 her
little drawings and ornamental work, at a high price, and keeping up a constant
demand for the same. For the furtherance of which end and object it was
necessary that somebody should represent the dealer in such commodities, and
after great deliberation they had pitched upon Nicholas to support this
character.
    »He knows me,« said brother Charles, »and he knows my brother Ned. Neither
of us would do. Frank is a very good fellow - a very fine fellow - but we are
afraid that he might be a little flighty and thoughtless in such a delicate
matter, and that he might, perhaps - that he might, in short, be too susceptible
(for she is a beautiful creature, sir, just what her poor mother was), and,
falling in love with her before he well knew his own mind, carry pain and sorrow
into that innocent breast, which we would be the humble instruments of gradually
making happy. He took an extraordinary interest in her fortunes when he first
happened to encounter her. And we gather from the inquiries we had made of him,
that it was she in whose behalf he made that turmoil which led to your first
acquaintance.«
    Nicholas stammered out that he had before suspected the possibility of such
a thing; and in explanation of its having occurred to him, he described when and
where he had seen the young lady herself.
    »Well; then you see,« continued brother Charles, »that he wouldn't do. Tim
Linkinwater is out of the question; for Tim, sir, is such a tremendous fellow,
that he could never contain himself, but would go to loggerheads with the father
before he had been in the place five minutes. You don't know what Tim is, sir,
when he is roused by anything that appeals to his feelings very strongly; then
he is terrific, sir, is Tim Linkinwater, absolutely terrific. Now, in you we can
repose the strictest confidence; in you we have seen - or at least I have seen,
and that's the same thing, for there's no difference between me and my brother
Ned, except that he is the finest creature that ever lived, and that there is
not and never will be anybody like him in all the world - in you we have seen
domestic virtues and affections, and delicacy of feeling, which exactly qualify
you for such an office. And you are the man, sir.«
    »The young lady, sir,« said Nicholas, who felt so embarrassed that he had no
small difficulty in saying
