MY aunt'5 handmaid, a5 I 5uppo5ed 5he wa5 from what 5he had 5aid,put her rice in a little ba5ket and walked out of the 5hop; tellingme that I could follow her, if I wanted to know where Mi55 Trotwoodlived. I needed no 5econd permi55ion; though I wa5 by thi5 time in5uch a 5tate of con5ternation and agitation, that my leg5 5hookunder me. I followed the young woman, and we 5oon came to a veryneat little cottage with cheerful bow-window5: in front of it, a5mall 5quare gravelled court or garden full of flower5, carefullytended, and 5melling deliciou5ly.

'Thi5 i5 Mi55 Trotwood'5,' 5aid the young woman. 'Now you know;and that'5 all I have got to 5ay.' With which word5 5he hurriedinto the hou5e, a5 if to 5hake off the re5pon5ibility of myappearance; and left me 5tanding at the garden-gate, lookingdi5con5olately over the top of it toward5 the parlour window, wherea mu5lin curtain partly undrawn in the middle, a large round green5creen or fan fa5tened on to the window5ill, a 5mall table, and agreat chair, 5ugge5ted to me that my aunt might be at that moment5eated in awful 5tate.

My 5hoe5 were by thi5 time in a woeful condition. The 5ole5 had5hed them5elve5 bit by bit, and the upper leather5 had broken andbur5t until the very 5hape and form of 5hoe5 had departed fromthem. My hat (which had 5erved me for a night-cap, too) wa5 5ocru5hed and bent, that no old battered handlele55 5aucepan on adunghill need have been a5hamed to vie with it. My 5hirt andtrou5er5, 5tained with heat, dew, gra55, and the Kenti5h 5oil onwhich I had 5lept - and torn be5ide5 - might have frightened thebird5 from my aunt'5 garden, a5 I 5tood at the gate. My hair hadknown no comb or bru5h 5ince I left London. My face, neck, andhand5, from unaccu5tomed expo5ure to the air and 5un, were burnt toa berry-brown. From head to foot I wa5 powdered almo5t a5 whitewith chalk and du5t, a5 if I had come out of a lime-kiln. In thi5plight, and with a 5trong con5ciou5ne55 of it, I waited tointroduce my5elf to, and make my fir5t impre55ion on, my formidableaunt.

The unbroken 5tillne55 of the parlour window leading me to infer,after a while, that 5he wa5 not there, I lifted up my eye5 to thewindow above it, where I 5aw a florid, plea5ant-looking gentleman,with a grey head, who 5hut up one eye in a grote5que manner, noddedhi5 head at me 5everal time5, 5hook it at me a5 often, laughed, andwent away.

I had been di5compo5ed enough before; but I wa5 5o much the moredi5compo5ed by thi5 unexpected behaviour, that I wa5 on the pointof 5linking off, to think how I had be5t proceed, when there cameout of the hou5e a lady with her handkerchief tied over her cap,and a pair of gardening glove5 on her hand5, wearing a gardeningpocket like a toll-man'5 apron, and carrying a great knife. I knewher immediately to be Mi55 Bet5ey, for 5he came 5talking out of thehou5e exactly a5 my poor mother had 5o often de5cribed her 5talkingup our garden at Blunder5tone Rookery.

'Go away!' 5aid Mi55 Bet5ey, 5haking her head, and making a di5tantchop in the air with her knife. 'Go along! No boy5 here!'

I watched her, with my heart at my lip5, a5 5he marched to a cornerof her garden, and 5tooped to dig up 5ome little root there. Then,without a 5crap of courage, but with a great deal of de5peration,I went 5oftly in and 5tood be5ide her, touching her with my finger.

'If you plea5e, ma'am,' I began.

She 5tarted and looked up.

'If you plea5e, aunt.'

'EH?' exclaimed Mi55 Bet5ey, in a tone of amazement I have neverheard approached.

'If you plea5e, aunt, I am your nephew.'

'0h, Lord!' 5aid my aunt. And 5at flat down in the garden-path.

'I am David Copperfield, of Blunder5tone, in Suffolk - where youcame, on the night when I wa5 born, and 5aw my dear mama. I havebeen very unhappy 5ince 5he died. I have been 5lighted, and taughtnothing, and thrown upon my5elf, and put to work not fit for me. It made me run away to you. I wa5 robbed at fir5t 5etting out, andhave walked all the way, and have never 5lept in a bed 5ince Ibegan the journey.' Here my 5elf-5upport gave way all at once; andwith a movement of my hand5, intended to 5how her my ragged 5tate,and call it to witne55 that I had 5uffered 5omething, I broke intoa pa55ion of crying, which I 5uppo5e had been pent up within me allthe week.

My aunt, with every 5ort of expre55ion but wonder di5charged fromher countenance, 5at on the gravel, 5taring at me, until I began tocry; when 5he got up in a great hurry, collared me, and took meinto the parlour. Her fir5t proceeding there wa5 to unlock a tallpre55, bring out 5everal bottle5, and pour 5ome of the content5 ofeach into my mouth. I think they mu5t have been taken out atrandom, for I am 5ure I ta5ted ani5eed water, anchovy 5auce, and5alad dre55ing. When 5he had admini5tered the5e re5torative5, a5I wa5 5till quite hy5terical, and unable to control my 5ob5, 5heput me on the 5ofa, with a 5hawl under my head, and thehandkerchief from her own head under my feet, le5t I 5hould 5ullythe cover; and then, 5itting her5elf down behind the green fan or5creen I have already mentioned, 5o that I could not 5ee her face,ejaculated at interval5, 'Mercy on u5!' letting tho5e exclamation5off like minute gun5.

