Selected Short Fiction Read online

  I knew that my Lady would object to such a marriage for her daughter, or to any marriage that was other than an exchange of her for stipulated lands, goods, and moneys. But, looking on the two, and seeing with full eyes that they were both young and beautiful; and knowing that they were alike in the tastes and acquirements that will outlive youth and beauty; and considering that Adelina had a fortune now, in her own keeping; and considering further that Mr Granville, though for the present poor, was of a good family that had never lived in a cellar in Preston; and believing that their love would endure, neither having any great discrepancy to find out in the other, - I told them of my readiness to do this thing which Adelina asked of her dear Tutor, and to send them forth, Husband and Wife, into the shining world-with golden gates that awaited them.

  It was on a summer morning that I rose before the sun, to compose myself for the crowning of my work with this end. And my dwelling being near to the sea, I walked down to the rocks on the shore, in order that I might behold the sun rise in his majesty.

  The tranquillity upon the Deep and on the firmament, the orderly withdrawal of the stars, the calm promise of coming day, the rosy suffusion of the sky and waters, the ineffable splendor that then burst forth, attuned my mind afresh after the discords of the night. Methought that all I looked on said to me, and that all I heard in the sea and in the air said to me, ‘Be comforted, mortal, that thy life is so short. Our preparation for what is to follow has endured, and shall endure, for unimaginable ages.’

  I married them. I knew that my hand was cold when I placed it on their hands clasped together; but the words with which I had to accompany the action I could say without faltering, and I was at peace.

  They being well away from my house and from the place, after our simple breakfast, the time was come when I must do what I had pledged myself to them that I would do, - break the intelligence to my Lady.

  I went up to the house, and found my Lady in her ordinary business-room. She happened to have an unusual amount of commissions to intrust to me that day, and she had filled my hands with papers before I could originate a word.

  ‘My Lady,’ - I then began, as I stood beside her table.

  ‘Why, what’s the matter?’ she said, quickly, looking up.

  ‘Not much, I would fain hope, after you shall have prepared yourself, and considered a little.’

  ‘Prepared myself! And considered a little ! You appear to have prepared yourself but indifferently, anyhow, Mr Silverman.’ This, mighty scornfully, as I experienced my usual embarrassment under her stare.

  Said I, in self-extenuation, once for all: ‘Lady Fareway, I have but to say for myself that I have tried to do my duty.’

  ‘For yourself?’ repeated my Lady. ‘Then there are others concerned, I see. Who are they?’

  I was about to answer, when she made towards the bell with a dart that stopped me, and said, ‘Why, where is Adelina?’

  ‘Forbear. Be calm, my Lady. I married her this morning to Mr Granville Wharton.’

  She set her lips, looked more intently at me than ever, raised her right hand and smote me hard upon the cheek.

  ‘Give me back those papers, give me back those papers!’ She tore them out of my hands and tossed them on her table. Then seating herself defiantly in her great chair, and folding her arms, she stabbed me to the heart with the unlooked-for reproach: ‘You worldly wretch!’

  ‘Worldly?’ I cried. ‘Worldly!’

  ‘This, if you please,’ she went on with supreme scorn, pointing me out as if there were some one there to see, - ‘this, if you please, is the disinterested scholar, with not a design beyond his books! This, if you please, is the simple creature whom any one could overreach in a bargain! This, if you please, is Mr Silverman! Not of this world, not he! He has too much simplicity for this world’s cunning. He has too much singleness of purpose to be a match for this world’s double-dealing. What did he give you for it?’

  ‘For what? And who?’

  ‘How much,’ she asked, bending forward in her great chair, and insultingly tapping the fingers of her right hand on the palm of her left, - ‘how much does Mr Granville Wharton pay you for getting him Adelina’s money? What is the amount of your percentage upon Adelina’s fortune? What were the terms of the agreement that you proposed to this boy when you, the Reverend George Silverman, licensed to marry, engaged to put him in possession of this girl? You made good terms for yourself, whatever they were. He would stand a poor chance against your keenness.’

