believed to have been (though
on this score he never chooses to speak) London correspondent of the
Chatteris Champion, which at that time contained some very brilliant
and eloquent letters from the metropolis. By these labours the fortunate
youth was enabled to earn a sum very nearly equal to four hundred pounds
a year; and on the second Christmas after his arrival in London, he
actually brought a hundred pounds to his mother, as a dividend upon the
debt which he owed to Laura. That Mrs. Pendennis read every word of her
son's works, and considered him to be the profoundest thinker and most
elegant writer of the day; that she thought his retribution of the
hundred pounds an act of angelic virtue; that she feared he was ruining
his health by his labours, and was delighted when he told her of the
society which he met, and of the great men of letters and fashion
whom he saw, will be imagined by all readers who have seen son-worship
amongst mothers, and that charming simplicity of love with which women
in the country watch the career of their darlings in London. If John has
held such and such a brief; if Tom has been invited to such and such
a ball; or George has met this or that great and famous man at dinner;
what a delight there is in the hearts of mothers and sisters at home in
Somersetshire! How young Hopeful's letters are read and remembered! What
a theme for village talk they give, and friendly congratulation! In the
second winter, Pen came for a very brief space, and cheered the widow's
heart, and lightened up the lonely house at Fairoaks. Helen had her son
all to herself; Laura was away on a visit to old Lady Rockminster; the
folks of Clavering Park were absent; the very few old friends of the
house, Doctor Portman at their head, called upon Mr. Pen, and treated
him with marked respect; between mother and son, it was all fondness,
confidence, and affection. It was the happiest fortnight of the widow's
whole life; perhaps in the lives of both of them. The holiday was gone
only too quickly; and Pen was back in the busy world, and the gentle
widow alone again. She sent Arthur's money to Laura: I don't know why
this young lady took the opportunity of leaving home when Pen was coming
thither, or whether he was the more piqued or relieved by her absence.

He was by this time, by his own merits and his uncle's introductions,
pretty well introduced into London, and known both in literary and
polite circles. Amongst the form