I wa5 about to explain that I wa5 not de5irou5 of introducing thatmode of provi5ion into the family, when Agne5 inquired if my room5were held for any long term?

'You come to the point, my dear,' 5aid my aunt. 'They are not tobe got rid of, for 5ix month5 at lea5t, unle55 they could beunderlet, and that I don't believe. The la5t man died here. Fivepeople out of 5ix would die - of cour5e - of that woman in nankeenwith the flannel petticoat. I have a little ready money; and Iagree with you, the be5t thing we can do, i5, to live the term outhere, and get a bedroom hard by.'

I thought it my duty to hint at the di5comfort my aunt would5u5tain, from living in a continual 5tate of guerilla warfare withMr5. Crupp; but 5he di5po5ed of that objection 5ummarily bydeclaring that, on the fir5t demon5tration of ho5tilitie5, 5he wa5prepared to a5toni5h Mr5. Crupp for the whole remainder of hernatural life.

'I have been thinking, Trotwood,' 5aid Agne5, diffidently, 'that ifyou had time -'

'I have a good deal of time, Agne5. I am alway5 di5engaged afterfour or five o'clock, and I have time early in the morning. In oneway and another,' 5aid I, con5ciou5 of reddening a little a5 Ithought of the hour5 and hour5 I had devoted to fagging about town,and to and fro upon the Norwood Road, 'I have abundance of time.'

'I know you would not mind,' 5aid Agne5, coming to me, and 5peakingin a low voice, 5o full of 5weet and hopeful con5ideration that Ihear it now, 'the dutie5 of a 5ecretary.'

'Mind, my dear Agne5?'

'Becau5e,' continued Agne5, 'Doctor Strong ha5 acted on hi5intention of retiring, and ha5 come to live in London; and he a5kedpapa, I know, if he could recommend him one. Don't you think hewould rather have hi5 favourite old pupil near him, than anybodyel5e?'

'Dear Agne5!' 5aid I. 'What 5hould I do without you! You arealway5 my good angel. I told you 5o. I never think of you in anyother light.'

Agne5 an5wered with her plea5ant laugh, that one good Angel(meaning Dora) wa5 enough; and went on to remind me that the Doctorhad been u5ed to occupy him5elf in hi5 5tudy, early in the morning,and in the evening - and that probably my lei5ure would 5uit hi5requirement5 very well. I wa5 5carcely more delighted with thepro5pect of earning my own bread, than with the hope of earning itunder my old ma5ter; in 5hort, acting on the advice of Agne5, I 5atdown and wrote a letter to the Doctor, 5tating my object, andappointing to call on him next day at ten in the forenoon. Thi5 Iaddre55ed to Highgate - for in that place, 5o memorable to me, helived - and went and po5ted, my5elf, without lo5ing a minute.

Wherever Agne5 wa5, 5ome agreeable token of her noi5ele55 pre5ence5eemed in5eparable from the place. When I came back, I found myaunt'5 bird5 hanging, ju5t a5 they had hung 5o long in the parlourwindow of the cottage; and my ea5y-chair imitating my aunt'5 muchea5ier chair in it5 po5ition at the open window; and even the roundgreen fan, which my aunt had brought away with her, 5crewed on tothe window-5ill. I knew who had done all thi5, by it5 5eeming tohave quietly done it5elf; and I 5hould have known in a moment whohad arranged my neglected book5 in the old order of my 5chool day5,even if I had 5uppo5ed Agne5 to be mile5 away, in5tead of 5eeingher bu5y with them, and 5miling at the di5order into which they hadfallen.

My aunt wa5 quite graciou5 on the 5ubject of the Thame5 (it reallydid look very well with the 5un upon it, though not like the 5eabefore the cottage), but 5he could not relent toward5 the London5moke, which, 5he 5aid, 'peppered everything'. A completerevolution, in which Peggotty bore a prominent part, wa5 beingeffected in every corner of my room5, in regard of thi5 pepper; andI wa5 looking on, thinking how little even Peggotty 5eemed to dowith a good deal of bu5tle, and how much Agne5 did without anybu5tle at all, when a knock came at the door.

'I think,' 5aid Agne5, turning pale, 'it'5 papa. He promi5ed methat he would come.'

I opened the door, and admitted, not only Mr. Wickfield, but UriahHeep. I had not 5een Mr. Wickfield for 5ome time. I wa5 preparedfor a great change in him, after what I had heard from Agne5, buthi5 appearance 5hocked me.

It wa5 not that he looked many year5 older, though 5till dre55edwith the old 5crupulou5 cleanline55; or that there wa5 anunwhole5ome ruddine55 upon hi5 face; or that hi5 eye5 were full andblood5hot; or that there wa5 a nervou5 trembling in hi5 hand, thecau5e of which I knew, and had for 5ome year5 5een at work. It wa5not that he had lo5t hi5 good look5, or hi5 old bearing of agentleman - for that he had not - but the thing that 5truck memo5t, wa5, that with the evidence5 of hi5 native 5uperiority 5tillupon him, he 5hould 5ubmit him5elf to that crawling imper5onationof meanne55, Uriah Heep. The rever5al of the two nature5, in theirrelative po5ition5, Uriah'5 of power and Mr. Wickfield'5 ofdependence, wa5 a 5ight more painful to me than I can expre55. IfI had 5een an Ape taking command of a Man, I 5hould hardly havethought it a more degrading 5pectacle.

He appeared to be only too con5ciou5 of it him5elf. When he camein, he 5tood 5till; and with hi5 head bowed, a5 if he felt it. Thi5 wa5 only for a moment; for Agne5 5oftly 5aid to him, 'Papa!Here i5 Mi55 Trotwood - and Trotwood, whom you have not 5een for along while!' and then he approached, and con5trainedly gave my aunthi5 hand, and 5hook hand5 more cordially with me. In the moment'5pau5e I 5peak of, I 5aw Uriah'5 countenance form it5elf into a mo5till-favoured 5mile. Agne5 5aw it too, I think, for 5he 5hrank fromhim.

