper .  “ Me , sir ?  ” For of course I knew it must have been the gentleman in the quantity of wrappings , though he was still looking out of his window .  “ Yes , you , ” he said , turning round .  “ I did n't know I was crying , sir , ” I faltered .  “ But you are !  ” said the gentleman .  “ Look here !  ” He came quite opposite to me from the other corner of the coach , brushed one of his large furry cuffs across my eyes ( but without hurting me ) , and showed me that it was wet .  “ There !  Now you know you are , ” he said .  “ Do n't you ?  ”  “ Yes , sir , ” I said .  “ And what are you crying for ?  ” said the gentleman .  “ Do n't you want to go there ?  ”  “ Where , sir ?  ”  “ Where ?  Why , wherever you are going , ” said the gentleman .  “ I am very glad to go there , sir , ” I answered .  “ Well , then !  Look glad !  ” said the gentleman .  I thought he was very strange ; or at least that what I could see of him was very strange , for he was wrapped up to the chin , and his face was almost hidden in a fur cap , with broad fur straps at the side of his head , fastened under his chin ; but I was composed again , and not afraid of him .  So I told him that I thought I must have been crying , because of my godmother 'sdeath , and because of Mrs. Rachael 'snot being sorry to part with me .  “ Con-found Mrs. Rachael !  ” said the gentleman .  “ Let her fly away in a high wind on a broomstick !  ”  I began to be really afraid of him now , and looked at him with the greatest astonishment .  But I thought that he had pleasant eyes , although he kept on muttering to himself in an angry manner , and calling Mrs. Rachael names .  After a little while , he opened his outer wrapper , which appeared to me large enough to wrap up the whole coach , and put his arm down into a deep pocket in the side .  “ Now , look here !  ” he said .  “ In this paper , ” which was nicely folded , “ is a piece of the best plum-cake that can be got for money — sugar on the outside an inch thick , like fat on mutton chops .  Here 'sa little pie ( a gem this is , both for size and quality ) , made in France .  And what do you suppose it 'smade of ?  Livers of fat geese .  There 'sa pie !  Now let 'ssee you eat ' em .  ”  “ Thank you , sir , ” I replied , “ thank you very much indeed , but I hope you wo n't be offended ; they are too rich for me .  ”  “ Floored again !  ” said the gentleman , which I did n't at all understand ; and threw them both out of window .  He did not speak to me any more , until he got out of the coach a little way short of Reading , when he advised me to be a good girl , and to be studious ; and shook hands with me .  I must say I was relieved by his departure .  We left him at a milestone .  I often walked past it afterwards , and never , for a long time , without thinking of him , and half expecting to meet him .  But I never did ; and so , as time went on , he passed out of my mind .  When the coach stopped , a very neat lady looked up at the window , and said :  “ Miss Donny .  ”  “ No , ma'am , Esther Summerson .  ”  “ That is quite right , ” said the lady , “ Miss Donny .  ”  I now understood that she introduced herself by that name , and begged Miss Donny 'spardon for my mistake , and pointed out my boxes at her request .  Under the direction of a very neat maid , they were put outside a very small green carriage ; and then Miss Donny , the maid , and I , got inside , and were driven away .  “ Everything is ready for you , Esther , ” said Miss Donny ; “ and the scheme of your pursuits has been arranged in exact accordance with the wishes of your guardian , Mr. Jarndyce .  ”  “ Of — did you say , ma'am ?  ”  “ Of your guardian , Mr. Jarndyce , ” said Miss Donny .  I was so bewildered that Miss Donny thought the cold had been too severe for me , and lent me her smelling-bottle .  “ Do you know my — guardian , Mr. Jarndyce , ma'am ?  ” I asked after a good deal of hesitation .  “ Not personally , Esther , ” said Miss Donny ; “ merely through his solicitors , Messrs. Kenge and Carboy , of London .  A very superior gentleman , Mr. Kenge .  Truly eloquent indeed .  Some of his periods quite majestic !  ”  I felt this to be very true , but was too confused to attend to it .  Our speedy arrival at our destination , before I had time to recover myself , increased my confusion ; and I never shall forget the uncertain and unreal air of every thing at Greenleaf ( Miss Donuy 'shouse ) , that afternoon !  But I soon became used to it .  I was so adapted to the routine of Greenleaf before long , that I seemed to have been there a great while ; and almost to have dreamed , rather than to have really lived , my old life at my godmother 's.  Nothing could be more precise , exact , and orderly , than Greenleaf .  There was a time for everything all round the dial of the clock , and everything was done at its appointed moment .  We were twelve boarders , and there were two Miss Donnys , twins .  It was understood that I would have to depend , by-and-by , on my qualifications as a governess ; and I was not only instructed in everything that was taught at Greenleaf , but was very soon engaged in helping to instruct others .  Although I was treated in every other respect like the rest of the school , this single difference was made in my case from the first .  As I began to know more , I taught more , and so in course of time I had plenty to do , which I was very fond of doing , because it made the dear girls fond of me .  At last , whenever a new pupil came who was a little downcast and unhappy , she was so sure — indeed I do n't know why — to make a friend of me , that all new comers were confided to my care .  