David Copperfield Charles Dickens (100 best novels of all time .TXT) đ
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- Author: Charles Dickens
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âIt was,â said I, laughing.
âWell then, when you tumbled upstairs,â said Traddles, âI was romping with the girls. In point of fact, we were playing at Puss in the Corner. But as that wouldnât do in Westminster Hall, and as it wouldnât look quite professional if they were seen by a client, they decamped. And they are nowâ âlistening, I have no doubt,â said Traddles, glancing at the door of another room.
âI am sorry,â said I, laughing afresh, âto have occasioned such a dispersion.â
âUpon my word,â rejoined Traddles, greatly delighted, âif you had seen them running away, and running back again, after you had knocked, to pick up the combs they had dropped out of their hair, and going on in the maddest manner, you wouldnât have said so. My love, will you fetch the girls?â
Sophy tripped away, and we heard her received in the adjoining room with a peal of laughter.
âReally musical, isnât it, my dear Copperfield?â said Traddles. âItâs very agreeable to hear. It quite lights up these old rooms. To an unfortunate bachelor of a fellow who has lived alone all his life, you know, itâs positively delicious. Itâs charming. Poor things, they have had a great loss in Sophyâ âwho, I do assure you, Copperfield is, and ever was, the dearest girl!â âand it gratifies me beyond expression to find them in such good spirits. The society of girls is a very delightful thing, Copperfield. Itâs not professional, but itâs very delightful.â
Observing that he slightly faltered, and comprehending that in the goodness of his heart he was fearful of giving me some pain by what he had said, I expressed my concurrence with a heartiness that evidently relieved and pleased him greatly.
âBut then,â said Traddles, âour domestic arrangements are, to say the truth, quite unprofessional altogether, my dear Copperfield. Even Sophyâs being here, is unprofessional. And we have no other place of abode. We have put to sea in a cockboat, but we are quite prepared to rough it. And Sophyâs an extraordinary manager! Youâll be surprised how those girls are stowed away. I am sure I hardly know how itâs done!â
âAre many of the young ladies with you?â I inquired.
âThe eldest, the Beauty is here,â said Traddles, in a low confidential voice, âCaroline. And Sarahâs hereâ âthe one I mentioned to you as having something the matter with her spine, you know. Immensely better! And the two youngest that Sophy educated are with us. And Louisaâs here.â
âIndeed!â cried I.
âYes,â said Traddles. âNow the whole setâ âI mean the chambersâ âis only three rooms; but Sophy arranges for the girls in the most wonderful way, and they sleep as comfortably as possible. Three in that room,â said Traddles, pointing. âTwo in that.â
I could not help glancing round, in search of the accommodation remaining for Mr. and Mrs. Traddles. Traddles understood me.
âWell!â said Traddles, âwe are prepared to rough it, as I said just now, and we did improvise a bed last week, upon the floor here. But thereâs a little room in the roofâ âa very nice room, when youâre up thereâ âwhich Sophy papered herself, to surprise me; and thatâs our room at present. Itâs a capital little gipsy sort of place. Thereâs quite a view from it.â
âAnd you are happily married at last, my dear Traddles!â said I. âHow rejoiced I am!â
âThank you, my dear Copperfield,â said Traddles, as we shook hands once more. âYes, I am as happy as itâs possible to be. Thereâs your old friend, you see,â said Traddles, nodding triumphantly at the flowerpot and stand; âand thereâs the table with the marble top! All the other furniture is plain and serviceable, you perceive. And as to plate, Lord bless you, we havenât so much as a teaspoon.â
âAll to be earned?â said I, cheerfully.
âExactly so,â replied Traddles, âall to be earned. Of course we have something in the shape of teaspoons, because we stir our tea. But theyâre Britannia metal.â
âThe silver will be the brighter when it comes,â said I.
âThe very thing we say!â cried Traddles. âYou see, my dear Copperfield,â falling again into the low confidential tone, âafter I had delivered my argument in Doe dem. Jipes versus Wigziell, which did me great service with the profession, I went down into Devonshire, and had some serious conversation in private with the Reverend Horace. I dwelt upon the fact that Sophyâ âwho I do assure you, Copperfield, is the dearest girl!â ââ
âI am certain she is!â said I.
âShe is, indeed!â rejoined Traddles. âBut I am afraid I am wandering from the subject. Did I mention the Reverend Horace?â
âYou said that you dwelt upon the factâ ââ
âTrue! Upon the fact that Sophy and I had been engaged for a long period, and that Sophy, with the permission of her parents, was more than content to take meâ âin short,â said Traddles, with his old frank smile, âon our present Britannia-metal footing. Very well. I then proposed to the Reverend Horaceâ âwho is a most excellent clergyman, Copperfield, and ought to be a bishop; or at least ought to have enough to live upon, without pinching himselfâ âthat if I could turn the corner, say of two hundred and fifty pounds, in one year; and could see my way pretty clearly to that, or something better, next year; and could plainly furnish a little place like this, besides; then, and in that case, Sophy and I should be united. I took the liberty of representing that we had been patient for a good many years; and that the circumstance of Sophyâs being extraordinarily useful at home, ought not to operate with her affectionate parents, against her establishment in lifeâ âdonât you see?â
âCertainly it ought not,â said I.
âI am glad you think so, Copperfield,â rejoined Traddles, âbecause, without any imputation on the Reverend Horace, I do think parents, and brothers, and so forth, are sometimes rather selfish in such cases. Well! I also pointed out, that my most earnest desire was, to be useful to the family; and that
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