f that sort without any pretension,
they would distinguish him very much. Carrying out his character,
this gentleman was very plainly dressed, in a wisp of cambric for a
neckcloth, big shoes, a coat that was too loose for him, and a pair of
trousers that were too spare; and mention being made of the Opera by Mrs
Skewton, he said he very seldom went there, for he couldn't afford it.
It seemed greatly to delight and exhilarate him to say so: and he beamed
on his audience afterwards, with his hands in his pockets, and excessive
satisfaction twinkling in his eyes.

Now Mrs Dombey appeared, beautiful and proud, and as disdainful and
defiant of them all as if the bridal wreath upon her head had been a
garland of steel spikes put on to force concession from her which she
would die sooner than yield. With her was Florence. When they entered
together, the shadow of the night of the return again darkened Mr
Dombey's face. But unobserved; for Florence did not venture to raise her
eyes to his, and Edith's indifference was too supreme to take the least
heed of him.

The arrivals quickly became numerous. More directors, chairmen of public
companies, elderly ladies carrying burdens on their heads for full
dress, Cousin Feenix, Major Bagstock, friends of Mrs Skewton, with the
same bright bloom on their complexion, and very precious necklaces on
very withered necks. Among these, a young lady of sixty-five, remarkably
coolly dressed as to her back and shoulders, who spoke with an engaging
lisp, and whose eyelids wouldn't keep up well, without a great deal of
trouble on her part, and whose manners had that indefinable charm which
so frequently attaches to the giddiness of youth. As the greater part of
Mr Dombey's list were disposed to be taciturn, and the greater part
of Mrs Dombey's list were disposed to be talkative, and there was no
sympathy between them, Mrs Dombey's list, by magnetic agreement, entered
into a bond of union against Mr Dombey's list, who, wandering about
the rooms in a desolate manner, or seeking refuge in corners, entangled
themselves with company coming in, and became barricaded behind sofas,
and had doors opened smartly from without against their heads, and
underwent every sort of discomfiture.

When dinner was announced, Mr Dombey took down an old lady like a
crimson velvet pincushion stuffed with bank notes, who might have been
the identical old lady of Threadneedle Street, she was so rich, and
looked so unacco