  Bewildered, horrified, stunned by this cruel perversion, I could not speak. But I trust that I looked innocent, being so.

  ‘Listen to me, shrewd hypocrite,’ said my Lady, whose anger increased as she gave it utterance. ‘Attend to my words, you cunning schemer who have carried this plot through with such a practised double face that I have never suspected you. I had my projects for my daughter; projects for family connection; projects for fortune. You have thwarted them, and overreached me; but I am not one to be thwarted and overreached without retaliation. Do you mean to hold this Living another month?’

  ‘Do you deem it possible, Lady Fareway, that I can hold it another hour, under your injurious words?’

  ‘Is it resigned, then?’

  ‘It was mentally resigned, my Lady, some minutes ago.’

  ‘Don’t equivocate, sir. Is it resigned?’

  ‘Unconditionally and entirely. And I would that I had never, never come near it !’

  ‘A cordial response from me to that wish, Mr Silverman But take this with you, sir. If you had not resigned it, I would have had you deprived of it. And though you have resigned it, you will not get quit of me as easily as you think for. I will pursue you with this story. I will make this nefarious conspiracy of yours, for money, known. You have made money by it, but you have at the same time made an enemy by it. You will take good care that the money sticks to you; I will take good care that the enemy sticks to you.’

  Then said I, finally: ‘Lady Fareway, I think my heart is broken. Until I came into this room just now, the possibility of such mean wickedness as you have imputed to me never dawned upon my thoughts. Your suspicions -’

  ‘Suspicions! Pah!’ said she, indignantly. ‘Certainties.’

  ‘Your certainties, my Lady, as you call them, your suspicions, as I call them, are cruel, unjust, wholly devoid of foundation in fact. I can declare no more, except that I have not acted for my own profit or my own pleasure. I have not in this proceeding considered myself. Once again, I think my heart is broken. If I have unwittingly done any wrong with a righteous motive, that is some penalty to pay.’

  She received this with another and a more indignant ‘Pah!’ and I made my way out of her room (I think I felt my way out with my hands, although my eyes were open), almost suspecting that my voice had a repulsive sound, and that I was a repulsive object.

  There was a great stir made, the Bishop was appealed to, I received a severe reprimand, and narrowly escaped suspension. For years a cloud hung over me, and my name was tarnished. But my heart did not break, if a broken heart involves death; for I lived through it.

  They stood by me, Adelina and her husband, through it all. Those who had known me at College, and even most of those who had only known me there by reputation, stood by me too. Little by little, the belief widened that I was not capable of what was laid to my charge. At length I was presented to a College-Living in a sequestered place, and there I now pen my Explanation. I pen it at my open window in the summer-time; before me, lying the churchyard, equal resting-place for sound hearts, wounded hearts, and broken hearts. I pen it for the relief of my own mind, not foreseeing whether or no it will ever have a reader.

  APPENDIX

  Descriptive Headlines, 1867-8

  Headlines at the top of each right-hand page were added in the Charles Dickens Edition. For the selections from Pickwick. Papers (1867), Nicholas Nickleby (1867), Sketches by Boz (1868), American Notes and Reprinted Pieces (1868), and The Uncommercial
Traveller (1868), the passage to which each headline refers is indicated here by the opening and closing words of the page in the Charles Dickens text.

  The Story of the Goblins who stole a Sexton (pp. 39-49)

  ‘In an old abbey town... of his spade with a firmer Larcenous Goblins.

  ‘Seated on an upright tombstone... my friends want you, Gabriel,’ said the goblin. Gabriel Grub wanted.

  with laughter as he coughed ... according to the established and invariable An Exhibition of Pictures.

  ‘But he was an altered man ... which Gabriel Grub saw in the goblin’s cavern.’ Live and Learn.

  The Baron of Grogzwig (pp. 49-58)

  ‘The Baron Von Koëldwethout, of Grogzwig in Germany ... There were many strange circum- Another Story Volunteered.

  ‘The four-and-twenty Lincoln greens turned pale ... kicked the two Lincoln greens who were The New Baroness Von Koëldwethout.

