|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 72
Sir Abraham was a man of wit, and sparkled among the brightest at
the dinner-tables of political grandees: indeed, he always sparkled;
whether in society, in the House of Commons, or the courts of law,
coruscations flew from him; glittering sparkles, as from hot steel,
but no heat; no cold heart was ever cheered by warmth from him, no
unhappy soul ever dropped a portion of its burden at his door.
With him success alone was praiseworthy, and he knew none so
successful as himself. No one had thrust him forward; no powerful
friends had pushed him along on his road to power. No; he was
attorney-general, and would, in all human probability, be lord
chancellor by sheer dint of his own industry and his own talent. Who
else in all the world rose so high with so little help? A premier,
indeed! Who had ever been premier without mighty friends? An
archbishop! Yes, the son or grandson of a great noble, or else,
probably, his tutor. But he, Sir Abraham, had had no mighty lord
at his back; his father had been a country apothecary, his mother a
farmer's daughter. Why should he respect any but himself? And so he
glitters along through the world, the brightest among the bright; and
when his glitter is gone, and he is gathered to his fathers, no eye
will be dim with a tear, no heart will mourn for its lost friend.
"And so, Mr Warden," said Sir Abraham, "all our trouble about this
lawsuit is at an end."
Mr Harding said he hoped so, but he didn't at all understand what Sir
Abraham meant. Sir Abraham, with all his sharpness, could not have
looked into his heart and read his intentions.
"All over. You need trouble yourself no further about it; of course
they must pay the costs, and the absolute expense to you and Dr
Grantly will be trifling,--that is, compared with what it might have
been if it had been continued."
"I fear I don't quite understand you, Sir Abraham."
"Don't you know that their attorneys have noticed us that they have
withdrawn the suit?"
Mr Harding explained to the lawyer that he knew nothing of this,
although he had heard in a roundabout way that such an intention had
been talked of; and he also at length succeeded in making Sir Abraham
understand that even this did not satisfy him. The attorney-general
stood up, put his hands into his breeches' pockets, and raised his
eyebrows, as Mr Harding proceeded to detail the grievance from which
he now wished to rid himself.
"I know I have no right to trouble you personally with this matter,
but as it is of most vital importance to me, as all my happiness is
concerned in it, I thought I might venture to seek your advice."
Sir Abraham bowed, and declared his clients were entitled to the best
advice he could give them; particularly a client so respectable in
every way as the Warden of Barchester Hospital.
"A spoken word, Sir Abraham, is often of more value than volumes of
written advice. The truth is, I am ill-satisfied with this matter
as it stands at present. I do see--I cannot help seeing, that the
affairs of the hospital are not arranged according to the will of the
founder."
"None of such institutions are, Mr Harding, nor can they be; the
altered circumstances in which we live do not admit of it."
"Quite true--that is quite true; but I can't see that those altered
circumstances give me a right to eight hundred a year. I don't know
whether I ever read John Hiram's will, but were I to read it now I
could not understand it. What I want you, Sir Abraham, to tell me,
is this:--am I, as warden, legally and distinctly entitled to the
proceeds of the property, after the due maintenance of the twelve
bedesmen?"
Sir Abraham declared that he couldn't exactly say in so many words
that Mr Harding was legally entitled to, &c., &c., &c., and ended in
expressing a strong opinion that it would be madness to raise any
further question on the matter, as the suit was to be,--nay, was,
abandoned.
Mr Harding, seated in his chair, began to play a slow tune on an
imaginary violoncello.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|