The History of Samuel Titmarsh, and The Great Hoggarty Diamond

rniture from the country; which would have filled two such houses, but which came pretty c

hilling of her money, I must say she gave me 50l. of the 80l., and told me that was ample pay

living with us, why, all the savings would one day come to me; and so Mary and I consoled ourselves, and tried to manage matters as well as we might. It was

as entering the lodge-gate; and I should like to have seen the looks of these two gentlemen,

e the house without my aunt, who had a causa major for staying, and hardly allowed poor Mary out of her sight,-opening every one of the letters that came into the house directed to my wife, and suspecting hers to everybody. Mary never told me of all this pain for many many years afterwar

nd that I was not minded to receive any insolent language from him or any man. He said it was always so: that he had never cherished a young man in his bosom, but the ingrate had turned on him; that he was accustomed to wrong and undutifulness from his children, and that he would pray that the sin might be forgiven me. A moment before he

d have been sacrificed by these cormorants: and when, for her benefit-which you, obstinate young man, will not perceive-I wished to dis

Mr. B. showed his cloven foot: for proposing, as usual, that I should purchase shares with it in our Company, I told him that my wife was a minor, and as such her little fortune was vested out of my control altogether. He flung away in a rage at this; and I soon saw that he did not care for m

paid-up capital of 65l. Still ours were at a high premium; and the Independent West Diddlesex held its head up as proudly as any office in London. Roundhand's abuse had had

grand piano, with crooked legs and half the strings broken, occupied three-fourths of the little drawing-room. Here used Mrs. H. to sit, and play us, for

she would never dine till seven; would have a fly from the mews to drive in the Park twice a week; cut and uncut, and ripped up and twisted over and over, all her old gowns, flounces, caps, and fallals, and kept my poor Mary from morning till night altering the

fess; though my family is very ancient. And heavens! what a roar of laughter was raised in the office one day, when the little servant in the big livery, with the immense cane, walked in and brought me a message from Mrs. Hoggarty of Castle Hoggarty! Furthermore, all letters were delivered on a silver tray. If we had had a baby, I believe Aunt would have had it down on the tray: but there was as yet no foundation for Mr. Smithers's in

east, Mary and I had to ourselves,-for we chose to have seats at the Foundling, and heard the charming music there, and my wife used to look wistfully in the pretty children's faces,-and so, fo

ompany. Some people said there were no Indians, and no agent to be tomahawked at all; but that the whole had been invented in a house in Crutched Friars. Well, I pitied poor Tidd, whose 20,000l. were thus gone in a year, and whom I met in the City that day with

ome stormy words passed, which ended in the retirement of several of the board. Friends of Mr. B.'s filled up their places: Mr. Puppet, Mr. Straw, Mr. Query, and other respectable gents, coming forward and joining the concern. Brough and Hoff dissolved partnership; and Mr. B. said he had quite enough to do to

e and Lady Drum were intimately related; and no sooner did she read in the Morning Post of the arrival of her Ladyship and her granddaughters in London, than she ordered the fly before mentioned, and left cards at th

her the least encouragement; but that functionary, no doubt struck by the oddity of her appearance, placed himself in the front of the door, and declared that he had po

ad of it when this letter arrived, owing to my aunt's disappointment and rage in reading the contents; for when Solomon brought up the note on the silver tea-tray as usual, my aunt, seeing Mr. Preston's seal and name at the corner of the letter (which is the common way of writing adopted by those official gents)-my aunt, I say, seeing his name and seal, cried, "Now, Mary,

ly for the brief period of six months: and also, genteel society has been fully described already by various authors of novels, whose names need not here be set down, but who, being themselves connect

ittle Solomon cut, by the way, with his big cane, among the gentlemen of the shoulder-knot assembled in the lobby!)-where, I say, in the crush-room, Mrs. H. rushed up to old Lady Drum, whom I pointed out to her, and insisted upon claiming relationship with her Ladyship. But my Lady Drum

