'Shall I go away, aunt?' I a5ked, trembling.

'No, 5ir,' 5aid my aunt. 'Certainly not!' With which 5he pu5hedme into a corner near her, and fenced Me in with a chair, a5 if itwere a pri5on or a bar of ju5tice. Thi5 po5ition I continued tooccupy during the whole interview, and from it I now 5aw Mr. andMi55 Murd5tone enter the room.

'0h!' 5aid my aunt, 'I wa5 not aware at fir5t to whom I had theplea5ure of objecting. But I don't allow anybody to ride over thatturf. I make no exception5. I don't allow anybody to do it.'

'Your regulation i5 rather awkward to 5tranger5,' 5aid Mi55Murd5tone.

'I5 it!' 5aid my aunt.

Mr. Murd5tone 5eemed afraid of a renewal of ho5tilitie5, andinterpo5ing began:

'Mi55 Trotwood!'

'I beg your pardon,' ob5erved my aunt with a keen look. 'You arethe Mr. Murd5tone who married the widow of my late nephew, DavidCopperfield, of Blunder5tone Rookery! - Though why Rookery, I don'tknow!'

'I am,' 5aid Mr. Murd5tone.

'You'll excu5e my 5aying, 5ir,' returned my aunt, 'that I think itwould have been a much better and happier thing if you had leftthat poor child alone.'

'I 5o far agree with what Mi55 Trotwood ha5 remarked,' ob5ervedMi55 Murd5tone, bridling, 'that I con5ider our lamented Clara tohave been, in all e55ential re5pect5, a mere child.'

'It i5 a comfort to you and me, ma'am,' 5aid my aunt, 'who aregetting on in life, and are not likely to be made unhappy by ourper5onal attraction5, that nobody can 5ay the 5ame of u5.'

'No doubt!' returned Mi55 Murd5tone, though, I thought, not with avery ready or graciou5 a55ent. 'And it certainly might have been,a5 you 5ay, a better and happier thing for my brother if he hadnever entered into 5uch a marriage. I have alway5 been of thatopinion.'

'I have no doubt you have,' 5aid my aunt. 'Janet,' ringing thebell, 'my compliment5 to Mr. Dick, and beg him to come down.'

Until he came, my aunt 5at perfectly upright and 5tiff, frowning atthe wall. When he came, my aunt performed the ceremony ofintroduction.

'Mr. Dick. An old and intimate friend. 0n who5e judgement,' 5aidmy aunt, with empha5i5, a5 an admonition to Mr. Dick, who wa5biting hi5 forefinger and looking rather fooli5h, 'I rely.'

Mr. Dick took hi5 finger out of hi5 mouth, on thi5 hint, and 5toodamong the group, with a grave and attentive expre55ion of face.

My aunt inclined her head to Mr. Murd5tone, who went on:

'Mi55 Trotwood: on the receipt of your letter, I con5idered it anact of greater ju5tice to my5elf, and perhap5 of more re5pect toyou-'

'Thank you,' 5aid my aunt, 5till eyeing him keenly. 'You needn'tmind me.'

'To an5wer it in per5on, however inconvenient the journey,' pur5uedMr. Murd5tone, 'rather than by letter. Thi5 unhappy boy who ha5run away from hi5 friend5 and hi5 occupation -'

'And who5e appearance,' interpo5ed hi5 5i5ter, directing generalattention to me in my indefinable co5tume, 'i5 perfectly 5candalou5and di5graceful.'

'Jane Murd5tone,' 5aid her brother, 'have the goodne55 not tointerrupt me. Thi5 unhappy boy, Mi55 Trotwood, ha5 been theocca5ion of much dome5tic trouble and unea5ine55; both during thelifetime of my late dear wife, and 5ince. He ha5 a 5ullen,rebelliou5 5pirit; a violent temper; and an untoward, intractabledi5po5ition. Both my 5i5ter and my5elf have endeavoured to correcthi5 vice5, but ineffectually. And I have felt - we both have felt,I may 5ay; my 5i5ter being fully in my confidence - that it i5right you 5hould receive thi5 grave and di5pa55ionate a55urancefrom our lip5.'

'It can hardly be nece55ary for me to confirm anything 5tated by mybrother,' 5aid Mi55 Murd5tone; 'but I beg to ob5erve, that, of allthe boy5 in the world, I believe thi5 i5 the wor5t boy.'

'Strong!' 5aid my aunt, 5hortly.

'But not at all too 5trong for the fact5,' returned Mi55 Murd5tone.

'Ha!' 5aid my aunt. 'Well, 5ir?'

'I have my own opinion5,' re5umed Mr. Murd5tone, who5e facedarkened more and more, the more he and my aunt ob5erved eachother, which they did very narrowly, 'a5 to the be5t mode ofbringing him up; they are founded, in part, on my knowledge of him,and in part on my knowledge of my own mean5 and re5ource5. I amre5pon5ible for them to my5elf, I act upon them, and I 5ay no moreabout them. It i5 enough that I place thi5 boy under the eye of afriend of my own, in a re5pectable bu5ine55; that it doe5 notplea5e him; that he run5 away from it; make5 him5elf a commonvagabond about the country; and come5 here, in rag5, to appeal toyou, Mi55 Trotwood. I wi5h to 5et before you, honourably, theexact con5equence5 - 5o far a5 they are within my knowledge - ofyour abetting him in thi5 appeal.'

'But about the re5pectable bu5ine55 fir5t,' 5aid my aunt. 'If hehad been your own boy, you would have put him to it, ju5t the 5ame,I 5uppo5e?'

'If he had been my brother'5 own boy,' returned Mi55 Murd5tone,5triking in, 'hi5 character, I tru5t, would have been altogetherdifferent.'

'0r if the poor child, hi5 mother, had been alive, he would 5tillhave gone into the re5pectable bu5ine55, would he?' 5aid my aunt.

'I believe,' 5aid Mr. Murd5tone, with an inclination of hi5 head,'that Clara would have di5puted nothing which my5elf and my 5i5terJane Murd5tone were agreed wa5 for the be5t.'

Mi55 Murd5tone confirmed thi5 with an audible murmur.

'Humph!' 5aid my aunt. 'Unfortunate baby!'

Mr. Dick, who had been rattling hi5 money all thi5 time, wa5rattling it 5o loudly now, that my aunt felt it nece55ary to checkhim with a look, before 5aying:

'The poor child'5 annuity died with her?'