第50章

Thisadvice，besidesbeingobviouslysensible，wouldendinsavingErnestbothtimeandsuspenseofmind，sowehadnohesitationinadoptingit。Thecasewascalledonabouteleveno’clock，butwegotitadjournedtillthree，soastogivetimeforErnesttosethisaffairsasstraightashecould，andtoexecuteapowerofattorneyenablingmetoactforhimasIshouldthinkfitwhilehewasinprison。

ThenallcameoutaboutPryerandtheCollegeofSpiritualPathology。ErnesthadevengreaterdifficultyinmakingacleanbreastofthisthanhehadhadintellingusaboutMissMaitland，buthetoldusall，andtheupshotwasthathehadactuallyhandedovertoPryereveryhalfpennythathethenpossessedwithnoothersecuritythanPryer’sI。O。U。’sfortheamount。Ernest，thoughstilldecliningtobelievethatPryercouldbeguiltyofdishonourableconduct，wasbecomingalivetothefollyofwhathehadbeendoing；

hestillmadesure，however，ofrecovering，atanyrate，thegreaterpartofhispropertyassoonasPryershouldhavehadtimetosell。

TowneleyandIwereofadifferentopinion，butwedidnotsaywhatwethought。

Itwasdrearyworkwaitingallthemorningamidsuchunfamiliaranddepressingsurroundings。IthoughthowthePsalmisthadexclaimedwithquietirony，“Onedayinthycourtsisbetterthanathousand。”

andIthoughtthatIcouldutteraverysimilarsentimentinrespectoftheCourtsinwhichTowneleyandIwerecompelledtoloiter。Atlast，aboutthreeo’clockthecasewascalledon，andwewentroundtothepartofthecourtwhichisreservedforthegeneralpublic，whileErnestwastakenintotheprisoner’sdock。Assoonashehadcollectedhimselfsufficientlyherecognisedthemagistrateastheoldgentlemanwhohadspokentohiminthetrainonthedayhewasleavingschool，andsaw，orthoughthesaw，tohisgreatgrief，thathetoowasrecognised。

MrOttery，forthiswasourattorney’sname，tookthelinehehadproposed。Hecallednootherwitnessesthantherector，Towneleyandmyself，andthrewhimselfonthemercyofthemagistrate。Whenhehadconcluded，themagistratespokeasfollows：“ErnestPontifex，yoursisoneofthemostpainfulcasesthatIhaveeverhadtodealwith。Youhavebeensingularlyfavouredinyourparentageandeducation。Youhavehadbeforeyoutheexampleofblamelessparents，whodoubtlessinstilledintoyoufromchildhoodtheenormityoftheoffencewhichbyyourownconfessionyouhavecommitted。YouweresenttooneofthebestpublicschoolsinEngland。ItisnotlikelythatinthehealthyatmosphereofsuchaschoolasRoughboroughyoucanhavecomeacrosscontaminatinginfluences；youwereprobably，Imaysaycertainly，impressedatschoolwiththeheinousnessofanyattempttodepartfromthestrictestchastityuntilsuchtimeasyouhadenteredintoastateofmatrimony。AtCambridgeyouwereshieldedfromimpuritybyeveryobstaclewhichvirtuousandvigilantauthoritiescoulddevise，andevenhadtheobstaclesbeenfewer，yourparentsprobablytookcarethatyourmeansshouldnotadmitofyourthrowingmoneyawayuponabandonedcharacters。Atnightproctorspatrolledthestreetanddoggedyourstepsifyoutriedtogointoanyhauntwhereth