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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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682 ‘I am very sorry, mother, that I should inherit this unfortunate slowness of apprehension,’ said Nicholas, kindly; ‘but I’ll do my best to understand you, if you’ll only go straight on: indeed I will.’ ‘Your poor pa!’ said Mrs Nickleby, pondering. ‘He never knew, till it was too late, what I would have had him do!’ This was undoubtedly the case, inasmuch as the deceased Mr Nickleby had not arrived at the knowledge. Then he died. Neither had Mrs Nickleby herself; which is, in some sort, an explanation of the circumstance. ‘However,’ said Mrs Nickleby, drying her tears, ‘this has nothing to do--certainly nothing whatever to do--with the gentleman in the next house.’ ‘I should suppose that the gentleman in the next house has as little to do with us,’ returned Nicholas. ‘There can be no doubt,’ said Mrs Nickleby, ‘that he IS a gentleman, and has the manners of a gentleman, and the appearance of a gentleman, although he does wear smalls and grey worsted stockings. That may be eccentricity, or he may be proud of his legs. I don’t see why he shouldn’t be. The Prince Regent was proud of his legs, and so was Daniel Lambert, who was also a fat man; HE was proud of his legs. So was Miss Biffin: she was--no,’ added Mrs Nickleby, correcting, herself, ‘I think she had only toes, but the principle is the same.’ Nicholas looked on, quite amazed at the introduction of this new theme. Which seemed just what Mrs Nickleby had expected him to be. ‘You may well be surprised, Nicholas, my dear,’ she said, ‘I am sure I was. It came upon me like a flash of fire, and almost froze my blood. The bottom of his garden joins the bottom of ours, and |
