The Great Hoggarty Diamond

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by William Makepeace Thackeray

Rather to my amaze she said that Mary was out with the landlady

  when she arrived; and eight--nine o'clock came, and she was absent

  still.

  At ten o'clock returned--not my wife, but Mrs. Stokes, and with her

  a gentleman, who shook hands with me on coming into the room, and

  said, "Mr. Titmarsh! I don't know whether you will remember me:

  my name is Tiptoff. I have brought you a note from Mrs. Titmarsh,

  and a message from my wife, who sincerely commiserates your loss,

  and begs you will not be uneasy at Mrs. Titmarsh's absence. She

  has been good enough to promise to pass the night with Lady

  Tiptoff; and I am sure you will not object to her being away from

  you, while she is giving happiness to a sick mother and a sick

  child." After a few more words, my Lord left us. My wife's note

  only said that Mrs. Stokes would tell me all.

  CHAPTER XIII

  IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT A GOOD WIFE IS THE BEST DIAMOND A MAN CAN

  WEAR IN HIS BOSOM

  "Mrs. Titmarsh, ma'am," says Mrs. Stokes, "before I gratify your

  curiosity, ma'am, permit me to observe that angels is scarce; and

  it's rare to have one, much more two, in a family. Both your son

  and your daughter-in-law, ma'am, are of that uncommon sort; they

  are, now, reely, ma'am."

  My mother said she thanked God for both of us; and Mrs. Stokes

  proceeded:-

  "When the fu- when the seminary, ma'am, was concluded this morning,

  your poor daughter-in-law was glad to take shelter in my humble

  parlour, ma'am; where she wept, and told a thousand stories of the

  little cherub that's gone. Heaven bless us! it was here but a

  month, and no one could have thought it could have done such a many

  things in that time. But a mother's eyes are clear, ma'am; and I

  had just such another angel, my dear little Antony, that was born

  before Jemima, and would have been twenty-three now were he in this

  wicked world, ma'am. However, I won't speak of him, ma'am, but of

  what took place.

  "You must know, ma'am, that Mrs. Titmarsh remained downstairs while

  Mr. Samuel was talking with his friend Mr. Hoskins; and the poor

  thing would not touch a bit of dinner, though we had it made

  comfortable; and after dinner, it was with difficulty I could get

  her to sup a little drop of wine-and-water, and dip a toast in it.

  It was the first morsel that had passed her lips for many a long

  hour, ma'am.

  "Well, she would not speak, and I thought it best not to interrupt

  her; but she sat and looked at my two youngest that were playing on

  the rug; and just as Mr. Titmarsh and his friend Gus went out, the

  boy brought the newspaper, ma'am, -it always comes from three to

  four, and I began a-reading of it. But I couldn't read much, for

  thinking of poor Mr. Sam's sad face as he went out, and the sad

  story he told me about his money being so low; and every now and

  then I stopped reading, and bade Mrs. T. not to take on so; and

  told her some stories about my dear little Antony.

  "'Ah!' says she, sobbing, and looking at the young ones, 'you have

  other children, Mrs. Stokes; but that--that was my only one;' and

  she flung back in her chair, and cried fit to break her heart: and

  I knew that the cry would do her good, and so went back to my

  paper--the Morning Post, ma'am; I always read it, for I like to

  know what's a-going on in the West End.

  "The very first thing that my eyes lighted upon was this:- 'Wanted,

  immediately, a respectable person as wet-nurse. Apply at No. -,

  Grosvenor Square.' 'Bless us and save us!' says I, 'here's poor

  Lady Tiptoff ill;' for I knew her Ladyship's address, and how she

  was confined on the very same day with Mrs. T.: and, for the

  matter of that, her Ladyship knows my address, having visited here.

  "A sudden thought came over me. 'My dear Mrs. Titmarsh,' said I,

  'you know how poor and how good your husband is?'

  "'Yes,' says she, rather surprised.

  "'Well, my dear,' says I, looking her hard in the face, 'Lady

  Tiptoff, who knows him, wants a nurse for her son, Lord Poynings.

  Will you be a brave woman, and look for the place, and mayhap

  replace the little one that God has taken from you?'

  "She began to tremble and blush; and then I told her what you, Mr.