They said I was so gentle ; but I am sure they were !  I often thought of the resolution I had made on my birthday , to try to be industrious , contented , and true-hearted , and to do some good to some one , and win some love if I could ; and indeed , indeed , I felt almost ashamed to have done so little and have won so much .  I passed at Greenleaf six happy , quiet years .  I never saw in any face there , thank Heaven , on my birthday , that it would have been better if I had never been born .  When the day came round , it brought me so many tokens of affectionate remembrance that my room was beautiful with them from New Year 'sDay to Christmas .  In those six years I had never been away , except on visits at holiday time in the neighbourhood .  After the first six months or so , I had taken Miss Donny 'sadvice in reference to the propriety of writing to Mr. Kenge , to say that I was happy and grateful ; and with her approval I had written such a letter .  I had received a formal answer acknowledging its receipt , and saying , “ We note the contents thereof , which shall be duly communicated to our client .  ” After that , I sometimes heard Miss Donny and her sister mention how regularly my accounts were paid ; and about twice a year I ventured to write a similar letter .  I always received by return of post exactly the same answer , in the same round hand ; with the signature of Kenge and Carboy in another writing , which I supposed to be Mr. Kenge 's.  It seems so curious to me to be obliged to write all this about myself !  As if this narrative were the narrative of my life !  But my little body will soon fall into the back-ground now .  Six quiet years ( I find I am saying it for the second time ) I had passed at Greenleaf , seeing in those around me , as it might be in a looking-glass , every stage of my own growth and change there , when , one November morning , I received this letter .  I omit the date .  Old Square , Lincoln 'sInn . Madam , Jarndyce and Jarndyce . Our clt Mr. Jarndyce being abt to rece into his house , under an Order of the Ct of Chy , a Ward of the Ct in this cause , for whom he wishes to secure an elgble compu , directs us to inform you that he will be glad of your serces in the afsd capacity . We have arrngd for your being forded , carriage free , p r eight o'clock coach from Reading , on Monday morning next , to White Horse Cellar , Piccadilly , London , where one of our clks will be in waiting to convey you to our offe as above . We are , Madam , Your obed t serv ts , Kenge and Carboy . Miss Esther Summerson .  O , never , never , never shall I forget the emotion this letter caused in the house !  It was so tender in them to care so much for me ; it was so gracious in that Father who had not forgotten me , to have made my orphan way so smooth and easy , and to have inclined so many youthful natures towards me ; that I could hardly bear it .  Not that I would have had them less sorry — I am afraid not ; but the pleasure of it , and the pain of it , and the pride and joy of it , and the humble regret of it , were so blended , that my heart seemed almost breaking while it was full of rapture .  The letter gave me only five days 'notice of my removal .  When every minute added to the proofs of love and kindness that were given me in those five days ; and when at last the morning came , and when they took me through all the rooms that I might see them for the last time ; and when some cried , “ Esther , dear , say good-bye to me here , at my bedside , where you first spoke so kindly to me !  ” and when others asked me only to write their names , “ With Esther 'slove ; ” and when they all surrounded me with their parting presents , and clung to me weeping , and cried , “ What shall we do when dear , dear Esther 'sgone !  ” and when I tried to tell them how forbearing , and how good they had all been to me , and how I blessed , and thanked them every one ; what a heart I had !  And when the two Miss Donnys grieved as much to part with me , as the least among them ; and when the maids said , “ Bless you , miss , wherever you go !  ” and when the ugly lame old gardener , who I thought had hardly noticed me in all those years , came panting after the coach to give me a little nosegay of geraniums , and told me I had been the light of his eyes — indeed the old man said so !  — what a heart I had then !  And could I help it , if with all this , and the coming to the little school , and the unexpected sight of the poor children outside waving their hats and bonnets to me , and of a grey-haired gentleman and lady , whose daughter I had helped to teach and at whose house I had visited ( who were said to be the proudest people in all that country ) , caring for nothing but calling out , “ Good bye , Esther .  May you be very happy !  ” — could I help it if I was quite bowed down in the coach by myself , and said “ O , I am so thankful , I am so thankful !  ” many times over !  But of course I soon considered that I must not take tears where I was going , after all that had been done for me .  Therefore , of course , I made myself sob less , and persuaded myself to be quiet by saying very often , “ Esther , now , you really must !  This will not do !  ” I cheered myself up pretty well at last , though I am afraid I was longer about it than I ought to have been ; and when I had cooled my eyes with lavender water , it was time to watch for London .  I was quite persuaded that we were there , when we were ten miles off ; and when we really were there , that we should never get there .  However , when we began to jolt upon a stone pavement , and particularly when every other conveyance seemed to be running into us and we seemed to be running into every other conveyance , I began to believe that we really were approaching the end of our journey .  