New Grub Street

om. It was three o'clock, and with the interval of half an hour at midday, when she went away for a cup of tea and a sandwich, she had been closely occupied since half-past nine. Her task a

ual in men of his position. The result, unhappily, was not correspondent with the efforts. Alfred Yule had made a recognisable name among the critical writers of the day; seeing him in the title-lists of a periodical, most people knew what to expect, but not a few forbore the cutting open of the pages he occupied. He was learned, copious, occasionally mordant in style; but grace had been denied to him

she had need was not upon the shelf she turned away, and looked about her with a gaze of weary disappointment. At a little distance were standing two young men, engaged, as their faces showed,

ear, and one of them was well known to her; now she could hear every word; now the speakers were gone by. Was it possible that Mr Milvain ha

as before. Every now and then she glanced at people who were passing; there were intervals when she wholly lost herself in reverie. She was tired, and had even a sl

oke close

ur father,

as that of the confirmed gossip. For eyebrows he had two little patches of reddish stubble; for moustache, what looked like a bit of discoloured tow, and scraps of similar material hanging beneath his creasy chin represented a beard. His garb must have seen a great deal of Museum service; it consiste

ook hands

-past two,' was her r

, and couldn't get here before. Something important - most important. At all event

alked in thick, rather pompous tones, with a pant at the end of a sentence. To emphasise the extremely confidential nature of his remar

of vast importance. You know Walker? No, no; how should you? He's a man of bu

ve pause, and glared mo

of Mr Rackett,

also have heard that Fadge leaves Th

d me it was

pretty well, I think?" "Pretty well," I answered; "why?" "I'll tell you," he said, "but it's between you and me, you understand. Rackett is thinking about him in connection with The Study." "I'm delighted to

od news,' ans

think so

, which was the result of long years

e to-morrow? Break it gently to him, you know; he's an ex

cough. When he had recovered from it, he pressed Marian's hand wi

turned others to the central desk, and was just leaving th

ne moment, if

carefully darned; his black necktie and a skull-cap which covered his baldness were evidently of home manufacture. He smiled softly and ti

ur father,' he said, as Mar

gone, Mr

ake a book for him? In fact, it's my little

n, and in a tone which seemed t

ll be very gla

one minute, Miss Yule. It

and speedily came back panting,

s Yule. You are quite well,

man who was coming in

that it was Jasper Milvain; she must have followed him through the hall, but her eyes had been cast down. The young man was now alone; as he descended the steps he looked to left and right, but not behind him

ral way; in that case he could not help seeing her. But there was an uneasy suspicion in her mind that he really must have noticed her in the Reading-room. This was the firs

greater. In a minute or two Milvain turned up

in Camden Road she at length alighted, and after ten minutes' walk reached her destination in a quiet by-way called St Paul's Crescent, consisting of small, decent houses. That at which she paused had an exterior promising

s. A recess between fireplace and window was fitted with shelves, which supported hundreds of volumes, the overflow of Yule's library. The table was laid for a meal. It best suited the convenience of the family to dine at five o'clock; a long e

it expressed but moderate intelligence; its lines, however, were those of gentleness and good feeling. She had the look of one who is makin

?' she said, as she closed the do

ve a littl

s that begin

like a woman bred to refinement, any more than she can fashion her tongue to graceful speech. Mrs Yule's behaviour to Marian was marked with a singular diffidence; she looked and spoke affectionately, but not with a mother's freedom; one might have taken her for a trusted servant waiting upon her mistress. Whenever opportunity offered, she watched the girl in a curiously furtive way, that puzzled look on her face becoming very noticeable. Her consciousness was never able to accept as a familiar and unimportant fact the vast difference between h

nibbling. 'You really must have more lunch, dear. It

een out?' M

went to

and a brother who inhabited the same house. To her husband she scarcely ever ventured to speak of these persons; Yule had no intercourse with them.

better?' the

his drinking again, and him and Tom quarrel

on or phrase, it was when she spoke of her kinsfolk. The

f' said Marian, referring to her m

o doing anything with her! She's about the streets at all hours, and what'll be the end of it no one can say. They're getting that ragged, all of them. It isn't Susan's fault; indeed it isn't. She does all that woman can. But Tom hasn't brought home ten shillings the last month, and it seems to me as if he was getting care