  Sam, had told me the other day about your money matters; and no

  sooner did she hear it than she sprung to her bonnet, and said,

  'Come, come:' and in five minutes she had me by the arm, and we

  walked together to Grosvenor Square. The air did her no harm, Mr.

  Sam, and during the whole of the walk she never cried but once, and

  then it was at seeing a nursery-maid in the Square.

  "A great fellow in livery opens the door, and says, 'You're the

  forty-fifth as come about this 'ere place; but, fust, let me ask

  you a preliminary question. Are you a Hirishwoman?'

  "'No, sir,' says Mrs. T.

  "'That suffishnt, mem,' says the gentleman in plush; 'I see you're

  not by your axnt. Step this way, ladies, if you please. You'll

  find some more candidix for the place upstairs; but I sent away

  forty-four happlicants, because they WAS Hirish.'

  "We were taken upstairs over very soft carpets, and brought into a

  room, and told by an old lady who was there to speak very softly,

  for my Lady was only two rooms off. And when I asked how the baby

  and her Ladyship were, the old lady told me both were pretty well:

  only the doctor said Lady Tiptoff was too delicate to nurse any

  longer; and so it was considered necessary to have a wet-nurse.

  "There was another young woman in the room--a tall fine woman as

  ever you saw--that looked very angry and contempshious at Mrs. T.

  and me, and said, 'I've brought a letter from the duchess whose

  daughter I nust; and I think, Mrs. Blenkinsop, mem, my Lady Tiptoff

  may look far before she finds such another nuss as me. Five feet

  six high, had the small-pox, married to a corporal in the

  Lifeguards, perfectly healthy, best of charactiers, only drink

  water; and as for the child, ma'am, if her Ladyship had six, I've a

  plenty for them all.'

  "As the woman was making this speech, a little gentleman in black

  came in from the next room, treading as if on velvet. The woman

  got up, and made him a low curtsey, and folding her arms on her

  great broad chest, repeated the speech she had made before. Mrs.

  T. did not get up from her chair, but only made a sort of a bow;

  which, to be sure, I thought was ill manners, as this gentleman was

  evidently the apothecary. He looked hard at her and said, 'Well,

  my good woman, and are you come about the place too?'

  "'Yes, sir,' says she, blushing.

  "'You seem very delicate. How old is your child? How many have

  you had? What character have you?'

  "Your wife didn't answer a word; so I stepped up, and said, 'Sir,'

  says I, 'this lady has just lost her first child, and isn't used to

  look for places, being the daughter of a captain in the navy; so

  you'll excuse her want of manners in not getting up when you came

  in.'

  "The doctor a
t this sat down and began talking very kindly to her;

  he said he was afraid that her application would be unsuccessful,

  as Mrs. Horner came very strongly recommended from the Duchess of

  Doncaster, whose relative Lady Tiptoff was; and presently my Lady

  appeared, looking very pretty, ma'am, in an elegant lace-cap and a

  sweet muslin robe-de-sham.

  "A nurse came out of her Ladyship's room with her; and while my

  Lady was talking to us, walked up and down in the next room with

  something in her arms.

  "First, my Lady spoke to Mrs. Horner, and then to Mrs. T.; but all

  the while she was talking, Mrs. Titmarsh, rather rudely, as I

  thought, ma'am, was looking into the next room: looking--looking

  at the baby there with all her might. My Lady asked her her name,

  and if she had any character; and as she did not speak, I spoke up

  for her, and said she was the wife of one of the best men in the

  world; that her Ladyship knew the gentleman, too, and had brought

  him a haunch of venison. Then Lady Tiptoff looked up quite

  astonished, and I told the whole story: how you had been head

  clerk, and that rascal, Brough, had brought you to ruin. 'Poor

  thing!' said my Lady: Mrs. Titmarsh did not speak, but still kept

  looking at the baby; and the great big grenadier of a Mrs. Horner

  looked angrily at her.

  "'Poor thing!' says my Lady, taking Mrs. T.'s hand very kind, 'she

  seems very young. How old are you, my dear?'

  "'Five weeks and two days!' says your wife, sobbing.

  "Mrs. Horner burst into a laugh; but there was a tear in my Lady's

  eyes, for she knew what the poor thing was a-thinking of.

  "'Silence, woman!' says she angrily to the great grenadier woman;

  and at this moment the child in the next room began crying.