Very soon afterwards we stopped .  A young gentleman who had inked himself by accident , addressed me from the pavement , and said “ I am from Kenge and Carboy 's, miss , of Lincoln 'sInn .  ”  “ If you please , sir , ” said I .  He was very obliging ; and as he handed me into a fly , after superintending the removal of my boxes , I asked him whether there was a great fire anywhere ?  For the streets were so full of dense brown smoke that scarcely anything was to be seen .  “ O dear no , miss , ” he said .  “ This is a London particular .  ”  I had never heard of such a thing .  “ A fog , miss , ” said the young gentleman .  “ O indeed !  ” said I .  We drove slowly through the dirtiest and darkest streets that ever were seen in the world ( I thought ) , and in such a distracting state of confusion that I wondered how the people kept their senses , until we passed into sudden quietude under an old gateway , and drove on through a silent square until we came to an odd nook in a corner , where there was an entrance up a steep broad flight of stairs , like an entrance to a church .  And there really was a churchyard , outside under some cloisters , for I saw the gravestones from the staircase window .  This was Kenge and Carboy 's.  The young gentleman showed me through an outer office into Mr. Kenge 'sroom — there was no one in it — and politely put an arm-chair for me by the fire .  He then called my attention to a little looking-glass , hanging from a nail on one side of the chimney-piece .  “ In case you should wish to look at yourself , miss , after the journey , as you 'regoing before the Chancellor .  Not that it 'srequisite , I am sure , ” said the young gentleman civilly .  “ Going before the Chancellor ?  ” I said , startled for a moment .  “ Only a matter of form , miss , ” returned the young gentleman .  “ Mr. Kenge is in court now .  He left his compliments , and would you partake of some refreshment ; ” there were biscuits and a decanter of wine on a small table ; “ and look over the paper ; ” which the young gentleman gave me as he spoke .  He then stirred the fire , and left me .  Everything was so strange — the stranger for its being night in the day-time , and the candles burning with a white flame , and looking raw and cold — that I read the words in the newspaper without knowing what they meant , and found myself reading the same words repeatedly .  As it was of no use going on in that way , I put the paper down , took a peep at my bonnet in the glass to see if it was neat , and looked at the room which was not half lighted , and at the shabby dusty tables , and at the piles of writings , and at a bookcase full of the most inexpressive-looking books that ever had anything to say for themselves .  Then I went on , thinking , thinking , thinking ; and the fire went on , burning , burning , burning ; and the candles went on flickering and guttering , and there were no snuffers — until the young gentleman by-and-by brought a very dirty pair ; for two hours .  At last Mr. Kenge came .  He was not altered ; but he was surprised to see how altered I was , and appeared quite pleased .  “ As you are going to be the companion of the young lady who is now in the Chancellor 'sprivate room , Miss Summerson , ” he said , “ we thought it well that you should be in attendance also .  You will not be discomposed by the Lord Chancellor , I dare say ?  ”  “ No , sir , ” I said , “ I do n't think I shall .  ” Really not seeing , on consideration , why I should be .  So Mr. Kenge gave me his arm , and we went round the corner , under a colonnade , and in at a side door .  And so we came , along a passage , into a comfortable sort of room , where a young lady and a young gentleman were standing near a great , loud-roaring fire .  A screen was interposed between them and it , and they were leaning on the screen , talking .  They both looked up when I came in , and I saw in the young lady , with the fire shining upon her , such a beautiful girl !  With such rich golden hair , such soft blue eyes , and such a bright , innocent , trusting face !  “ Miss Ada , ” said Mr. Kenge , “ this is Miss Summerson .  ”  She came to meet me with a smile of welcome and her hand extended , but seemed to change her mind in a moment , and kissed me .  In short , she had such a natural , captivating , winning manner , that in a few minutes we were sitting in the window-seat , with the light of the fire upon us , talking together , as free and happy as could be .  What a load off my mind !  It was so delightful to know that she could confide in me , and like me !  It was so good of her , and so encouraging to me !  The young gentleman was her distant cousin , she told me , and his name Richard Carstone .  He was a handsome youth , with an ingenuous face , and a most engaging laugh ; and after she had called him up to where we sat , he stood by us , in the light of the fire too , talking gaily , like a light-hearted boy .  He was very young ; not more than nineteen then , if quite so much , but nearly two years older than she was .  They were both orphans , and ( what was very unexpected and curious to me ) had never met before that day .  Our all three coming together for the first time , in such an unusual place , was a thing to talk about ; and we talked about it ; and the fire , which had left off roaring , winked its red eyes at us — as Richard said — like a drowsy old Chancery lion .  We conversed in a low tone , because a full-dressed gentleman in a bag wig frequently came in and out , and when he did so , we could hear a drawling sound in the distance , which he said was one of the counsel in our case addressing the Lord Chancellor .  