the usurer and the oaken box.
the room which sir henry ashwoode entered was one of squalid disorder. it was a large apartment, originally handsomely wainscoted, but damp and vermin had made woeful havoc in the broad panels, and the ceiling was covered with green and black blotches of mildew. no carpet covered the bare boards, which were strewn with fragments of papers, rags, splinters of an old chest, which had been partially broken up to light the fire, and occasionally a potato-skin, a bone, or an old shoe. the furniture was scant, and no one piece matched the other. little and bad as it was, its distribution about the room was more comfortless and wretched still. all was dreary disorder, dust, and dirt, and damp, and mildew, and rat-holes.
by a large grate, scarcely half filled with a pile of ashes and a few fragments of smouldering turf, sat gordon chancey, the master of this notable establishment; his arm rested upon a dirty deal table, and his fingers played listlessly with a dull and battered pewter goblet, which he had just replenished from a two-quart measure of strong beer which stood upon the table, and whose contents had dabbled that piece of furniture with sundry mimic lakes and rivers. unrestrained by the ungenerous confinement of a fender, the cinders strayed over the cracked hearthstone, and even wandered to the boards beyond it. mr. gordon chancey was himself, too, rather in deshabille. he had thrown off his shoes, and was in his stockings, which were unfortunately rather imperfect at the extremities. his waistcoat was unbuttoned, and his cravat lay upon the table, swimming in a sea of beer. as ashwoode entered, with ill-suppressed disgust, this loathly den, the object of his visit languidly turned his head and his sleepy eyes over his shoulder, in the direction of the door, and without making the smallest effort to rise, contented himself with extending his hand along the sloppy table, palm upwards, for ashwoode to shake, at the same time exclaiming, with a drawl of gentle placidity,—
"oh, dear—oh, dear me! mr. ashwoode, i declare to god i am very glad to see you. won't you sit down and have some beer? eliza, bring a cup for my friend, mr. ashwoode. will you take a pipe too? i have some elegant tobacco. bring my pipe to mr. ashwoode, and the little canister that m'quirk left here last night."
"i am much obliged to you," said ashwoode, with difficulty swallowing his anger, and speaking with marked hauteur, "my visit, though an unseasonable one, is entirely one of business. i shall not give you the trouble of providing any refreshment for me; in a word, i have neither time nor appetite for it. i want to learn exactly how you and i stand: five minutes will show me the state of the account."
"oh, dear—oh, dear! and won't you take any beer, then? it's elegant beer, from mr. m'gin's there, round the corner."
ashwoode bit his lips, and remained silent.
"eliza, bring a chair for my friend, sir henry ashwoode," continued chancey; "he must be very tired—indeed he must, after his long walk; and here, eliza, take the key and open the press, and do you see, bring me the little oak box on the second shelf. she's a very good little girl, mr. ashwoode, i assure you. eliza is a very sensible, good little girl. oh, dear!—oh, dear! but your father's death was very sudden; but old chaps always goes off that way, on short notice. oh, dear me!—i declare to ——, only i had a pain in my—(here he mentioned his lower stomach somewhat abruptly)—i'd have gone to the funeral this morning. there was a great lot of coaches, wasn't there?"
"pray, mr. chancey," said ashwoode, preserving his temper with an effort, "let us proceed at once to business. i am pressed for time, and i shall be glad, with as little delay as possible, to ascertain—what i suppose there can be no difficulty in learning—the exact state of our account."
"well, i'm very sorry, so i am, mr. ashwoode, that you are in such a hurry—i declare to —— i am," observed chancey, supplying big goblet afresh from the larger measure. "eliza, have you the box? well, bring it here, and put it down on the table, like an elegant little girl."
the girl shoved a small oaken chest over to chancey's elbow; and he forthwith proceeded to unlock it, and to draw forth the identical red leather pocket-book which had received in its pages the records of ashwoode's disasters upon the evening of their last meeting.
"here i have them. captain markham—no, that is not it," said chancey, sleepily turning over the leaves; "but this is it, mr. ashwoode—ay, here; first, two hundred pounds, promissory note—payable one week after date. mr. ashwoode, again, one hundred and fifty—promissory note—one week. lord kilblatters—no—ay, here again—mr. ashwoode, two hundred—promissory note—one week. mr. ashwoode, two hundred and fifty—promissory note—one week. mr. ashwoode, one hundred; mr. ashwoode, fifty. oh, dear me! dear me! mr. ashwoode, three hundred." and so on, till it appeared that sir henry ashwoode stood indebted to gordon chancey, esq., in the sum of six thousand four hundred and fifty pounds, for which he had passed promissory notes which would all become due in two days' time.
"i suppose," said ashwoode, "these notes have hardly been negotiated. eh?"
"oh, dear me! no—oh, no, mr. ashwoode," replied chancey. "they have not gone out of my desk. i would not put them into the hands of a stranger for any trifling advantage to myself. oh, dear me! not at all."
"well, then, i suppose you can renew them for a fortnight or so, or hold them over—eh?" asked ashwoode.
"i'm sure i can," rejoined chancey. "the bills belong to the old cripple that lent the money; and he does whatever i bid him. he trusts it all to me. he gives me the trouble, and takes the profit himself. oh! he does confide in me. i have only to say the word, and it's done. they shall be renewed or held over as often as you wish. indeed, i can answer for it. dear me, it would be very hard if i could not."
"well, then, mr. chancey," replied ashwoode, "i may require it, or i may not. craven has the promise of a large sum of money, within two or three days—part of the loan he has already gotten. will you favour me with a call on to-morrow afternoon at morley court. i will then have heard definitely from craven, and can tell you whether i require time or not."
"very good, sir—very fair, indeed, mr. ashwoode. nothing fairer," rejoined the lawyer. "but don't give yourself any uneasiness. oh, dear, on no account; for i declare to —— i would hold them over as long as you like. oh, dear me—indeed but i would. well, then, i'll call out at about four o'clock."
"very good, mr. chancey," replied ashwoode. "i shall expect you. meanwhile, good-night." so they separated.
the young baronet reached his ancestral dwelling without adventure of any kind, and mr. gordon chancey poured out the last drops of beer from the inverted can into his pewter cup, and draining it calmly, anon buttoned his waistcoat, shook the wet from his cravat, and tied it on, thrust his feet into his shoes, and flinging his cocked hat carelessly upon his head, walked forth in deep thought into the street, whistling a concerto of his own invention.
