The Mysteries of the Court of London — page 400: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

378 REYNOLDS’ WORKS morrow, she bade him remain and pass the evening with Christina. At half-past two o’clock on the following day, Christian alighted from a cab at the door of the hotel in Piccadilly, and his boxes were deposited in the hall. He inquired of the waiter for Mr. Sycamore, and at the same instant the dapper-looking groom stepped forward, inquiring, “‘ Are you Mr. Ashton? ”’ ‘“‘'Yes,”’ answered Christian, and an unpleasant suspicion at once smote him. ‘Master will be ready in half an hour,’ rejoined James; ‘“he was up rather late this morning. If you will step into the coffee-room, Mr. Ashton, you 'can sit there till we are ready to start.” Our hero followed this recommendation, and as there happened to be no one else in the coffee-room at the time, he thought he should like to have a few minutes’ conversation with one of the waiters. He did not exactly admire the dis- covery he had just made, — that his new employer was the master of the dapper groom, and consequently the object of the somewhat peculiar discourse he had overheard on the previous day between the dapper groom aforesaid and the hostler from the livery-stable. If there were anything . at all suspicious in respect to Mr. Sycamore’s character, it was not too late for our hero to resign the situation he had accepted, for he assuredly had no inclination to go travelling about in the service of one who contracted debts without the means of paying them. He accordingly rang the bell, so i that under the pretext of ordering some little refreshment, he it might draw the waiter into discourse. ‘* Ah, sir, I see, sir,’”’ said this individual, when a few re- marks had been exchanged, ‘‘ you are the young gentleman who has taken the situation of private secretary to Mr. Sycamore? ” and then with a great show of tidiness, he briskly wiped away some imaginary crumbs from an adjacent table. “IT suppose Mr. Sycamore is highly respectable and very well off? ” observed Christian, inquiringly. ‘“‘ He has paid all his bills, sir, this morning, the waiter, “‘ and so there is no complaint to make. All gen- tlemen as pays their bills is respectable, sir,’ and the waiter affected to be exceedingly busy in conveying the supplement DOOKS I St ARE ”” responded COUN ()