I suppose their suffering ma

r. Poverty will make the best people bad, if it gets hard enough

ather will b

d dinne

which is wonderfully good news if it's rea

aps be made editor of The St

world; she thought of them only from the pecuniary point of view, but tha

imed. 'What a thing

n Mr Quarmby's prediction, when the sound of a postman's knock

Mrs Yule, returning

er and examined its

the Miss Milvains.

med by opportunity of conversation. The promise of correspondence had hitherto waited for fulfilment. It seemed natural to Marian that the

she could carry it on in that style, if there's no hurry. She and I have both set to work on English histories, and we shall be authorities before long. Jolly and Monk offer thirty pounds for the little book, if it suits them when finished, with certain possible profits

pleased smile, then acquainted

Mrs Yule; 'it's so se

es

g more, and her mother had a thoughtful l

y to call here?' Mrs Yu

d him to,' was the

't come wi

that he even kn

n't be seeing h

perhaps. I

xercised maternal authority since Marian's earliest childhood, claimed no maternal privileges, and Marian's natural reserve had been strengthened by her mother's respectful aloofness. The English fault of domesti

orced tone, 'that father hasn'

any private remarks on this subject, but

rs Yule, smoothing her dress. 'He

had fixed her eyes on the man

uld have said something, I shoul

in - this gentleman t

know of a

ved uneasily, then rose, said something abou

oroseness, and this evening the first glimpse of his face was sufficient warning. He entered the dining-room and

tably. 'It's after five;

t coming,

eyond all parallel. If there be added the fact that he has just returned from a very unsatisfactory interview with a publisher, w

e a diversion, 'Mr Hinks has sent

ct that I'm going to write a notice of it. The simpleton pesters me beyond endurance. I wish to know, if you please,' he added with sa

unreasonable anger, b

and carved angrily. He began his meal by drinking half a glass of ale; then he ate a few mouthfuls in a quick, hungry way, his head bent closely

but a curt inquiry or caustic comment; if

ian resolved to try any mean

nd of his, Nathaniel Walker, has told him that Mr Rackett

tently on the sirloin for half a minute; then, by way of the

old him t

I wasn't to breathe a

Quarmby's an ass,'

s forehead half unwreathed itself; he continued to eat

? Repeat it to m

. He listened with a scoffing expres

not very sure that I should accept it if it were made. That fellow Fadge has all but ruined the pape

nutes ensued; then Y

s Hinks'

r this roof, literature was regarded almo

s,' Yule muttered, as he opened the vo

f his visage. His eyes glinted, his chin worked in pleasurable emotion. In a moment he handed the book to Marian, indicating the small type of a foot-note; it embodied an eff

nd of him,'

ose I must try to get h

s Yule, under her bre

e with that look of slow apprehension which is so pathetic when

Alfred, won't it?' she sai

of contemptuous irony. 'If Hinks goe

mused on what seemed to her a strange anomaly in his character; it had often surprised her that a man of his temp

ng over the pag

ion - fabulosity - different to - averse to - did one ever come across such a mixture of antiq

as wholly changed. He gave various evidences of enjoyi

the auth

qui

, and jot down a selection of his worst sentences. I'll use them for

adiant joy when her husband remarked casually that the custard was very well

was not inexplicable that dyspepsia, and many anothe

aded his brain. He allowed himself but three or four hours of sleep; he wrought doggedly at languages, ancient and modern; he tried his hand a

gular name, to become well known in the course of time) had his ideas about its possible extension. Among other instances of activity he started a penny weekly paper, called All Sorts, and in the pages of thi

is twenty-fifth to his thirtieth year - would have the look of burlesque exaggeration. He had set it before him to become a celebrated man, and he was not unaware that the attainment of that end woul

garret. His brothers, John and Edmund, cried out that he had made an unpardonable fool of himself in marrying so much beneath him; that he might well have waited until his income improved. This was all very well, but they might just as reasonably have bidden him reject plain food because a few years hence he would be able to purchase luxuries; he could not do without nourishment of some sort, and the time had come when he could not do without a wife. Many

lost his temper with her, but never expressed or felt repentance of his marriage; now he began to see only the disadvantages of his position, and, forgetting the facts of the case, to imagine that he might well have waited for a wife who could share his intellectual existence. Mrs Yule had to pass through a few years of much bitterness. Already a martyr to dyspepsia, and often suffering from bilious headaches of extreme violence, her husband now and then l

