Good-bye. God bless you! You may depend upon my continued
protection of your brother Thomas. Keep your mind quite at ease, Miss
Pinch!'
'Thank you,' said Tom's sister heartily; 'a thousand times.'
'Not at all,' he retorted, patting her gently on the head. 'Don't
mention it. You will make me angry if you do. My sweet child'--to the
pupil--'farewell! That fairy creature,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking in
his pensive mood hard at the footman, as if he meant him, 'has shed
a vision on my path, refulgent in its nature, and not easily to be
obliterated. My dears, are you ready?'
They were not quite ready yet, for they were still caressing the pupil.
But they tore themselves away at length; and sweeping past Miss Pinch
with each a haughty inclination of the head and a curtsey strangled in
its birth, flounced into the passage.
The young man had rather a long job in showing them out; for Mr
Pecksniff's delight in the tastefulness of the house was such that he
could not help often stopping (particularly when they were near the
parlour door) and giving it expression, in a loud voice and very learned
terms.
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