第72章

Sayingsomethingapologeticallyashecrossedthehall，totheeffectthatatthattimeofnighttheywerenotinthehabitofreceivinganyone，andwerealwaysshutup，MrFlintwinchledthewayintohisownoffice，whichpresentedasufficientlybusiness-

likeappearance。Hereheputthelightonhisdesk，andsaidtothestranger，withhiswryesttwistuponhim，’Yourcommands。’

’MYnameisBlandois。’

’Blandois。Idon’tknowit，’saidJeremiah。

’Ithoughtitpossible，’resumedtheother，’thatyoumighthavebeenadvisedfromParis——’

’WehavehadnoadvicefromParisrespectinganybodyofthenameofBlandois，’saidJeremiah。

’No？’

’No。’

Jeremiahstoodinhisfavouriteattitude。ThesmilingMrBlandois，openinghiscloaktogethishandtoabreast-pocket，pausedtosay，withalaughinhisglitteringeyes，whichitoccurredtoMrFlintwinchweretooneartogether：

’Youaresolikeafriendofmine!NotsoidenticallythesameasIsupposedwhenIreallydidforthemomenttakeyoutobethesameinthedusk——forwhichIoughttoapologise；permitmetodoso；areadinesstoconfessmyerrorsis，Ihope，apartofthefranknessofmycharacter——still，however，uncommonlylike。’

’Indeed？’saidJeremiah，perversely。’ButIhavenotreceivedanyletterofadvicefromanywhererespectinganybodyofthenameofBlandois。’

’Justso，’saidthestranger。

’JUSTso，’saidJeremiah。

MrBlandois，notatallputoutbythisomissiononthepartofthecorrespondentsofthehouseofClennamandCo。，tookhispocket-

bookfromhisbreast-pocket，selectedaletterfromthatreceptacle，andhandedittoMrFlintwinch。’Nodoubtyouarewellacquaintedwiththewriting。Perhapstheletterspeaksforitself，andrequiresnoadvice。YouareafarmorecompetentjudgeofsuchaffairsthanIam。Itismymisfortunetobe，notsomuchamanofbusiness，aswhattheworldcalls(arbitrarily)agentleman。’

MrFlintwinchtooktheletter，andread，underdateofParis，’Wehavetopresenttoyou，onbehalfofahighlyesteemedcorrespondentofourFirm，M。Blandois，ofthiscity，’&c。&c。

’Suchfacilitiesashemayrequireandsuchattentionsasmaylieinyourpower，’&c。&c。’AlsohavetoaddthatifyouwillhonourM。Blandois’draftsatsighttotheextentof，sayFiftyPoundssterling(l50)，’&c。&c。

’Verygood，sir，’saidMrFlintwinch。’Takeachair。TotheextentofanythingthatourHousecando——weareinaretired，old-

fashioned，steadywayofbusiness，sir——weshallbehappytorenderyouourbestassistance。Iobserve，fromthedateofthis，thatwecouldnotyetbeadvisedofit。Probablyyoucameoverwiththedelayedmailthatbringstheadvice。’

’ThatIcameoverwiththedelayedmail，sir，’returnedMrBlandois，passinghiswhitehanddownhishigh-hookednose，’Iknowtothecostofmyheadandstomach：thedetestableandintolerableweatherhavingrackedthemboth。YouseemeintheplightinwhichIcameoutofthepacketwithinthishalf-hour。Ioughttohavebeenherehoursago，andthenIshouldnothavetoapologise——

permitmetoapologise——forpresentingmyselfsounreasonably，andfrightening——no，by-the-bye，yousaidnotfrightening；permitmetoapologiseagain——theesteemedlady，MrsClennam，inherinvalidchamberabovestairs。’

Swaggerandanairofauthorisedcondescensiondosomuch，thatMrFlintwinchhadalreadybeguntothinkthisahighlygentlemanlypersonage。Notthelessunyieldingwithhimonthataccount，hescrapedhischinandsaid，whatcouldhehavethehonourofdoingforMrBlandoisto-night，outofbusinesshours？

’Faith!’returnedthatgentleman，shrugginghiscloakedshoulders，’Imustchange，andeatanddrink，andbelodgedsomewhere。Havethekindnesstoadviseme，atotalstranger，where，andmoneyisamatterofperfectindifferenceuntilto-morrow。Thenearertheplace，thebetter。Nextdoor，ifthat’sall