Part 43 (1/2)

At length Riccabocca appeared on the road, attended by a labourer, who carried something indistinct under his arm. The Italian beckoned to Leonard to follow him into the parlour, and after conversing with him kindly, and at some length, and packing up, as it were, a considerable provision of wisdom in the portable shape of aphorisms and proverbs, the sage left him alone for a few moments. Riccabocca then returned with his wife, and bearing a small knapsack:--

”It is not much we can do for you, Leonard, and money is the worst gift in the world for a keepsake; but my wife and I have put our heads together to furnish you with a little outfit. Giacomo, who was in our secret, a.s.sures us that the clothes will fit; and stole, I fancy, a coat of yours, to have the right measure. Put them on when you go to your relations: it is astonis.h.i.+ng what a difference it makes in the ideas people form of us, according as our coats are cut one way or another. I should not be presentable in London thus; and nothing is more true than that a tailor is often the making of a man.”

”The s.h.i.+rts, too, are very good holland,” said Mrs. Riccabocca, about to open the knapsack.

”Never mind details, my dear,” cried the wise man; ”s.h.i.+rts are comprehended in the general principle of clothes. And, Leonard, as a remembrance somewhat more personal, accept this, which I have worn many a year when time was a thing of importance to me, and n.o.bler fates than mine hung on a moment. We missed the moment, or abused it; and here I am a waif on a foreign sh.o.r.e. Methinks I have done with Time.”

The exile, as he thus spoke, placed in Leonard's reluctant hands a watch that would have delighted an antiquary, and shocked a dandy. It was exceedingly thick, having an outer case of enamel and an inner one of gold. The hands and the figures of the hours had originally been formed of brilliants; but the brilliants had long since vanished. Still, even thus bereft, the watch was much more in character with the giver than the receiver, and was as little suited to Leonard as would have been the red silk umbrella.

”It is old-fas.h.i.+oned,” said Mrs. Riccabocca; ”but it goes better than any clock in the county. I really think it will last to the end of the world.”

”Carissima mia!” cried the doctor, ”I thought I had convinced you that the world is by no means come to its last legs.”

”Oh, I did not mean anything, Alphonso,” said Mrs. Riccabocca, colouring.

”And that is all we do mean when we talk about that of which we can know nothing,” said the doctor, less gallantly than usual, for he resented that epithet of ”old-fas.h.i.+oned,” as applied to the watch.

Leonard, we see, had been silent all this time; he could not speak,--literally and truly, he could not speak. How he got out of his embarra.s.sment and how he got out of the room, he never explained to my satisfaction. But a few minutes afterwards, he was seen hurrying down the road very briskly.

Riccabocca and his wife stood at the window gazing after him.

”There is a depth in that boy's heart,” said the sage, ”which might float an argosy.”

”Poor dear boy! I think we have put everything into the knapsack that he can possibly want,” said good Mrs. Riccabocca, musingly.

THE DOCTOR (continuing his soliloquy).--”They are strong, but they are not immediately apparent.”

MRS. RICCABOCCA (resuming hers).--”They are at the bottom of the knapsack.”

THE DOCTOR.--”They will stand long wear and tear.”

MRS. RICCABOCCA.--”A year, at least, with proper care at the wash.”

THE DOCTOR (startled).--”Care at the was.h.!.+ What on earth are you talking of, ma'am?”

MRS. RICCABOCCA (mildly).--”The s.h.i.+rts, to be sure, my love! And you?”

THE DOCTOR (with a heavy sigh).--”The feelings, ma'am!” Then, after a pause, taking his wife's hand affectionately, ”But you did quite right to think of the s.h.i.+rts: Mr. Dale said very truly--”

MRS. RICCABOCCA.--”What?”

THE DOCTOR.--”That there was a great deal in common between us--even when I think of feelings, and you but of--s.h.i.+rts!”

CHAPTER XXIII.

Mr. and Mrs. Avenel sat within the parlour, Mr. Richard stood on the hearthrug, whistling ”Yankee Doodle.” ”The parson writes word that the lad will come to-day,” said Richard, suddenly; ”let me see the letter,--ay, to-day. If he took the coach as far as -------, he might walk the rest of the way in two or three hours. He should be pretty nearly here. I have a great mind to go and meet him: it will save his asking questions, and hearing about me. I can clear the town by the back way, and get out at the high road.”

”You'll not know him from any one else,” said Mrs. Avenel.