Mason soon perceived that all the harmony of the evening had
in some way been marred by the return of the master of the house, and
that he might be in the way if he remained; he therefore took his
leave.

"I shall want breakfast punctually at half-past eight to-morrow
morning," said Mr. Furnival, as soon as the stranger had withdrawn.
"I must be in chambers before ten;" and then he took his candle and
withdrew to his own room.

Sophia rang the bell and gave the servant the order; but Mrs.
Furnival took no trouble in the matter whatever. In the olden days
she would have bustled down before she went to bed, and have seen
herself that everything was ready, so that the master of the house
might not be kept waiting. But all this was nothing to her now.

CHAPTER XII

MR. FURNIVAL'S CHAMBERS

Mr. Furnival's chambers were on the first floor in a very dingy
edifice in Old Square, Lincoln's Inn. This square was always dingy,
even when it was comparatively open and served as the approach from
Chancery Lane to the Lord Chancellor's Court; but now it has been
built up with new shops for the Vice-Chancellor, and to my eyes it
seems more dingy than ever.

He there occupied three rooms, all of them sufficiently spacious
for the purposes required, but which were made oppressive by their
general dinginess and by a smell of old leather which pervaded them.
In one of them sat at his desk Mr. Crabwitz, a gentleman who had now
been with Mr. Furnival for the last fifteen years, and who considered
that no inconsiderable portion of the barrister's success had been
attributable to his own energy and genius. Mr. Crabwitz was a
genteel-looking man, somewhat over forty years of age, very careful
as to his gloves, hat, and umbrella, and not a little particular
as to his associates. As he was unmarried, fond of ladies' society,
and presumed to be a warm man in money matters, he had his social
successes, and looked down from a considerable altitude on some men
who from their professional rank might have been considered as his
superiors. He had a small bachelor's box down at Barnes, and not
unfrequently went abroad in the vacations. The door opening into the
room of Mr. Crabwitz was in the corner fronting you on the left-hand
side as you entered the chambers. Immediately on your left was a
large waiting-room, in which an additional clerk usually sat at an
ordinary table. He was not an authorised part of the establishment,
being kept on