That they came at all times and seasons -- that they dined there one day, supped the next, dined again on the next, and were constantly to and fro on all -- that they made parties to visit public places, and met by accident at lounges -- that upon all these occasions Miss Nickleby was exposed to the constant and unremitting persecution of Sir Mulberry Hawk, who now began to feel his character, even in the estimation of his two dependants, involved in the successful reduction of her pride -- that she had no intervals of peace or rest, except at those hours when she could sit in her solitary room, and weep over the trials of the day -- all these were consequences naturally flowing from the well-laid plans of Sir Mulberry, and their able execution by the auxiliaries, Pyke and Pluck.
And thus for a fortnight matters went on. That any but the weakest and silliest of people could have seen in one interview that Lord Verisopht, though he was a lord, and Sir Mulberry Hawk, though he was a baronet, were not persons accustomed to be the best possible companions, and were certainly not calculated by habits, manners, tastes, or conversation, to shine with any very great lustre in the society of ladies, need scarcely be remarked.
But with Mrs Wititterly the two titles were all sufficient; coarseness became humour, vulgarity softened itself down into the most charming eccentricity;insolence took the guise of an easy absence of reserve, attainable only by those who had had the good fortune to mix with high folks.
If the mistress put such a construction upon the behaviour of her new friends, what could the companion urge against them? If they accustomed themselves to very little restraint before the lady of the house, with how much more freedom could they address her paid dependent! Nor was even this the worst. As the odious Sir Mulberry Hawk attached himself to Kate with less and less of disguise, Mrs Wititterly began to grow jealous of the superior attractions of Miss Nickleby. If this feeling had led to her banishment from the drawing-room when such company was there, Kate would have been only too happy and willing that it should have existed, but unfortunately for her she possessed that native grace and true gentility of manner, and those thousand nameless accomplishments which give to female society its greatest charm; if these be valuable anywhere, they were especially so where the lady of the house was a mere animated doll. The consequence was, that Kate had the double mortification of being an indispensable part of the circle when Sir Mulberry and his friends were there, and of being exposed, on that very account, to all Mrs Wititterly's ill-humours and caprices when they were gone. She became utterly and completely miserable.
Mrs Wititterly had never thrown off the mask with regard to Sir Mulberry, but when she was more than usually out of temper, attributed the circumstance, as ladies sometimes do, to nervous indisposition. However, as the dreadful idea that Lord Verisopht also was somewhat taken with Kate, and that she, Mrs Wititterly, was quite a secondary person, dawned upon that lady's mind and gradually developed itself, she became possessed with a large quantity of highly proper and most virtuous indignation, and felt it her duty, as a married lady and a moral member of society, to mention the circumstance to `the young person' without delay.
Accordingly Mrs Wititterly broke ground next morning, during a pause in the novel-reading.
`Miss Nickleby,' said Mrs Wititterly, `I wish to speak to you very gravely.
I am sorry to have to do it, upon my word I am very sorry, but you leave me no alternative, Miss Nickleby.' Here Mrs Wititterly tossed her head -- not passionately, only virtuously -- and remarked, with some appearance of excitement, that she feared that palpitation of the heart was coming on again.
`Your behaviour, Miss Nickleby,' resumed the lady, `is very far from pleasing me -- very far. I am very anxious indeed that you should do well, but you may depend upon it, Miss Nickleby, you will not, if you go on as you do.'
`Ma'am!' exclaimed Kate, proudly.
`Don't agitate me by speaking in that way, Miss Nickleby, don't,' said Mrs Wititterly, with some violence, `or you'll compel me to ring the bell.'
Kate looked at her, but said nothing.
`You needn't suppose,' resumed Mrs Wititterly, `that your looking at me in that way, Miss Nickleby, will prevent my saying what I am going to say, which I feel to be a religious duty. You needn't direct your glances towards me,' said Mrs Wititterly, with a sudden burst of spite; ` I am not Sir Mulberry, no, nor Lord Frederick Verisopht, Miss Nickleby, nor am I Mr Pyke, nor Mr Pluck either.'
Kate looked at her again, but less steadily than before; and resting her elbow on the table, covered her eyes with her hand.
`If such things had been done when I was a young girl,' said Mrs Wititterly (this, by the way, must have been some little time before), `I don't suppose anybody would have believed it.'
`I don't think they would,' murmured Kate. `I do not think anybody would believe, without actually knowing it, what I seem doomed to undergo!'
`Don't talk to me of being doomed to undergo, Miss Nickleby, if you please,' said Mrs Wititterly, with a shrillness of tone quite surprising in so great an invalid. `I will not be answered, Miss Nickleby. I am not accustomed to be answered, nor will I permit it for an instant. Do you hear?' she added, waiting with some apparent inconsistency for an answer.
`I do hear you, ma'am,' replied Kate, `with surprise -- with greater surprise than I can express.'