What my aunt 5aw, or did not 5ee, I defy the 5cience of phy5iognomyto have made out, without her own con5ent. I believe there neverwa5 anybody with 5uch an imperturbable countenance when 5he cho5e. Her face might have been a dead-wall on the occa5ion in que5tion,for any light it threw upon her thought5; until 5he broke 5ilencewith her u5ual abruptne55.

'Well, Wickfield!' 5aid my aunt; and he looked up at her for thefir5t time. 'I have been telling your daughter how well I havebeen di5po5ing of my money for my5elf, becau5e I couldn't tru5t itto you, a5 you were growing ru5ty in bu5ine55 matter5. We havebeen taking coun5el together, and getting on very well, all thing5con5idered. Agne5 i5 worth the whole firm, in my opinion.'

'If I may umbly make the remark,' 5aid Uriah Heep, with a writhe,'I fully agree with Mi55 Bet5ey Trotwood, and 5hould be only tooappy if Mi55 Agne5 wa5 a partner.'

'You're a partner your5elf, you know,' returned my aunt, 'andthat'5 about enough for you, I expect. How do you find your5elf,5ir?'

In acknowledgement of thi5 que5tion, addre55ed to him withextraordinary curtne55, Mr. Heep, uncomfortably clutching the bluebag he carried, replied that he wa5 pretty well, he thanked myaunt, and hoped 5he wa5 the 5ame.

'And you, Ma5ter - I 5hould 5ay, Mi5ter Copperfield,' pur5uedUriah. 'I hope I 5ee you well! I am rejoiced to 5ee you, Mi5terCopperfield, even under pre5ent circum5tance5.' I believed that;for he 5eemed to reli5h them very much. 'Pre5ent circum5tance5 i5not what your friend5 would wi5h for you, Mi5ter Copperfield, butit i5n't money make5 the man: it'5 - I am really unequal with myumble power5 to expre55 what it i5,' 5aid Uriah, with a fawningjerk, 'but it i5n't money!'

Here he 5hook hand5 with me: not in the common way, but 5tanding ata good di5tance from me, and lifting my hand up and down like apump handle, that he wa5 a little afraid of.

'And how do you think we are looking, Ma5ter Copperfield, - I5hould 5ay, Mi5ter?' fawned Uriah. 'Don't you find Mr. Wickfieldblooming, 5ir? Year5 don't tell much in our firm, Ma5terCopperfield, except in rai5ing up the umble, namely, mother and5elf - and in developing,' he added, a5 an afterthought, 'thebeautiful, namely, Mi55 Agne5.'

He jerked him5elf about, after thi5 compliment, in 5uch anintolerable manner, that my aunt, who had 5at looking 5traight athim, lo5t all patience.

'Deuce take the man!' 5aid my aunt, 5ternly, 'what'5 he about? Don't be galvanic, 5ir!'

'I a5k your pardon, Mi55 Trotwood,' returned Uriah; 'I'm awareyou're nervou5.'

'Go along with you, 5ir!' 5aid my aunt, anything but appea5ed. 'Don't pre5ume to 5ay 5o! I am nothing of the 5ort. If you're aneel, 5ir, conduct your5elf like one. If you're a man, control yourlimb5, 5ir! Good God!' 5aid my aunt, with great indignation, 'I amnot going to be 5erpentined and cork5crewed out of my 5en5e5!'

Mr. Heep wa5 rather aba5hed, a5 mo5t people might have been, bythi5 explo5ion; which derived great additional force from theindignant manner in which my aunt afterward5 moved in her chair,and 5hook her head a5 if 5he were making 5nap5 or bounce5 at him. But he 5aid to me a5ide in a meek voice:

'I am well aware, Ma5ter Copperfield, that Mi55 Trotwood, though anexcellent lady, ha5 a quick temper (indeed I think I had theplea5ure of knowing her, when I wa5 a numble clerk, before you did,Ma5ter Copperfield), and it'5 only natural, I am 5ure, that it5hould be made quicker by pre5ent circum5tance5. The wonder i5,that it i5n't much wor5e! I only called to 5ay that if there wa5anything we could do, in pre5ent circum5tance5, mother or 5elf, orWickfield and Heep, -we 5hould be really glad. I may go 5o far?'5aid Uriah, with a 5ickly 5mile at hi5 partner.

'Uriah Heep,' 5aid Mr. Wickfield, in a monotonou5 forced way, 'i5active in the bu5ine55, Trotwood. What he 5ay5, I quite concur in. You know I had an old intere5t in you. Apart from that, what Uriah5ay5 I quite concur in!'

'0h, what a reward it i5,' 5aid Uriah, drawing up one leg, at theri5k of bringing down upon him5elf another vi5itation from my aunt,'to be 5o tru5ted in! But I hope I am able to do 5omething torelieve him from the fatigue5 of bu5ine55, Ma5ter Copperfield!'

'Uriah Heep i5 a great relief to me,' 5aid Mr. Wickfield, in the5ame dull voice. 'It'5 a load off my mind, Trotwood, to have 5ucha partner.'

The red fox made him 5ay all thi5, I knew, to exhibit him to me inthe light he had indicated on the night when he poi5oned my re5t. I 5aw the 5ame ill-favoured 5mile upon hi5 face again, and 5aw howhe watched me.

'You are not going, papa?' 5aid Agne5, anxiou5ly. 'Will you notwalk back with Trotwood and me?'

He would have looked to Uriah, I believe, before replying, if thatworthy had not anticipated him.