t at Fulham; any sacrifice of money to insure her growing up with the tongue and manners of a lady. It can scarcely have been a light trial to the mother to know that contact with her was regarded as her child's greatest danger; but in her humility and her love for Marian she offered no resistance. And

of refinement, but it early became obvious that nature had well endowed her with brains. From the nursery her tal

of suavity. Still, the cousins Amy and Marian from time to time saw each other, and were not unsuitable companions. It was the death of Amy's father that brought these relations to an end; left to the control of her own affairs Mrs Edmund was not long in giving offence to Mrs Alfred, and so to Al

rculation essential to its existence. Fadge, a younger man, did reviewing for The Balance; he was in needy circumstances, and had wrought himself into Yule's good opinion by judicious flattery. But with a clear eye for the main chance Mr Fadge soon perceived that Yule could only be of temporary use to him, and that the editor of a well-established weekly which lost no opportunity of throwing scorn upon Yule and all his works would be a much more profitable conquest. He succeeded in transferring his services to the more flourishing paper, and struck out a special line of work by the free exercise of a malicious flippancy which was then without rival in the periodical press. When he had thoroughly got his hand in, it fell to Mr Fadge, in the mere way of business, to review a volume

giving Clement Fadge such an opportunity as he seldom enjoyed. The one noteworthy thing about these productions, and about others of equally mistaken direction, was the sincerity of their workmanship. Had Yule been content to manufacture a novel or a play with due disregard for literary honour, he might perchance have made a mercantile success; but the poor fellow had not pliancy enough for this. He took his efforts au grand serieux; thought he was producing works of art; pursued h

it, no doubt of that, by giving it a tone which did not suit the majority of its readers - serious people, who thought that the criticism of contemporary writing offered an opportunity for something better than a display of malevolent wit. But a return to the old

had learnt only too well. Sometimes the mere omission of a man's name from a list of authors can mortify and injure. In our day the manipulation of such paragraphs has become a fine art; but you recall numerous illustrations. Alfred knew well enough how incessantly the tempter would be at his ear; he said to himsel

good deal of the floor was encumbered with books, but he found space for walking nervously hither and thither. He was doing this when, about half-past nine, his wife a

I'm sorry to say,' Mrs Yule replied.

e - books had to be pushed aside - s

u busy,

hy

ld like just to s

od humour. Yule spoke to her with the u

se Holloway peop

e had a letter from one of tho

d Yule, with impatience o

iss Mi

rm that I know of. T

t she began to speak abo

what you want to say,

d, that she's disappointed yo

till not angry, and seemed quite willing to con

m? It was only because Miss Harrow seemed to wish it that I saw h

ted himself. Mrs Yul

ember her ag

s, of c

began to nib

does meet any young men. I've oft

nothing, and they tell me his mother for the most part supports him. I don't quite a

, may do something; but the

encouragement to its continuance. He of course heard of Milvain's leave-taking call, and he purposely refrained from seeing the young man after that. The matter took no very clear shape in his meditations; he saw no likelihood that either of the young people would think much

roached the matter thus unexpectedly. Was he prepared to behave with deliberate selfishness? Never yet had any conflict been m

se her assistance would be less needful. And indeed it s

s, partly replying to a look of disappointment on his wife's fac

anything about

ake about her. What made you

g, you know. And then, she asked

ood to Marian. He's just the kind of man to make hi

looked

that, don't let him come.

ee. 'I have had no opportunity of observing him with mu

bt it's bett

done now. We shall see whether he gets on

o, I

y that short conversation which followed on Marian's reading the

ting to her, I dare say they'll

rather un

red, he may have a

be subtle,' muttered Yule, smiling. The remark was not

d him, and looked with her famil

her suggestion. 'If he has any serious thoughts,

t, that she can't see more

ngs are as they are. I can't

't very

think

ure it

about what can't be helped. Now don't you go encouraging her to think herself

aps i

hink it

ft the room, and wen

a time unhappier than the present, when she had been wont to hear plainer language. She knew too we

ds be an embarrassment both to father and daughter. Alfred was always ashamed of her before strangers; he could not conceal his feeling, either from her or from other people who had reason for observing him. Marian was not perha

w tears over

he dining-room to see that all was right, and it

e you s

orgot t

back to that kind of language