'He shall be--ha--he shall be handsomely recompensed, sir,' said
the Father, starting up and moving hurriedly about the room. 'Assure
yourself, Mr Clennam, that everybody concerned shall be--ha--shall
be nobly rewarded. No one, my dear sir, shall say that he has an
unsatisfied claim against me. I shall repay the--hum--the advances I
have had from you, sir, with peculiar pleasure. I beg to be informed at
your earliest convenience, what advances you have made my son.'
He had no purpose in going about the room, but he was not still a
moment. 'Everybody,' he said, 'shall be remembered. I will not go away from
here in anybody's debt. All the people who have been--ha--well behaved
towards myself and my family, shall be rewarded. Chivery shall be
rewarded. Young John shall be rewarded. I particularly wish, and intend,
to act munificently, Mr Clennam.' 'Will you allow me,' said Arthur, laying his purse on the table, 'to
supply any present contingencies, Mr Dorrit? I thought it best to bring
a sum of money for the purpose.'
'Thank you, sir, thank you. I accept with readiness, at the present
moment, what I could not an hour ago have conscientiously taken. I am
obliged to you for the temporary accommodation. Exceedingly temporary,
but well timed--well timed.' His hand had closed upon the money, and
he carried it about with him. 'Be so kind, sir, as to add the amount to
those former advances to which I have already referred; being careful,
if you please, not to omit advances made to my son. A mere verbal
statement of the gross amount is all I shall--ha--all I shall require.'
His eye fell upon his daughter at this point, and he stopped for a
moment to kiss her, and to pat her head.
'It will be necessary to find a milliner, my love, and to make a speedy
and complete change in your very plain dress. Something must be done
with Maggy too, who at present is--ha--barely respectable, barely
respectable. And your sister, Amy, and your brother. And my brother,
your uncle--poor soul, I trust this will rouse him--messengers must be
despatched to fetch them. They must be informed of this. We must break
it to them cautiously, but they must be informed directly. We owe it
as a duty to them and to ourselves, from this moment, not to let
them--hum--not to let them do anything.'
This was the first intimation he had ever given, that he was privy to
the fact that they did something for a livelihood.
He was still jogging about the room, with the purse clutched in his
hand, when a great cheering arose in the yard. 'The news has spread
already,' said Clennam, looking down from the window. 'Will you show
yourself to them, Mr Dorrit? They are very earnest, and they evidently
wish it.' 'I--hum--ha--I confess I could have desired, Amy my dear,' he said,
jogging about in a more feverish flutter than before, 'to have made some
change in my dress first, and to have bought a--hum--a watch and chain.