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Chapter XI
Quiet and solitude were destined to hold uninterrupted rule no longer,
beneath the roof that sheltered the child. Next morning, the old man
was in a raging fever accompanied with delirium; and sinking under
the influence of this disorder he lay for many weeks in imminent peril
of his life. There was watching enough, now, but it was the watching
of strangers who made a greedy trade of it, and who, in the intervals
in their attendance upon the sick man huddled together with a
ghastly good-fellowship, and ate and drank and made merry; for
disease and death were their ordinary household gods.
Yet, in all the hurry and crowding of such a time, the child was more
alone than she had ever been before; alone in spirit, alone in her
devotion to him who was wasting away upon his burning bed; alone in
her unfeigned sorrow, and her unpurchased sympathy. Day after day,
and night after night, found her still by the pillow of the unconscious
sufferer, still anticipating his every want, still listening to those
repetitions of her name and those anxieties and cares for her, which
were ever uppermost among his feverish wanderings.
The house was no longer theirs. Even the sick chamber seemed to be
retained, on the uncertain tenure of Mr Quilp's favour. The old man's
illness had not lasted many days when he took formal possession of
the premises and all upon them, in virtue of certain legal powers to
that effect, which few understood and none presumed to call in
question. This important step secured, with the assistance of a man of
law whom he brought with him for the purpose, the dwarf proceeded
to establish himself and his coadjutor in the house, as an assertion of
his claim against all comers; and then set about making his quarters
comfortable, after his own fashion.
To this end, Mr Quilp encamped in the back parlour, having first put
an effectual stop to any further business by shutting up the shop.
Having looked out, from among the old furniture, the handsomest and
most commodious chair he could possibly find (which he reserved for
his own use) and an especially hideous and uncomfortable one (which
he considerately appropriated to the accommodation of his friend) he
caused them to be carried into this room, and took up his position in
great state. The apartment was very far removed from the old man's
chamber, but Mr Quilp deemed it prudent, as a precaution against
infection from fever, and a means of wholesome fumigation, not only
to smoke, himself, without cessation, but to insist upon it that his
legal friend did the like. Moreover, he sent an express to the wharf for
the tumbling boy, who arriving with all despatch was enjoined to sit
himself down in another chair just inside the door, continually to
smoke a great pipe which the dwarf had provided for the purpose, and
to take it from his lips under any pretence whatever, were it only for
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