  “‘ If I had been a bachelor... that he threw his cloak A Spectre calls upon the Baron of Grogzwig.

  these opinions all at once ... by the laudable example of the Baron of Grogzwig.’ The Spectre Takes Leave of the Baron.

  The Election for Beadle (pp. 93-100)

  asperity and determination ... in his capacity of director Party Politics.

  in rusty black, with a long pale face ... Bung was 35 years of age. Spruggins Nomination.

  Seven Dials (pp. 100-105)

  posts. We never saw a regular ... on a hot summer’s evening, and The Dials in General.

  Meditations in Monmouth-Street (pp. 106-12)

  -nary wearers; lines of trousers ... smart but slovenly; meant to be Old Clothes.

  regard; and we had got a fine ... when we heard a shrill, and A Jolly Pair of Boots.

  A Visit to Newgate (pp. 112-26)

  but for his keys, would have looked ... every now and then burst into an irrepres- Its Internal Arrangement.

  shelf above. At night, ... excessively meritorious in getting there at all. We Its Women and Boys.

  with all their crimes upon their heads, ... some mitigatory cir- Its Chapel and Press-yard.

  can know. He has wearied ... with a speed and lightness, Its condemned Prisoner.

  A Christmas Tree (pp. 126-41)

  I have been looking on, ... observe in this tree the singular Christmas-Tree Fruit.

  and coming down, head foremost ... look out the Wolf in the Noah’s Christmas-Tree Flowers.

  Sultan goes out, giving no orders ... so suggestive and all-embracing, Christmas-Tree Theatricals.

  house, full of great chimneys ... old hall, where a certain Christmas-Tree Ghosts.

  evening at sunset, when ... for his little playmate was surely run. The Orphan Boy.

  A Flight (pp. 142-51)

  When Don Diego de ... Stock Exchange perhaps - City Travelling Companions.

  Demented Traveller, who has been ... looking at Enchantress while No Hurry.

  of soup, little caraffes of brandy ... was never wanting? Where are the A Rapid Review.

  Our School (pp. 152-9)

  long and narrow, is a puffy pug-dog ... denied him at breakfast, he would We were First Boy.

  The principal currency of Our School ... presents the Latin master as a colourless The popular Usher.

  Lying Awake (pp. 159-66)

  ‘My uncle lay with his eyes ... the only result that came of it. Benjamin Franklin a failure.

  fire, and the same supper ... with his throat cut, dashing Rambling Night Thoughts.

  far lower estimation than a mad wolf ... may prove now to a great many more. Obliged to get up.

  Refreshments for Travellers (pp. 168-76)

  In the late high winds I was blown ... accursed locality, than I have read of A Walworthy Speciality.

  am ‘breaking up’ again ... where five invalided old Another Case.

  are rather like his brother ... walls that are too new Hotel Refreshments.

  Travelling Abroad (pp. 176-88)

  I got into the travelling chariot ... so went I, by Canterbury The very queer small Boy.

  until - madly cracking, plunging ... picture of the creature; and that had so The large Dark Creature.

  jolting through the highway dust ... they slowly and spitefully Mysterious Conduct of Straudenheim.

  About this time, I deserted ... in a German travelling chariot that The Journey’s End.

  City of London Churches (pp. 188-98)

  reader’s soul. A full half ... as great a success as was expected? Meditations in Church.

  for a while resists ... help us out. The personage The Personage.

  their little play in the heart ... They are worth a Sunday-explo- A Year’s Impression.

  Shy Neighbourhoods (pp. 198-208)

  and meditative nature of their peaceful calling ... in the same hands and always A Clever Bird.

  the boards, like a Dutch clock ... I saw him yester- Dogs who keep Men.

  tom-cats, and their resemblance ... as if he were Phoebus in person. Street Fowls.

  Dullhorough Town (pp. 208-18)

  It lately happened ... hitting out at one Departed Joys.

  greengrocer’s house recalled ... the Thames and other proper The identical Greengrocer.

  who travelled with two professional ladies ... at the end of it was a little like- Its Literature and Art.