He told Mr. Kenge that the Chancellor would be up in five minutes ; and presently we heard a bustle , and a tread of feet , and Mr. Kenge said that the Court had risen , and his lordship was in the next room .  The gentleman in the bag wig opened the door almost directly , and requested Mr. Kenge to come in .  Upon that , we all went into the next room ; Mr. Kenge first , with my darling — it is so natural to me now , that I ca n't help writing it ; and there , plainly dressed in black , and sitting in an arm-chair at a table near the fire , was his lordship , whose robe , trimmed with beautiful gold lace , was thrown upon another chair .  He gave us a searching look as we entered , but his manner was both courtly and kind .  The gentleman in the bag wig laid bundles of papers on his lordship 'stable , and his lordship silently selected one , and turned over the leaves .  “ Miss Clare , ” said the Lord Chancellor .  “ Miss Ada Clare ?  ”  Mr. Kenge presented her , and his lordship begged her to sit down near him .  That he admired her , and was interested by her , even I could see in a moment .  It touched me , that the home of such a beautiful young creature should be represented by that dry official place .  The Lord High Chancellor , at his best , appeared so poor a substitute for the love and pride of parents .  “ The Jarndyce in question , ” said the Lord Chancellor , still turning over leaves , “ is Jarndyce of Bleak House .  ”  “ Jarndyce of Bleak House , my lord , ” said Mr. Kenge .  “ A dreary name , ” said the Lord Chancellor .  “ But not a dreary place at present , my lord , ” said Mr. Kenge .  “ And Bleak House , ” said his lordship , “ is in — ”  “ Hertfordshire , my lord .  ”  “ Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House is not married ?  ” said his lordship .  “ He is not , my lord , ” said Mr. Kenge .  A pause .  “ Young Mr. Richard Carstone is present ?  ” said the Lord Chancellor , glancing towards him .  Richard bowed and stepped forward .  “ Hum !  ” said the Lord Chancellor , turning over more leaves .  “ Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House , my lord , ” Mr. Kenge observed , in a low voice , “ if I may venture to remind your lordship , provides a suitable companion for — ”  “ For Mr. Richard Carstone ?  ” I thought ( but I am not quite sure ) I heard his lordship say , in an equally low voice , and with a smile .  “ For Miss Ada Clare .  This is the young lady .  Miss Summerson .  ”  His lordship gave me an indulgent look , and acknowledged my curtsey very graciously .  “ Miss Summerson is not related to any party in the cause , I think ?  ”  “ No , my lord .  ”  Mr. Kenge leant over before it was quite said , and whispered .  His lordship , with his eyes upon his papers , listened , nodded twice or thrice , turned over more leaves , and did not look towards me again , until we were going away .  Mr. Kenge now retired , and Richard with him , to where I was , near the door , leaving my pet ( it is so natural to me that again I ca n't help it !  ) sitting near the Lord Chancellor ; with whom his lordship spoke a little apart ; asking her , as she told me afterwards , whether she had well reflected on the proposed arrangement , and if she thought she would be happy under the roof of Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House , and why she thought so ?  Presently he rose courteously , and released her , and then he spoke for a minute or two with Richard Carstone ; not seated , but standing , and altogether with more ease and less ceremony — as if he still knew , though he was Lord Chancellor , how to go straight to the candor of a boy .  “ Very well !  ” said his lordship aloud .  “ I shall make the order .  Mr. Jarndyce of Bleak House has chosen , so far as I may judge , ” and this was when he looked at me , “ a very good companion for the young lady , and the arrangement altogether seems the best of which the circumstances admit .  ”  He dismissed us pleasantly , and we all went out , very much obliged to him for being so affable and polite ; by which he had certainly lost no dignity , but seemed to us to have gained some .  When we got under the colonnade , Mr. Kenge remembered that he must go back for a moment to ask a question ; and left us in the fog , with the Lord Chancellor 'scarriage and servants waiting for him to come out .  “ Well !  ” said Richard Carstone , “ that 'sover !  And where do we go next , Miss Summerson ?  ”  “ Do n't you know ?  ” I said .  “ Not in the least , ” said he .  “ And do n't you know , my love ?  ” I asked Ada .  “ No !  ” said she .  “ Do n't you ?  ”  “ Not at all !  ” said I .  We looked at one another , half laughing at our being like the children in the wood , when a curious little old woman in a squeezed bonnet , and carrying a reticule , came curtseying and smiling up to us , with an air of great ceremony .  “ O !  ” said she .  “ The wards in Jarndyce !  Ve-ry happy , I am sure , to have the honor !  It is a good omen for youth , and hope , and beauty , when they find themselves in this place , and do n't know what 'sto come of it .  ”  “ Mad !  ” whispered Richard , not thinking she could hear him .  “ Right !  Mad , young gentleman , ” she returned so quickly that he was quite abashed .  “ I was a ward myself .  I was not mad at that time , ” curtseying low , and smiling between every little sentence .  “ I had youth , and hope .  I believe , beauty .  It matters very little now .  Neither of the three served , or saved me .  I have the honor to attend court regularly .  With my documents .  