68

THE CHARACTER.

"I would give ten thousand pounds for a character."

Colonel Chartres.

"IF you please, Ma'am," said Betty, wiping her steaming arms on her apron as she entered the room, "if you please, Ma'am, here's the lady for the character."

Mrs. Dowdum immediately jumped up from her chair, and with a little run, no faster than a walk, proceeded from the window to the fire-place, and consulted an old-fashioned watch which stood on the mantel-shelf.

"Bless me! it is twelve o'clock sure enough!"

Now, considering that the visit was by appoint

ment, and had been expected for the last hour, it will be thought remarkable that Mrs. Dowdum should be so apparently unprepared; but persons who move in the higher circles within the vortex of what is called a perpetual round of pleasure, where visits, welcome or unwelcome, circulate with proportionate rapidity, can hardly estimate the importance of an interview in those lower spheres which, comparatively, scarcely revolve at all. Thus for the last hour Mrs. Dowdum had been looking for the promised call, and listening with all her might for the sound of the knocker; and yet when it did come, she was as much flurried as people commonly are by what is denominated a drop in. Accordingly, after consulting the watch, she found it necessary to refer to the looking-glass which hung above it, and to make an extempore toilet. First, she laid hold of her cap with both hands, and gave it her flaxen wig following the impulse-what sailors term a half turn to the right, after which she repeated the same manoeuvre towards the left; and then, as if by this operation she had discovered the juste milieu, she left matters as they were. Her

shawl was next treated in the same fashion, first being lapped over one way, and then lapped over the other, and carefully pinned. Finally she gathered up a handful of the front of her gown below the waist, and gave it a smart tug downwards; and then having stroked it with both hands to make it "sit flat," if possible, instead of round, the costume was considered as quite correct. The truth is, the giving a character is an important business to all parties concerned to the subject, who is about to be blazoned or branded as good for everything or good for nothing-to the inquirer, who is on the eve of adopting a Pamela or a Jezabel-and last, not least, to the referee herself, who must show that she has a character to preserve, as well as one to give away. There are certain standard

questions always asked on such occasions, against one of which, “Is she clean and neat in her habits?” Mrs. Dowdum had already provided. Is she sober?" and Mrs. Dowdum thrust a bottle of catsup, but which might have been taken for ratifia, into the corner cupboard. "Is she honest ?" and Mrs. Dowdum poked the Newgate Calendar she had been reading

under the sofa bolster. An extra query will occasionally be put-" Is she decidedly pious?" and Mrs. Dowdum took up "Pilgrim's Progress." Lastly, two chairs were placed near the window, as chairs always are placed when the respective sitters are to give and take a character. The reader will perhaps smile here; but in reality there is a great deal of expression about those rosewood or mahogany conveniences. A close observer who enters a parlour or drawing-room, and finds a parcel of empty seats away from the wall, can judge pretty shrewdly, from the area of the circle and other circumstances, of the nature of the foregone visit. Should the ring be large, and the seats far apart, the visit has been formal. A closer circuit implies familiarity. Two chairs side by side in front of the fender are strictly confidential—one on each side of the rug hints a tête-à-tête matrimonial. A chair which presents an angle to its companions, has been occupied by a young lady from boarding-school, who always sits at one corner. Two chairs placed back to back need not speak-they are not upon speaking terms; and a chair thrown down, especially if broken,

is equally significant. A creditor's seat is invariably beside the door; and should you meet with a chair which is neither near the fire, nor near the table, nor near any wooden companion, be sure that it has been the resting-place of a poor relation. In the present case, Mrs. Dowdum's two chairs were placed square, and dead opposite to each other, as if the parties who were to occupy them were expected to look straight into each other's faces. It might be called the categorical position.

"Now then, Betty, I am ready; show the lady up."

The lady was accordingly ushered up by Betty, who then retired, closing the door behind her, as slowly as servants always do, when they are shutting the curiosity without and the news within. After the usual compliments, the lady then opened the business, and the parties fell into dialogue.

"I am informed, Madam, by Ann Gale, that she lived with you three years?"

"Certainly, Ma'am-last Martinmas; which made it a month over, all but two days."