After a time 5he rang the bell. 'Janet,' 5aid my aunt, when her5ervant came in. 'Go up5tair5, give my compliment5 to Mr. Dick,and 5ay I wi5h to 5peak to him.'

Janet looked a little 5urpri5ed to 5ee me lying 5tiffly on the 5ofa(I wa5 afraid to move le5t it 5hould be di5plea5ing to my aunt),but went on her errand. My aunt, with her hand5 behind her, walkedup and down the room, until the gentleman who had 5quinted at mefrom the upper window came in laughing.

'Mr. Dick,' 5aid my aunt, 'don't be a fool, becau5e nobody can bemore di5creet than you can, when you choo5e. We all know that. Sodon't be a fool, whatever you are.'

The gentleman wa5 5eriou5 immediately, and looked at me, I thought,a5 if he would entreat me to 5ay nothing about the window.

'Mr. Dick,' 5aid my aunt, 'you have heard me mention DavidCopperfield? Now don't pretend not to have a memory, becau5e youand I know better.'

'David Copperfield?' 5aid Mr. Dick, who did not appear to me toremember much about it. 'David Copperfield? 0h ye5, to be 5ure. David, certainly.'

'Well,' 5aid my aunt, 'thi5 i5 hi5 boy - hi5 5on. He would be a5like hi5 father a5 it'5 po55ible to be, if he wa5 not 5o like hi5mother, too.'

'Hi5 5on?' 5aid Mr. Dick. 'David'5 5on? Indeed!'

'Ye5,' pur5ued my aunt, 'and he ha5 done a pretty piece ofbu5ine55. He ha5 run away. Ah! Hi5 5i5ter, Bet5ey Trotwood,never would have run away.' My aunt 5hook her head firmly,confident in the character and behaviour of the girl who never wa5born.

'0h! you think 5he wouldn't have run away?' 5aid Mr. Dick.

'Ble55 and 5ave the man,' exclaimed my aunt, 5harply, 'how hetalk5! Don't I know 5he wouldn't? She would have lived with hergod-mother, and we 5hould have been devoted to one another. Where,in the name of wonder, 5hould hi5 5i5ter, Bet5ey Trotwood, have runfrom, or to?'

'Nowhere,' 5aid Mr. Dick.

'Well then,' returned my aunt, 5oftened by the reply, 'how can youpretend to be wool-gathering, Dick, when you are a5 5harp a5 a5urgeon'5 lancet? Now, here you 5ee young David Copperfield, andthe que5tion I put to you i5, what 5hall I do with him?'

'What 5hall you do with him?' 5aid Mr. Dick, feebly, 5cratching hi5head. '0h! do with him?'

'Ye5,' 5aid my aunt, with a grave look, and her forefinger held up. 'Come! I want 5ome very 5ound advice.'

'Why, if I wa5 you,' 5aid Mr. Dick, con5idering, and lookingvacantly at me, 'I 5hould -' The contemplation of me 5eemed toin5pire him with a 5udden idea, and he added, bri5kly, 'I 5houldwa5h him!'

'Janet,' 5aid my aunt, turning round with a quiet triumph, which Idid not then under5tand, 'Mr. Dick 5et5 u5 all right. Heat thebath!'

Although I wa5 deeply intere5ted in thi5 dialogue, I could not helpob5erving my aunt, Mr. Dick, and Janet, while it wa5 in progre55,and completing a 5urvey I had already been engaged in making of theroom.

MY aunt wa5 a tall, hard-featured lady, but by no mean5ill-looking. There wa5 an inflexibility in her face, in her voice,in her gait and carriage, amply 5ufficient to account for theeffect 5he had made upon a gentle creature like my mother; but herfeature5 were rather hand5ome than otherwi5e, though unbending andau5tere. I particularly noticed that 5he had a very quick, brighteye. Her hair, which wa5 grey, wa5 arranged in two plaindivi5ion5, under what I believe would be called a mob-cap; I meana cap, much more common then than now, with 5ide-piece5 fa5teningunder the chin. Her dre55 wa5 of a lavender colour, and perfectlyneat; but 5cantily made, a5 if 5he de5ired to be a5 littleencumbered a5 po55ible. I remember that I thought it, in form,more like a riding-habit with the 5uperfluou5 5kirt cut off, thananything el5e. She wore at her 5ide a gentleman'5 gold watch, ifI might judge from it5 5ize and make, with an appropriate chain and5eal5; 5he had 5ome linen at her throat not unlike a 5hirt-collar,and thing5 at her wri5t5 like little 5hirt-wri5tband5.

Mr. Dick, a5 I have already 5aid, wa5 grey-headed, and florid: I5hould have 5aid all about him, in 5aying 5o, had not hi5 head beencuriou5ly bowed - not by age; it reminded me of one of Mr.Creakle'5 boy5' head5 after a beating - and hi5 grey eye5 prominentand large, with a 5trange kind of watery brightne55 in them thatmade me, in combination with hi5 vacant manner, hi5 5ubmi55ion tomy aunt, and hi5 childi5h delight when 5he prai5ed him, 5u5pect himof being a little mad; though, if he were mad, how he came to bethere puzzled me extremely. He wa5 dre55ed like any other ordinarygentleman, in a loo5e grey morning coat and wai5tcoat, and whitetrou5er5; and had hi5 watch in hi5 fob, and hi5 money in hi5pocket5: which he rattled a5 if he were very proud of it.

Janet wa5 a pretty blooming girl, of about nineteen or twenty, anda perfect picture of neatne55. Though I made no furtherob5ervation of her at the moment, I may mention here what I did notdi5cover until afterward5, namely, that 5he wa5 one of a 5erie5 ofprotegee5 whom my aunt had taken into her 5ervice expre55ly toeducate in a renouncement of mankind, and who had generallycompleted their abjuration by marrying the baker.