I expect a judgment .  Shortly .  On the Day of Judgment .  I have discovered that the sixth seal mentioned in the Revelations is the Great Seal .  It has been open a long time !  Pray accept my blessing .  ”  As Ada was a little frightened , I said , to humor the poor old lady that we were much obliged to her .  “ Ye-es !  ” she said mincingly .  “ I imagine so .  And here is Conversation Kenge .  With his documents !  How does your honorable worship do ?  ”  “ Quite well , quite well !  Now do n't be troublesome , that 'sa good soul !  ” said Mr. Kenge , leading the way back .  “ By no means , ” said the poor old lady , keeping up with Ada and me .  “ Anything but troublesome .  I shall confer estates on both , — which is not being troublesome , I trust ?  I expect a judgment .  Shortly .  On the Day of Judgment .  This is a good omen for you .  Accept my blessing !  ”  She stopped at the bottom of the steep , broad flight of stairs ; but we looked back as we went up , and she was still there , saying , still with a curtsey and a smile between every little sentence , “ Youth .  And hope .  And beauty .  And Chancery .  And Conversation Kenge !  Ha !  Pray accept my blessing !  ”  CHAPTER IV .  TELESCOPIC PHILANTHROPY .  WE were to pass the night , Mr. Kenge told us when we arrived in his room , at Mrs. Jellyby 's; and then he turned to me , and said he took it for granted I knew who Mrs. Jellyby was ?  “ I really do n't , sir , ” I returned .  “ Perhaps Mr. Carstone — or Miss Clare — ”  But no , they knew nothing whatever about Mrs. Jellyby .  “ In-deed !  Mrs. Jellyby , ” said Mr. Kenge , standing with his back to the fire , and casting his eyes over the dusty hearth-rug as if it were Mrs. Jellyby 'sbiography , “ is a lady of very remarkable strength of character , who devotes herself entirely to the public .  She has devoted herself to an extensive variety of public subjects , at various times , and is at present ( until something else attracts her ) devoted to the subject of Africa ; with a view to the general cultivation of the coffee berry — and the natives — and the happy settlement , on the banks of the African rivers , of our superabundant home population .  Mr. Jarndyce , who is desirous to aid in any work that is considered likely to be a good work , and who is much sought after by philanthropists , has , I believe , a very high opinion of Mrs. Jellyby .  ”  Mr. Kenge , adjusting his cravat , then looked at us .  “ And Mr. Jellyby , sir ?  ” suggested Richard .  “ Ah !  Mr. Jellyby , ” said Mr. Kenge , “ is — a — I do n't know that I can describe him to you better than by saying that he is the husband of Mrs. Jellyby .  ”  “ A nonentity , sir ?  ” said Richard with a droll look .  “ I do n't say that , ” returned Mr. Kenge , gravely .  “ I ca n't say that , indeed , for I know nothing whatever of Mr. Jellyby .  I never , to my knowledge , had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jellyby .  He may be a very superior man ; but he is , so to speak , merged — Merged — in the more shining qualities of his wife .  ” Mr. Kenge proceeded to tell us that as the road to Bleak House would have been very long , dark , and tedious , on such an evening , and as we had been travelling already , Mr. Jarndyce had himself proposed this arrangement .  A carriage would be at Mrs. Jellyby 'sto convey us out of town , early in the forenoon of to-morrow .  He then rang a little bell , and the young gentleman came in .  Addressing him by the name of Guppy , Mr. Kenge inquired whether Miss Summerson 'sboxes and the rest of the baggage had been “ sent round .  ” Mr. Guppy said yes , they had been sent round , and a coach was waiting to take us round too , as soon as we pleased .  “ Then it only remains , ” said Mr. Kenge , shaking hands with us , “ for me to express my lively satisfaction in ( good day , Miss Clare !  ) the arrangement this day concluded , and my ( good bye to you , Miss Summerson !  ) lively hope that it will conduce to the happiness , the ( glad to have had the honor of making your acquaintance , Mr. Carstone !  ) welfare , the advantage in all points of view , of all concerned !  Guppy , see the party safely there .  ”  “ Where is ‘there , ’ Mr. Guppy ?  ” said Richard , as we went down stairs .  “ No distance , ” said Mr. Guppy ; “ round in Thavies 'Inn , you know .  ”  “ I ca n't say I know where it is , for I come from Winchester , and am strange in London .  ”  “ Only round the corner , ” said Mr. Guppy .  “ We just twist up Chancery-lane , and cut along Holborn , and there we are in four minutes time , as near as a toucher .  This is about a London particular now , ai n't it , miss ?  ” He seemed quite delighted with it on my account .  “ The fog is very dense indeed !  ” said I .  “ Not that it affects you , though , I am sure , ” said Mr. Guppy , putting up the steps .  “ On the contrary , it seems to do you good , miss , judging from your appearance .  ”  I knew he meant well in paying me this compliment , so I laughed at myself for blushing at it , when he had shut the door and got upon the box ; and we all three laughed , and chatted about our inexperience , and the strangeness of London , until we turned up under an archway , to our destination : a narrow street of high houses , like an oblong cistern to hold the fog .  There was a confused little crowd of people , principally children , gathered about the house at which we stopped , which had a tarnished brass plate on the door , with the inscription , JELLYBY .  “ Do n't be frightened !  ” said Mr. Guppy , looking in at the coach-window .  “ One of the young Jellybys been and got his head through the area railings !  ”  “ O poor child , ” said I , “ let me out , if you please !  ”  “ Pray be careful of yourself , miss. The young Jellybys are always up to something , ” said Mr. Guppy .  I made my way to the poor child , who was one of the dirtiest little unfortunates I ever saw , and found him very hot and frightened , and crying loudly , fixed by the neck between two iron railings , while a milk-man and a beadle , with the kindest intentions possible , were endeavouring to drag him back by the legs , under a general impression that his skull was compressible by those means .  As I found ( after pacifying him ) , that he was a little boy , with a naturally large head , I thought that , perhaps , where his head could go , his body could follow , and mentioned that the best mode of extrication might be to push him forward .  This was so favorably received by the milkman and beadle , that he would immediately have been pushed into the area , if I had not held his pinafore , while Richard and Mr. Guppy ran down through the kitchen , to catch him when he should be released .  At last he was happily got down without any accident , and then he began to beat Mr. Guppy with a hoop-stick in quite a frantic manner .  Nobody had appeared belonging to the house , except a person in pattens , who had been poking at the child from below with a broom ; I do n't know with what object , and I do n't think she did .  I therefore supposed that Mrs. Jellyby was not at home ; and was quite surprised when the person appeared in the passage without the pattens , and going up to the back room on the first floor , before Ada and me , announced us as , “ Them two young ladies , Missis Jellyby !  ” We passed several more children on the way up , whom it was difficult to avoid treading on in the dark ; and as we came into Mrs. Jellyby 'spresence , one of the poor little things fell down stairs — down a whole flight ( as it sounded to me ) , with a great noise .  Mrs. Jellyby , whose face reflected none of the uneasiness which we could not help showing in our own faces , as the dear child 'shead recorded its passage with a bump on every stair — Richard afterwards said he counted seven , besides one for the landing — received us with perfect equanimity .  She was a pretty , very diminutive , plump woman , of from forty to fifty , with handsome eyes , though they had a curious habit of seeming to look a long way off .  As if — I am quoting Richard again — they could see nothing nearer than Africa !  “ I am very glad indeed , ” said Mrs. Jellyby , in an agreeable voice , “ to have the pleasure of receiving you .  I have a great respect for Mr. Jarndyce ; and no one in whom he is interested can be an object of indifference to me .  ”  We expressed our acknowledgments , and sat down behind the door where there was a lame invalid of a sofa .  Mrs. Jellyby had very good hair , but was too much occupied with her African duties to brush it .  The shawl in which she had been loosely muffled , dropped on to her chair when she advanced to us ; and as she turned to resume her seat , we could not help noticing that her dress did n't nearly meet up the back , and that the open space was railed across with a lattice-work of stay-lace — like a summer-house .  The room , which was strewn with papers and nearly filled by a great writing-table covered with similar litter , was , I must say , not only very untidy , but very dirty .  We were obliged to take notice of that with our sense of sight , even while , with our sense of hearing , we followed the poor child who had tumbled down stairs : I think into the back kitchen , where somebody seemed to stifle him .  But what principally struck us was a jaded , and unhealthy-looking , though by no means plain girl , at the writing-table , who sat biting the feather of her pen , and staring at us .  I suppose nobody ever was in such a state of ink .  And , from her tumbled hair to her pretty feet , which were disfigured with frayed and broken satin slippers trodden down at heel , she really seemed to have no article of dress upon her , from a pin upwards , that was in its proper condition or its right place .  “ You find me , my dears , ” said Mrs. Jellyby , snuffing the two great office candles in tin candlesticks which made the room taste strongly of hot tallow ( the fire had gone out , and there was nothing in the grate but ashes , a bundle of wood , and a poker ) , “ you find me , my dears , as usual , very busy ; but that you will excuse .  The African project at present employs my whole time .  It involves me in correspondence with public bodies , and with private individuals anxious for the welfare of their species all over the country .  I am happy to say it is advancing .  We hope by this time next year to have from a hundred and fifty to two hundred healthy families cultivating coffee and educating the natives of Borrioboola-Gha , on the left bank of the Niger .  As Ada said nothing , but looked at me , I said it must be very gratifying .  “ It is gratifying , ” said Mrs. Jellyby .  “ It involves the devotion of all my energies , such as they are ; but that is nothing , so that it succeeds ; and I am more confident of success every day .  Do you know , Miss Summerson , I almost wonder that you never turned your thoughts to Africa ?  ”  This application of the subject was really so unexpected to me , that I was quite at a loss how to receive it .  I hinted that the climate —  “ The finest climate in the world !  ” said Mrs. Jellyby .  “ Indeed , ma'am ?  ”  Certainly .  With precaution , ” said Mrs. Jellyby .  “ You may go into Holborn , without precaution , and be run over .  You may go into Holborn , with precaution , and never be run over .  Just so with Africa .  ”  I said , “ No doubt .  ” — I meant as to Holborn .  “ If you would like , ” said Mrs. Jellyby , putting a number of papers towards us , “ to look over some remarks on that head , and on the general subject ( which have been extensively circulated ) , while I finish a letter I am now dictating — to my eldest daughter , who is my amanuensis — ”  The girl at the table left off biting her pen , and made a return to our recognition , which was half bashful and half sulky .  “ — I shall then have finished for the present , ” proceeded Mrs. Jellyby , with a sweet smile ; “ though my work is never done .  Where are you , Caddy ?  ”  “ ‘Presents her compliments to Mr. Swallow , and begs — ’ ” said Caddy .  “ ‘ — And begs , ’ ” said Mrs. Jellyby , dictating , “ ‘to inform him , in reference to his letter of inquiry on the African project.’ — No , Peepy !  Not on any account !  ”  Peepy ( so self-named ) was the unfortunate child who had fallen down stairs , who now interrupted the correspondence by presenting himself , with a strip of plaister on his forehead , to exhibit his wounded knees , in which Ada and I did not know which to pity most — the bruises or the dirt .  Mrs. Jellyby merely added , with the serene composure with which she said everything , “ Go along , you naughty Peepy !  ” and fixed her fine eyes on Africa again .  However , as she at once proceeded with her dictation , and as I interrupted nothing by doing it , I ventured quietly to stop poor Peepy as he was going out , and to take him up to nurse .  He looked very much astonished at it , and at Ada 'skissing him ; but soon fell fast asleep in my arms , sobbing at longer and longer intervals , until he was quiet .  I was so occupied with Peepy that I lost the letter in detail , though I derived such a general impression from it of the momentous importance of Africa , and the utter insignificance of all other places and things , that I felt quite ashamed to have thought so little about it .  “ Six o'clock !  ” said Mrs. Jellyby .  “ And our dinner hour is nominally ( for we dine at all hours ) five !  Caddy , show Miss Clare and Miss Summerson their rooms .  You will like to make some change , perhaps ?  You will excuse me , I know , being so much occupied .  O , that very bad child !  Pray put him down , Miss Summerson !  ”  I begged permission to retain him , truly saying that he was not at all troublesome ; and carried him upstairs and laid him on my bed .  Ada and I had two upper rooms , with a door of communication between .  They were excessively bare and disorderly , and the curtain to my window was fastened up with a fork .  “ You would like some hot water , would n't you ?  ” said Miss Jellyby , looking round for a jug with a handle to it , but looking in vain .  “ If it is not being troublesome , ” said we .  “ O , it 'snot the trouble , ” returned Miss Jellyby ; “ the question is , if there is any .  ”  The evening was so very cold , and the rooms had such a marshy smell , that I must confess it was a little miserable ; and Ada was half crying .  We soon laughed , however , and were busily unpacking , when Miss Jellyby came back to say , that she was sorry there was no hot water ; but they could n't find the kettle , and the boiler was out of order .  We begged her not to mention it , and made all the haste we could to get down to the fire again .  But all the little children had come up to the landing outside , to look at the phenomenon of Peepy lying on my bed ; and our attention was distracted by the constant apparition of noses and fingers , in situations of danger between the hinges of the doors .  It was impossible to shut the door of either room ; for my lock , with no knob to it , looked as if it wanted to be wound up ; and though the handle of Ada 'swent round and round with the greatest smoothness , it was attended with no effect whatever on the door .  Therefore I proposed to the children that they should come in and be very good at my table , and I would tell them the story of little Red Riding Hood while I dressed ; which they did , and were as quiet as mice , including Peepy , who awoke opportunely before the appearance of the wolf .  When we went downstairs we found a mug , with “ A Present from Tunbridge Wells ” on it , lighted up in the staircase window with a floating wick ; and a young woman , with a swelled face bound up in a flannel bandage , blowing the fire of the drawing-room ( now connected by an open door with Mrs. Jellyby 'sroom ) , and choaking dreadfully .  It smoked to that degree in short , that we all sat coughing and crying with the windows open for half an hour ; during which Mrs. Jellyby , with the same sweetness of temper , directed letters about Africa .  Her being so employed was , I must say , a great relief to me ; for Richard told us that he had washed his hands in a pie-dish , and that they had found the kettle on his dressing-table ; and he made Ada laugh so , that they made me laugh in the most ridiculous manner .  Soon after seven o'clock we went down to dinner ; carefully , by Mrs. Jellyby 'sadvice ; for the stair-carpets , besides being very deficient in stairwires , were so torn as to be absolute traps .  We had a fine cod-fish , a piece of roast beef , a dish of cutlets , and a pudding ; an excellent dinner , if it had any cooking to speak of , but it was almost raw .  The young woman with the flannel bandage waited , and dropped everything on the table wherever it happened to go , and never moved it again until she put it on the stairs .  The person I had seen in pattens ( who I suppose to have been the cook ) , frequently came and skirmished with her at the door , and there appeared to be ill-will between them .  