"
"Their help, Sir?" said the astonished landlord.
"Yes; but say nothing for the present. Bring me a bottle of brandy and
some meat--cold chicken, if you have it; then let me have a word with
you."
Richard did not order the food for himself. While it was being brought
he sat down in the very chair that he had used so often--for he had been
ushered into his old parlor--and gazed about him. There were the same
tawdry ornaments on the mantel-piece, and the same books on the dusty
shelf. Nothing was altered except the tenant of that room; but how great
a change had taken place in _him_! What a face the dingy mirror offered
him in place of that which it had shown him last! When the inn-keeper
returned his mind involuntarily conjured up old Trevethick, as he had
received from him the key of the ruin, and doggedly taken his
compliments upon its workmanship. Truly, "there is no such thing as
forgetting;" and to recall our past to its minutest details at the
judgment-day will not be so impracticable as some of us would desire.
Richard had made up his mind exactly as to what he would say to this
man, but a question suddenly presented itself, which had been absent
from his thoughts from the moment that he had resolved to rescue his
enemy. It was a very simple one, too, and would have occurred to any one
else, as it had done already many times to himself.
Pages:
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576