His greed at dinner, too, was closely in keeping with the greed of

Monsieur Rigaud at breakfast. His avaricious manner of collecting all

the eatables about him, and devouring some with his eyes while devouring

others with his jaws, was the same manner. His utter disregard of

other people, as shown in his way of tossing the little womanly toys

of furniture about, flinging favourite cushions under his boots for a

softer rest, and crushing delicate coverings with his big body and his

great black head, had the same brute selfishness at the bottom of it.

The softly moving hands that were so busy among the dishes had the old

wicked facility of the hands that had clung to the bars. And when he

could eat no more, and sat sucking his delicate fingers one by one and

wiping them on a cloth, there wanted nothing but the substitution of

vine-leaves to finish the picture.

On this man, with his moustache going up and his nose coming down in

that most evil of smiles, and with his surface eyes looking as if they

belonged to his dyed hair, and had had their natural power of reflecting

light stopped by some similar process, Nature, always true, and never

working in vain, had set the mark, Beware! It was not her fault, if the

warning were fruitless.

She is never to blame in any such instance. Mr Blandois, having finished his repast and cleaned his fingers, took

a cigar from his pocket, and, lying on the window-seat again, smoked it

out at his leisure, occasionally apostrophising the smoke as it parted

from his thin lips in a thin stream:

'Blandois, you shall turn the tables on society, my little child. Haha!

Holy blue, you have begun well, Blandois! At a pinch, an excellent

master in English or French; a man for the bosom of families! You have

a quick perception, you have humour, you have ease, you have insinuating

manners, you have a good appearance; in effect, you are a gentleman! A

gentleman you shall live, my small boy, and a gentleman you shall die.

You shall win, however the game goes. They shall all confess your merit,

Blandois. You shall subdue the society which has grievously wronged

you, to your own high spirit. Death of my soul! You are high spirited by

right and by nature, my Blandois!'

To such soothing murmurs did this gentleman smoke out his cigar and

drink out his bottle of wine. Both being finished, he shook himself into

a sitting attitude; and with the concluding serious apostrophe, 'Hold,

then! Blandois, you ingenious one, have all your wits about you!' arose

and went back to the house of Clennam and Co.




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