All through dinner ; which was long , in consequence of such accidents as the dish of potatoes being mislaid in the coal skuttle , and the handle of the corkscrew coming off , and striking the young woman in the chin ; Mrs. Jellyby preserved the evenness of her disposition .  She told us a great deal that was interesting about Borrioboola-Gha and the natives ; and received so many letters that Richard , who sat by her , saw four envelopes in the gravy at once .  Some of the letters were proceedings of ladies 'committees , or resolutions of ladies 'meetings , which she read to us ; others were applications from people excited in various ways about the cultivation of coffee , and natives ; others required answers , and these she sent her eldest daughter from the table three or four times to write .  She was full of business , and undoubtedly was , as she had told us , devoted to the cause .  I was a little curious to know who a mild bald gentleman in spectacles was , who dropped into a vacant chair ( there was no top or bottom in particular ) after the fish was taken away , and seemed passively to submit himself to Borrioboola-Gha , but not to be actively interested in that settlement .  As he never spoke a word , he might have been a native , but for his complexion .  It was not until we left the table , and he remained alone with Richard , that the possibility of his being Mr. Jellyby ever entered my head .  But he was Mr. Jellyby ; and a loquacious young man called Mr. Quale , with large shining knobs for temples , and his hair all brushed to the back of his head , who came in the evening , and told Ada he was a philanthropist , also informed her that he called the matrimonial alliance of Mrs. Jellyby with Mr. Jellyby the union of mind and matter .  This young man , besides having a great deal to say for himself about Africa , and a project of his for teaching the coffee colonists to teach the natives to turn piano-forte legs and establish an export trade , delighted in drawing Mrs. Jellyby out by saying , “ I believe now , Mrs. Jellyby , you have received as many as from one hundred and fifty to two hundred letters respecting Africa in a single day , have you not ?  ” or , “ If my memory does not deceive me , Mrs. Jellyby , you once mentioned that you had sent off five thousand circulars from one post-office at one time ?  ” — always repeating Mrs. Jellyby 'sanswer to us like an interpreter .  During the whole evening , Mr. Jellyby sat in a corner with his head against the wall , as if he were subject to low spirits .  It seemed that he had several times opened his mouth when alone with Richard , after dinner , as if he had something on his mind ; but had always shut it again , to Richard 'sextreme confusion , without saying anything .  Mrs. Jellyby , sitting in quite a nest of waste paper , drank coffee all the evening , and dictated at intervals to her eldest daughter .  She also held a discussion with Mr. Quale ; of which the subject seemed to be — if I understood it — the Brotherhood of Humanity ; and gave utterance to some beautiful sentiments .  I was not so attentive an auditor as I might have wished to be , however , for Peepy and the other children came flocking about Ada and me in a corner of the drawing-room to ask for another story : so we sat down among them , and told them in whispers Puss in Boots and I do n't know what else , until Mrs. Jellyby , accidentally remembering them , sent them to bed .  As Peepy cried for me to take him to bed , I carried him upstairs ; where the young woman with the flannel bandage charged into the midst of the little family like a dragoon , and overturned them into cribs .  After that , I occupied myself in making our room a little tidy , and in coaxing a very cross fire that had been lighted , to burn ; which at last it did , quite brightly .  On my return downstairs , I felt that Mrs. Jellyby looked down upon me rather , for being so frivolous ; and I was sorry for it ; though at the same time I knew that I had no higher pretensions .  It was nearly midnight before we found an opportunity of going to bed ; and even then we left Mrs. Jellyby among her papers drinking coffee , and Miss Jellyby biting the feather of her pen .  “ What a strange house !  ” said Ada , when we got upstairs .  “ How curious of my cousin Jarndyce to send us here !  ”  “ My love , ” said I , “ it quite confuses me .  I want to understand it , and I ca n't understand it at all .  ”  “ What ?  ” asked Ada , with her pretty smile .  “ All this , my dear , ” said I .  “ It must be very good of Mrs. Jellyby to take such pains about a scheme for the benefit of Natives — and yet — Peepy and the housekeeping !  ”  Ada laughed ; and put her arm about my neck , as I stood looking at the fire ; and told me I was a quiet , dear , good creature , and had won her heart .  “ You are so thoughtful , Esther , “ she said , “ and yet so cheerful !  and you do so much , so unpretendingly !  You would make a home out of even this house .  ”  My simple darling !  She was quite unconscious that she only praised herself , and that it was in the goodness of her own heart that she made so much of me !  “ May I ask you a question ?  ” said I , when we had sat before the fire a little while .  “ Five hundred , ” said Ada .  “ Your cousin , Mr. Jarndyce .  I owe so much to him .  Would you mind describing him to me ?  ”  Shaking back her golden hair , Ada turned her eyes upon me with such laughing wonder , that I was full of wonder too — partly at her beauty , partly at her surprise .  “ Esther !  ” she cried .  “ My dear !  ”  “ You want a description of my cousin Jarndyce ?  ”  “ My dear , I never saw him .  ”