r forgery, she replied that she considered the story an atrocious calumny; and he answered by saying that Mary and I were in lamentable darkness, and that we should infallibly find the way to a certain bottomless pit, of which he seemed to know a great deal. Under the reverend gentleman's guidance and advice, she, after a time, separated from St. Pancras altogether-"sat under him," as the phrase is, regularly thrice a week-began to labour in the conversion of the poor of Bloomsbury and St. Giles's, and made a deal of baby-linen for distributi

t confess at this time I was growing very embarrassed in my circums

from the country, the painting, papering, and carpeting of my house, the brandy and strong liquors drunk by the Reverend Grimes and his friends (for the re

mond pin. All these bills arrived in a week, as they have a knack of doing; and fancy my astonishment in presenting them to Mrs. Hoggarty, when she said, "Well, my dear, you are in the receipt of a very fine income. If yo

ry in such a delicate condition? And bad as matters were at home

the directors' private room; when he left it, he came trembling, chattering, and cursing downstairs; and had begun, "Shentlemen-" a speech to

the newspaper, as was my right, the first thing I read was, "Frightful fire in Houndsditch! Total destruction of Mr. Meshach's sealing-wax manufactory and of Mr. Shadrach's clothing dep?t, adjoining. In the former was 20,000l

s of a scoundrelly Irish watchman, who was employed on the premises, and who upset a bottle of whisky in the warehouse of Messrs. Shadrach, and incautiously looked for the

o green fat: but such a moment as this was no time for joking! He was insured by our house for 5,000l. And now I saw very well the truth of a remark of Gus's-viz., that life-as

Erostratus Match Manufactory had exploded in the same year at a charge of 14,000l., there were those who said that the loss had not been near so heavy as was supposed-nay, that

dismal as mutes, Mr. Brough came to the office in his coach-and-fou

head clerk here. As for the accident which has happened to Messrs. Shadrach and Meshach,-in that, at least, there is nothing that can occasion any person sorrow. On Saturday next, or as soon as the particulars of their loss can be satisfactorily ascertained, my friend Mr. Titmarsh will pay to them across the counter a sum of forty, fifty, eighty, one hundred thousand pounds-a

n with common worldly matters, has always appeared to me irreverent; and to bring it to bear witness to the lie in h

ntil the evening papers had appeared. But there was the speech-ay, and at the week's end, although Roundhand was heard on 'Change that day declaring he would bet five to one

mentioning the matter now after twenty years' lapse of time; and

uently in Brough's room, and he now seemed onc

could not meet his engagements, committed suicide; and had he lived till four o'clock that day, would have known that he was worth 400,000l. "To tell you frankly the truth," says Mr. B., "I am in Silberschmidt's case. My late partner, Hoff, has given bills in the name of the firm to an enormous amount, and I have been obliged to me

I, thinking of my poor mother's annuity.

saved; and if you will, as you can, get it f

oubt, that with the 5,000l. our office must be set a-going; and without it, that the concern must stop. No matter how he proved

lined. I told him so; and that day he called upon her, his wife called upon her, his dau

sought her to save dear John. This at once aroused my aunt's suspicions; and instead of lending the money, she wrote off to Mr. Smithers instantly to come up to her,

t deal in his pockets, and at last pulled out a 5l. note, which he said his daughter Jane had just sent him from service, and begged Mr. B. would let him have another share in the Company. "He was mortal sure it would go right yet. And when he heard master crying and cursing as he and mis

" said he, "that 5l. note shall be the best outlay you ever made in your life!" and I have no do

, came to the office with a power of attorney, and said, "John, Isabella has been with me this morning, and says you want money, and I have brought you my 4,0

be present at Gates's interview with his master, which took place only an hour afterwards. Brave Mrs. Brough! how she was working for her husband! Good woman, and kind! but you h

nt's money, Titmarsh my boy," said Brough: "never mind her having resumed her shares. You are a true hon

*

heard at the door, and a gentleman desired to speak to me in the parlour. It was Mr. Aminadab of Chancery Lane, who arrested me

and told him for Heaven'

ough?" says

ore of the firm of Brough and Off, sir