 in the most accidental manner ever seen, found himself at Mr.
Merdle's shoulder, and embraced that opportunity of mentioning a little point to
him, on which he particularly wished to be guided by the light of his practical
knowledge. (Here he took Mr. Merdle's arm and walked him gently away.) A banker,
whom we would call A. B., advanced a considerable sum, of money, which we would
call fifteen thousand pounds, to a client or customer of his, whom he would call
P. Q. (Here, as they were getting towards Lord Decimus, he held Mr. Merdle
tight.) As a security for the repayment of this advance to P. Q. whom we would
call a widow lady, there were placed in A. B.'s hands the title-deeds of a
freehold estate, which we would call Blinkiter Doddles. Now, the point was this.
A limited right of felling and lopping in the woods of Blinkiter Doddles, lay in
the son of P. Q. then past his majority, and whom we would call X. Y. -- but
really this was too bad! In the presence of Lord Decimus, to detain the host
with chopping our dry chaff of law, was really too bad! Another time! Bar was
truly repentant, and would not say another syllable. Would Bishop favour him
with half-a-dozen words? (He had now set Mr. Merdle down on a couch, side by
side with Lord Decimus, and to it they must go, now or never.)
    And now the rest of the company, highly excited and interested, always
excepting Bishop, who had not the slightest idea that anything was going on,
formed in one group round the fire in the next drawing-room, and pretended to be
chatting easily on an infinite variety of small topics, while everybody's
thoughts and eyes were secretly straying towards the secluded pair. The Chorus
were excessively nervous, perhaps as labouring under the dreadful apprehension
that some good thing was going to be diverted from them. Bishop alone talked
steadily and evenly. He conversed with the great Physician on that relaxation of
the throat with which young curates were too frequently afflicted, and on the
means of lessening the great prevalence of that disorder in the church.
Physician, as a general rule, was of opinion that the best way to avoid it was
to know how to read, before you made a profession of reading. Bishop said
dubiously, did he really think so? And Physician said, decidedly,