  "As soon as your wife heard the noise, she sprung from her chair

  and made a stop forward, and put both her hands to her breast and

  said, 'The child--the child--give it me!' and then began to cry

  again.

  "My Lady looked at her for a moment, and then ran into the next

  room and brought her the baby; and the baby clung to her as if he

  knew her: and a pretty sight it was to see that dear woman with

  the child at her bosom.

  "When my Lady saw it, what do you think she did? After looking on

  it for a bit, she put her arms round your wife's neck and kissed

  her.

  "'My dear,' said she, 'I am sure you are as good as you are pretty,

  and you shall keep the child: and I thank God for sending you to

  me!'

  "These were her very words; and Dr. Bland, who was standing by,

  says, 'It's a second judgment of Solomon!'

  "'I suppose, my Lady, you don't want ME?' says the big woman, with

  another curtsey.

  "'Not in the least!' answers my Lady, haughtily, and the grenadier

  left the room: and then I told all your story at full length, and

  Mrs. Blenkinsop kept me to tea, and I saw the beautiful room that

  Mrs. Titmarsh is to have next to Lady Tiptoff's; and when my Lord

  came home, what does he do but insist upon coming back with me here

  in a hackney-coach, as he said he must apologise to you for keeping

  your wife away."

  I could not help, in my own mind, connecting this strange event

  which, in the midst of our sorrow, came to console us, and in our

  poverty to give us bread,--I could not help connecting it with the

  DIAMOND PIN, and fancying that the disappearance of that ornament

  had somehow brought a different and a better sort of luck into my

  family. And though some gents who read this, may call me a poor-

  spirited fellow for allowing my wife to go out to service, who was

  bred a lady and ought to have servants herself: yet, for my part,

  I confess I did not feel one minute's scruple or mortification on

  the subject. If you love a person, is it not a pleasure to feel

  obliged to him? And this, in consequence, I felt. I was proud and

  happy at being able to think that my dear wife should be able to

  labour and earn bread for me, now misfortune had put it out of my

  power to support me and her. And now, instead of making any

  reflections of my own upon prison discipline, I will recommend the

  reader to consult that admirable chapter in the Life of Mr.

  Pickwick in which the same theme is handled, and which shows how

  silly it is to deprive honest men of the means of labour just at

  the moment when they most want it. What could I do? There were

  one or two gents in the prison who could work (literary gents,--one

  wrote his "Travels in Mesopotamia," and the other his "Sketches at

  Almack's," in the place); but all the occupation I could find was

  walking down Bridge Street, and then up Bridge Street, and staring

  at Alderman Waithman's windows, and then at the black man who swept

  the crossing. I never gave him anything; but I envied him his

  trade and his broom, and the money that continually fell into his

  old hat. But I was not allowed even to carry a broom.

  Twice or thrice--for Lady Tiptoff did not wish her little boy often

  to breathe the air of such a close place as Salisbury Square--my

  dear Mary came in the thundering carriage to see me. They were

  merry meetings; and--if the truth must be told--twice, when nobody

  was by, I jumped into the carriage and had a drive with her; and

  when I had seen her home, jumped into another hackney-coach and

  drove back. But this was only twice; for the system was dangerous,

  and it might bring me into trouble, and it cost three shillings

  from Grosvenor Square to Ludgate Hill.

  Here, meanwhile, my good mother kept me company; and what should we

  read of one day but the marriage of Mrs. Hoggarty and the Rev.

  Grimes Wapshot! My mother, who never loved Mrs. H., now said that

  she should repent all her life having allowed me to spend so much

  of my time with that odious ungrateful woman; and added that she

  and I too were justly punished for worshipping the mammon of

  unrighteousness and forgetting our natural feelings for the sake of

  my aunt's paltry lucre. "Well, Amen!" said I. "This is the end of

  all our fine schemes! My aunt's money and my aunt's diamond were

  the causes of my ruin, and now they are clear gone, thank Heaven!

  and I hope the old lady will be happy; and I must say I don't envy

  the Rev. Grimes Wapshot." So we put Mrs. Hoggarty out of our

  thoughts, and made ourselves as comfortable as might be.

