y, goes on to say:
'And in point of fact, when I was devilish ill--still, you know, I
feel that a duty devolves upon me. And when a duty devolves upon an
Englishman, he is bound to get out of it, in my opinion, in the best
way he can. Well! our family has had the gratification, to-day, of
connecting itself, in the person of my lovely and accomplished relative,
whom I now see--in point of fact, present--'
Here there is general applause.
'Present,' repeats Cousin Feenix, feeling that it is a neat point which
will bear repetition,--'with one who--that is to say, with a man, at
whom the finger of scorn can never--in fact, with my honourable friend
Dombey, if he will allow me to call him so.'
Cousin Feenix bows to Mr Dombey; Mr Dombey solemnly returns the bow;
everybody is more or less gratified and affected by this extraordinary,
and perhaps unprecedented, appeal to the feelings.
'I have not,' says Cousin Feenix, 'enjoyed those opportunities which I
could have desired, of cultivating the acquaintance of my friend Dombey,
and studying those qualities which do equal honour to his head, and, in
point of fact, to his heart; for it has been my misfortune to be, as
we used to say in my time in the House of Commons, when it was not
the custom to allude to the Lords, and when the order of parliamentary
proceedings was perhaps better observed than it is now--to be in--in
point of fact,' says Cousin Feenix, cherishing his joke, with great
slyness, and finally bringing it out with a jerk, "'in another place!"'
The Major falls into convulsions, and is recovered with difficulty.
'But I know sufficient of my friend Dombey,' resumes Cousin Feenix in
a graver tone, as if he had suddenly become a sadder and wiser man' 'to
know that he is, in point of fact, what may be emphatically called a--a
merchant--a British merchant--and a--and a man. And although I have
been resident abroad, for some years (it would give me great pleasure
to receive my friend Dombey, and everybody here, at Baden-Baden, and to
have an opportunity of making 'em known to the Grand Duke), still I know
enough, I flatter myself, of my lovely and accomplished relative, to
know that she possesses every requisite to make a man happy, and that
her marriage with my friend Dombey is one of inclination and affection
on both sides.'
Many smiles and nods from Mr Carker.
'Therefore,' says Cousin Feenix, 'I congratulate the family of which I
am a member, on the acqu
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