' said Ralph, pausing at the door. 'This is an unexpected favour,
sir.'

'And an unwelcome one,' said brother Charles; 'an unwelcome one, I
know.'

'Men say you are truth itself, sir,' replied Ralph. 'You speak truth
now, at all events, and I'll not contradict you. The favour is, at
least, as unwelcome as it is unexpected. I can scarcely say more.'

'Plainly, sir--' began brother Charles.

'Plainly, sir,' interrupted Ralph, 'I wish this conference to be a short
one, and to end where it begins. I guess the subject upon which you are
about to speak, and I'll not hear you. You like plainness, I believe;
there it is. Here is the door as you see. Our way lies in very different
directions. Take yours, I beg of you, and leave me to pursue mine in
quiet.'

'In quiet!' repeated brother Charles mildly, and looking at him with
more of pity than reproach. 'To pursue HIS way in quiet!'

'You will scarcely remain in my house, I presume, sir, against my will,'
said Ralph; 'or you can scarcely hope to make an impression upon a
man who closes his ears to all that you can say, and is firmly and
resolutely determined not to hear you.'

'Mr Nickleby, sir,' returned brother Charles: no less mildly than
before, but firmly too: 'I come here against my will, sorely and
grievously against my will. I have never been in this house before; and,
to speak my mind, sir, I don't feel at home or easy in it, and have no
wish ever to be here again. You do not guess the subject on which I come
to speak to you; you do not indeed. I am sure of that, or your manner
would be a very different one.'

Ralph glanced keenly at him, but the clear eye and open countenance of
the honest old merchant underwent no change of expression, and met his
look without reserve.

'Shall I go on?' said Mr Cheeryble.

'Oh, by all means, if you please,' returned Ralph drily. 'Here are walls
to speak to, sir, a desk, and two stools: most attentive auditors, and
certain not to interrupt you. Go on, I beg; make my house yours, and
perhaps by the time I return from my walk, you will have finished what
you have to say, and will yield me up possession again.'

So saying, he buttoned his coat, and turning into the passage, took down
his hat. The old gentleman followed, and was about to speak, when Ralph
waved him off impatiently, and said:

'Not a word. I tell you, sir, not a word. Virtuous as you are, you are
not an angel yet, to appear in men's houses whether they will or