  Rich and great people are slower in making Christians of their

  children than we poor ones, and little Lord Poynings was not

  christened until the month of June. A duke was one godfather, and

  Mr. Edmund Preston, the State Secretary, another; and that kind

  Lady Jane Preston, whom I have before spoken of, was the godmother

  to her nephew. She had not long been made acquainted with my

  wife's history; and both she and her sister loved her heartily and

  were very kind to her. Indeed, there was not a single soul in the

  house, high or low, but was fond of that good sweet creature; and

  the very footmen were as ready to serve her as they were their own

  mistres
s.

  "I tell you what, sir," says one of them. "You see, Tit my boy,

  I'm a connyshure, and up to snough; and if ever I see a lady in my

  life, Mrs. Titmarsh is one. I can't be fimiliar with her--I've

  tried--"

  "Have you, sir?" said I.

  "Don't look so indignant! I can't, I say, be fimiliar with her as

  I am with you. There's a somethink in her, a jenny-squaw, that

  haws me, sir! and even my Lord's own man, that 'as 'ad as much

  success as any gentleman in Europe--he says that, cuss him--"

  "Mr. Charles," says I, "tell my Lord's own man that, if he wants to

  keep his place and his whole skin, he will never address a single

  word to that lady but such as a servant should utter in the

  presence of his mistress; and take notice that I am a gentleman,

  though a poor one, and will murder the first man who does her

  wrong!"

  Mr. Charles only said "Gammin!" to this: but psha! in bragging

  about my own spirit, I forgot to say what great good fortune my

  dear wife's conduct procured for me.

  On the christening-day, Mr. Preston offered her first a five, and

  then a twenty-pound note; but she declined either; but she did not

  decline a present that the two ladies made her together, and this

  was no other than MY RELEASE FROM THE FLEET. Lord Tiptoff's lawyer

  paid every one of the bills against me, and that happy christening-

  day made me a free man. Ah! who shall tell the pleasure of that

  day, or the merry dinner we had in Mary's room at Lord Tiptoff's

  house, when my Lord and my Lady came upstairs to shake hands with

  me!

  "I have been speaking to Mr. Preston," says my Lord, "the gentleman

  with whom you had the memorable quarrel, and he has forgiven it,

  although he was in the wrong, and promises to do something for you.

  We are going down, meanwhile, to his house at Richmond; and be

  sure, Mr. Titmarsh, I will not fail to keep you in his mind."

  "MRS. Titmarsh will do that," says my Lady; "for Edmund is woefully

  smitten with her!" And Mary blushed, and I laughed, and we were

  all very happy: and sure enough there came from Richmond a letter

  to me, stating that I was appointed fourth clerk in the Tape and

  Sealing-wax Office, with a salary of 80L. per annum.

  Here perhaps my story ought to stop; for I was happy at last, and

  have never since, thank Heaven! known want: but Gus insists that I

  should add how I gave up the place in the Tape and Sealing-wax

  Office, and for what reason. That excellent Lady Jane Preston is

  long gone, and so is Mr. P- off in an apoplexy, and there is no

  harm now in telling the story.

  The fact was, that Mr. Preston had fallen in love with Mary in a

  much more serious way than any of us imagined; for I do believe he

  invited his brother-in-law to Richmond for no other purpose than to

  pay court to his son's nurse. And one day, as I was coming post-

  haste to thank him for the place he had procured for me, being

  directed by Mr. Charles to the "scrubbery," as he called it, which

  led down to the river--there, sure enough, I found Mr. Preston, on

  his knees too, on the gravel-walk, and before him Mary, holding the

  little lord.

  "Dearest creature!" says Mr. Preston, "do but listen to me, and

  I'll make your husband consul at Timbuctoo! He shall never know of

  it, I tell you: he CAN never know of it. I pledge you my word as

  a Cabinet Minister! Oh, don't look at me in that arch way: by

  heavens, your eyes kill me!"

  Mary, when she saw me, burst out laughing, and ran down the lawn;

  my Lord making a huge crowing, too, and holding out his little fat

  hands. Mr. Preston, who was a heavy man, was slowly getting up,

  when, catching a sight of me looking as fierce as the crater of

  Mount Etna,--he gave a start back and lost his footing, and rolled

  over and over, walloping into the water at the garden's edge. It

  was not deep, and he came bubbling and snorting out again in as

 

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