  Nurse’s Stories (pp. 218-29)

  giants, and the refreshed ... I see no meat.’ Career of Captain Murderer.

  Captain Murderer had a fiendish enjoyment ... and shipwrights will run Chips and the Rats.

  smelling at the baby in the garret!’... authentication that impaired my diges- Claims of the Female Bard.

  Arcadian London (pp. 229-38)

  Being in a humour for complete solitude ... having any mind for anything but The Hatter’s Desk and his young Man.

  — and only knows me ... order-taker, left on the hopeless Mrs Klem. of Adam’s confiding children ... these useful establishments. In the Arca- A Golden Age.

  The Calais Night-Mail (pp. 238-46)

  It is an unsettled question ... Richard the Third. Calais.

  ‘Rich and rare were the gems ... but still ahead and shining. Getting across.

  travellers; one, a compatriot ... I follow the good example. The little Bird.

  NOTES

  In the following annotations, my comments about the selections from Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, and Sketches by Boz are indebted in part to the painstaking notes on these works by T. W. Hill in the Dickensian, vols. 44-48 (1947-52). I have likewise been aided in a few other instances by James S. Stevens, Quotations and References in Charles Dickens (Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1929). Additional references illuminating specific notes are indicated in context. Details of initial publication of each selection are given at the beginning of their respective notes.

  THE STORY OF THE GOBLINS WHO STOLE A SEXTON

  First published in the tenth monthly number of Pickwick Papers (January 1837). In the 1836-7 edition, it erroneously appeared as the second Chapter 28. In 1847 the chapters were renumbered, and the story correctly became Chapter 29. The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of Pickwick Papers (1867).

  1 (p. 39) gall and wormwood. cf. Lamentations 3: 19.

  THE BARON OF GROGZWIG

  First published in the second monthly number of Nicholas Nickleby (May 1838). It appears in Chapter 6 along with ‘The Five Sisters of York’. The text here is that ofthe Charles Dickens Edition of Nicholas Nickleby (1867).

  1 (p. 51) Nimrod or Gillingwater. Nimrod is described in Genesis 10: 9 as ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord’. In comic contrast, Gillingwater was a contemporary London barber and perfumier who kept bears underneath his shop and used to advertise in the window, ‘another young bear slaughtered this day’ - presumably to produce the ingredients for bear’s grease, then fashionable on men’s hair. See [B. W. Matz], Dickensian, voL 16 (1920), p. 222.

  2 (p. 51) corned. Preserved by rubbing wit
h salt and soaking in a solution of salt and water.

  3 (p. 52) ’ ‘Till all was blue’. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a description of the effects of heavy drinking on the eyesight.

  A CONFESSION FOUND IN A PRISON IN THE TIME OF CHARLES THE SECOND

  First published in the third weekly number of Master Humphrey’s Clock (18 April 1840). Dickens omitted the Clock material when he published The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, the two novels originally presented in this context, as separate works. The text here is that of the first volume edition of Master Humphrey’s Clock (1840-41).

  TO BE READ AT DUSK

  First published in the Keepsake (1852) which provides the present text.

  NO. 1BRANCH LINE. THE SIGNALMAN

  ‘The Signalman’ was first published as part of Mugby Junction, the extra Christmas number of All the Year Round for 1866 which provides the present text.

  1 (p. 79) a man who had been shut up within narrow limits all his life. In the first portion of Mugby Junction, the central character who uses the name Barbox Brothers after the firm in which his life has been confined until his retirement, becomes belatedly interested in the world from which his job has isolated him. While exploring the railway lines radiating out from Mugby Junction, he gradually undergoes a more natural version of Gabriel Grub’s supernaturally induced change of heart. ‘The Signalman‘, as well as ‘The Boy at Mugby’ and the pieces by the other contributors to this Christmas number, are presented as things which were ‘seen, heard, or otherwise picked up, by the Gentleman from Nowhere [Barbox Brothers], in his careful study of the Junction’.